First Major Opera to Feature a Transgender Protagonist Receives its Premiere

Available to watch now, Tobias Picker's opera "Lili Elbe" chronicles the life of one of the first people in history to receive gender-affirming surgery

A new opera by Tobias Picker has become the first major work in the genre to feature a transgender person in its central role. His two-act opera, Lili Elbe, follows the life of its eponymous protagonist, a renowned Danish landscape painter who lived between 1882 and 1931.

Picker conceived of the opera with the American baritone Lucia Lucas in mind. Having trained as a baritone before her transition, in 2019, Lucas became the first transgender woman to appear as a principal when she sang the role of Don Giovanni at Tulsa Opera.

The libretto was written by Aryeh Lev Stollman, who is also Picker's husband.

"There are so many parallels between Lili['s story] and my story," Lucas said. "We wanted to make it [as] up to date as possible, with today’s advocacy language, making it a pleasant experience for any trans performer to perform. Because often when I’ve had to put my own identity, or an identity so similar to my own, on stage, it hasn’t been a great experience."

"[Lucas has] a great dramatic baritone voice," said Tobias Picker. "It has a depth of emotion and it has enormous power."

The opera received its world premiere at Switzerland's Konzert und Theater St.Gallen and is now available to watch on OperaVision or below: