On the Threshold of Winter

Can it really be that composer Michael Hersch hasn't written a work for the stage yet? As he's often commissioned by large presenting organizations—most recently, as part of the New York Philharmonic's Biennial—that seems hard to believe. But bringing this two-act monodrama to BAM Fisher is an auspicious way to kick off one's opera career. Don't expect high spirits: The piece—written for soprano and small ensemble—is about late-stage cancer. But you can expect compositional rigor in the American modernist mold.