Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"..."El último sueño de Frida y Diego," the contemporary, Spanish-language opera now at the Lyric Opera of Chicago from Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz, begins in 1957 with the noir-clad figure of Diego Rivera, the famously tempestuous Mexican painter and muralist, sung here by Alfredo Daza, standing at the grave of Frida Kahlo (Daniela Mack) on the Day of the Dead."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...The vivid visuals by set designer Jorge Ballina are particularly important in this opera, which focuses on the two married Mexican painters who were acclaimed figures in 20th-century art, with Kahlo in recent decades morphing into a feminist icon and pop culture star. (A few people in the audience even wore headdresses and other apparel inspired by her distinctive look.)"
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...First performed by the San Diego Opera in October 2022, this staging brings to Chicago most of the creative team behind that world premiere, from baritone Alfredo Daza as Diego Rivera and mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Frida Kahlo to conductor Roberto Kalb and director Lorena Maza, most of them making their Lyric Opera debut. It also shares two cast members from the 2023 staging at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: soprano Ana María Martínez and countertenor Key’mon W. Murrah."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is always popular, so why not a reversed version? That's what happens in El último sueño de Frida y Diego, an opera that imagines the last day in the life of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, as he is accompanied to the Underworld by his wife, the painter Frida Kahlo. It's a new opera, having debuted in 2022, with music by Gabriela Lena Frank and a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, and only the second in Spanish that the Lyric Opera has performed as part of a mainstage season."
Buzz Center Stage
- Highly Recommended
"...One of the production’s loveliest moments is a tableau where Kahlo’s most famous paintings step off the canvas and onto the stage. I only found myself wishing for projections - of the actors in their vivid recreations or of the paintings themselves - because the costumes and scenic artistry were so intricate and stunning that not everyone in the house could fully take them in. By then, the audience was aching to see her art come alive."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre
- Recommended
"...It all unfolds like, well, a dream. (Nilo Cruz's libretto works firmly in the realm of magical realism.) Insofar as this is an evening about plot, could this not have been a more tightly plotted dream, perchance a one-act dream? Perhaps, but one doesn't begrudge a dream, do one? ("Exquisitely staged oratorio / tone poem" is maybe the best descriptor, but it takes up too much space.)"
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...El último sueño de Frida y Diego premiered at the Lyric Opera last weekend, and it was one of the most thrilling operas I have seen. The music was written by Gabriela Lena Frank, with a fantastic libretto by Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz. Their collaboration brought to life the story of two artists who are legendary for making art their lives, and in the case of El último sueño de Frida y Diego, their deaths as well."
