It premiered on 2 October 2003 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans conducted by Robert Lyall with Yali-Marie Williams in the title role. In 2001 New Orleans Opera commissioned Thea Musgrave to compose a new opera for the 2003 celebrations of the Louisiana Purchase bicentennial. On the suggestion of the company's General Director Robert Lyall, Musgrave chose Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba as her subject.
Musgrave
Micaela Almonester