Houston Grand Opera: Jake Heggie: Intelligence – SUPER-AUDIO CD

Title: Jake Heggie: Intelligence
Artist: Houston Grand Opera
Label: Houston Grand Opera
Product Type: SUPER-AUDIO CD
UPC: 1230000270007
Genre: Opera/Operetta
Release Date: 2025-08-29
Number of Discs: 2

Houston Grand Opera is a driving force in American opera, cultivating a spirit of innovation with premieres of important 20th-century works like Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place and John Adams’ Nixon in China. This tradition continues with the debut recording on their own record label-Jake Heggie’s Intelligence. This epic work was commissioned by Houston Grand Opera and is the company’s 75th premiere, building on it’s legacy and commitment to the future of opera with a thrilling new recording. Intelligence explores the little-known story of two heroic women spies during the American Civil War: Elizabeth Van Lew, a privileged white woman; and Mary Jane Bowser, a black woman born into slavery in the Van Lew household. Composer Jake Heggie, librettist Gene Scheer and director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar join creative forces to transform this unique true story into a musical masterpiece. The opera features an all-star cast led by soprano Janai Brugger as Mary Jane Bowser, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Elizabeth Van Lew and mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges as Lucinda. These awardwinning artists create a riveting performance, capturing the nuance and suspense of Heggie’s acclaimed new opera in this exciting launch of Houston Grand Opera’s record label.

Tracks:
1.1 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 1. The Van Lew Mansion
1.2 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 1. Help me!
1.3 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 1. Round and Round
1.4 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 1. Intelligence
1.5 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 1. Aria. Just one step
1.6 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 2. The Confederate White House
1.7 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 2. Pantomime
1.8 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 3. What did I marry into?
1.9 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 3. Aria. Look me in the eye
1.10 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 4. In Town
1.11 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 5. The Journal
1.12 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 5. Aria. Why risk everything for this?
1.13 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 5. What’s gonna happen now?
1.14 Intelligence~Act 1. Scene 6. Fire!
2.1 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 1. What is in the ashes?
2.2 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 2. Surviving is all I’ve ever known
2.3 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 2. Duet. Traitors
2.4 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 3. It cannot be true
2.5 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 3. Ancestral Dance
2.6 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 4. Midnight outside the Van Lew Mansion
2.7 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 4. None so wronged as Mary Jane
2.8 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 4. Duet. Chained to you forever
2.9 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 5. In Elizabeth’s Rooms
2.10 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 5. The Slave Auction
2.11 Intelligence~Act 2. Scene 5. My momma’s eyes