The Dybbuk is a popular play by S. Ansky which debuted in 1920. It's been made into a number of operas: one in English from 1933, one in Yiddish (!) from 1999 (the first Yiddish opera, I think--I want to see it!). I actually confusedly thought that was what this was, until I heard it--some of the libretto is in English, but the bulk is Hebrew. Nice.
What's the story? Well, it's a bit loose here, more about the poetry than the actual action and not too heavy on character. In that sense, it sometimes feels more like a staged oratorio than an opera, albeit with a fair bit of spoken text. But in any event, there's a woman, Leah, whose lover has died, and her dad wants her to marry someone else. But then she's possessed by a lost spirit, known as a dybbuk. A wise rabbi, Azriel, exorcises it, but Leah dies to be with her lost love.
I did have a bit trouble following this plot; it's a bit abstruse in places. But it's still a memorable piece of work, I'd say, with very distinctive music that you don't see in any ol' opera: a lot of it has a strong klezmer influence, with sort of minimalistic elements and effects that I can't even quite describe. Definitely worth watching for that alone.
Well, the other reason you should watch it is for Yahli Toren, the soprano who plays Leah (there are only two singing roles, her and the rabbi). She has a really distinctive, piercing voice that mesmerizes, and she doesn't skimp on the acting either: I was especially impressed by her work when possessed by the dybbuk; she really comes across as a person transformed (and tangentially, the fact that people can do such things should make everyone even more skeptical about the veracity of supposed exorcisms). I've never seen her anywhere else, as far as I know, but I'd sure like to!
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