Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 10 - El último sueño de Frida y Diego

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 16 ACT I Three years after the death of his wife, painter Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera visits a cemetery where villagers have gathered for the annual ritual to honor departed loved ones and summon them to return from the underworld. A few villagers recognize the famous painter and dare to approach. They joke affectionately and then explain their ritual, emphasizing that it is faith in your soul that brings back the dead. As the villagers depart, Diego calls out to Frida, revealing his fears and loneliness and imploring her to return to him. Diego’s reverie is interrupted by an old woman selling flowers. After Diego leaves, the old woman reveals herself as La Catrina, Keeper of the Dead. In Mictlán, the Aztec underworld, Catrina summons Frida to arise and return to visit Diego. Frida defies the powerful Catrina, refusing to believe that Diego has called her. Catrina insists that Frida must return to accompany her dying husband on his journey to the underworld. Frida, having found release in death from both her mercurial relationship and agonizing physical pain, questions why she would return to the world of the living. She prefers her refuge of darkness and silence. Other departed souls playfully implore Frida to return to Diego, but Frida refuses. Catrina arrives to gather those who have been summoned, chasing off a young man trying to sneak back to the living world after he failed to return to the underworld in time the previous year. Frida notices a young actor, Leonardo, practicing his impersonation of Greta Garbo. He wants to go back as Garbo, to please a fan of the actress who waits every year hoping for a visit from his long unseen (and assumed departed) idol. A fellow artistic spirit, Leonardo encourages Frida to return for herself, her art, and the chance to paint a new Frida without pain or anguish. He dresses her in her trademark clothes, adorning her hair with ribbons and flowers. Catrina returns, calling out the names of those who have been summoned, and readies them for their return. She calls on Frida, who continues to protest. Catrina notices Leonardo in his Garbo costume and forbids his ruse as Greta Garbo has not yet died. Frida pleads for him, and Catrina relents. At the last minute, Frida decides she will return to the world of the living. Catrina allows it but not before laying out the rules: The visit is for 24 hours only, and there is to be no touching the living — “A caress can cost you the memory of pain.” As Diego continues to summon Frida from above, she and the other departed souls begin their return. INTERMISSION Synopsis TIME | Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), November 2, 1957 PLACE | Mexico