Paradises Lost

The starship Discovery is in the midst of a 200-year voyage of exploration and colonization to a planet known as New Earth. Hsing and Luis, members of the fifth generation born during the voyage, expect to spend their entire lives in transit. But they must confront the followers of “Bliss,” a new religion that has arisen en route. Bliss teaches that the voyagers’ destiny is to travel in space—literally, in heaven—for eternity. Plots arise on both sides: those who want to land on the planet and those who want to travel through heaven forever, in Bliss, and conflict eventually overwhelms the ship.

This contemporary chamber opera engages the possibility of seeing both life in space and the birth of religions as necessary companions in a future world. The inhabitants of the ship are in a suspended womb so to speak, neither alive nor dead, neither in heaven or hell. This could continue forever. At some point, the balance of their world is upset. This story is about that upset and its consequences.

5-Liu Hsing, a young woman	mezzo-soprano
5-Nova Luis, a young man	baritone
5-Rosa, Hsing's classmate	soprano
3-Patel Inbliss, archangel in Bliss	tenor
3-Tan, head librarian	tenor
4-Canaval Hiroshi, ship's navigator	bass
5-Chatterji Uma, chair of Managerial Council	alto
The crew of Discovery	mixed chorus (optional; can also consist only of the above cast)
Chamber orchestra with laptop computer

2 audio excerpts:
"What is the sadness in you" (mp3, 1:49)
"Alive in the world are human beings, plants, and bacteria" (mp3, 2:20)

Extended Plot Summary

Synopsis of the New York City Opera excerpt, Act One, scenes one and two:
The starship Discovery is in the midst of a 200-year voyage of exploration to a planet known as New Earth, or Shindychew. The last person to see Earth in person died years ago. Everyone on the ship knows only the Discovery: in 50 years, when the ship finally reaches Shindychew, they will be either old or dead, leaving their descendants to fulfill the mission.

The opera opens with a funeral presided over by 3-Patel Inbliss, an elder from the third generation born on the ship. 5-Liu Hsing, a young woman of the fifth generation, sings as the deceased voyager’s body is recycled. While Hsing sings, the crew of Discovery sing of Old Earth; they can’t imagine what it was like to live under open sky. Hsing meets her best friend Luis, and shares one of her new poems with him.

After an interlude sung by the ship’s crew (“Alive in the world are human beings, plants, and bacteria”), Hsing’s friend Rosa tries to convert her to Bliss, a nascent belief which teaches that the voyagers’ destiny is to travel in space—literally, in heaven—for eternity. Unable to accept Rosa’s entreaties, Hsing goes to Luis, who tells her she will “never be a follower.” A second interlude follows (“Everything has been provided for”), describing the voyagers’ essential contradiction: the meaning of their lives, like the name of their ship, is Discovery—scientific knowledge. But to them, living and dying in the closed, complete world of the ship, this knowledge is meaningless. For them, life is inside. “Outside is nothing. The void. Death.”

Synopsis of the rest of the opera:
Luis finds that all information about the Destination—the education program for Generation Six—has been restricted by the followers of Bliss. Hsing, breaking with Luis, moves in with the Navigation professor, 4-Canaval Hiroshi. Act One ends with Rosa bringing Luis to see a Bliss ceremony, led by Patel Inbliss, the archangel of Bliss.

Act Two opens five years later; Hsing has finished college and now works on the Bridge with Canaval. He reveals to her a shocking secret: because of a navigation accident, the ship will arrive at Shindychew in just one year. Meanwhile, Patel and his followers plot to take over Discovery: they don’t want to land on Shindychew.

In a meeting of the entire ship, Canaval announces that they will be arriving at Shindychew much sooner than anticipated. The followers of Bliss revolt. Canaval is killed, but Luis is able to bring peace to the opposing factions. The opera ends with an epilogue, many years later, on Shindychew: Hsing, now an old woman, meets Luis, sitting on the dirt; they are grandparents. They dance together.

This work was funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center.

A cup of wine, under the flowering trees; I drink alone, for no friend is near. Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon, For he with my shadow, will make three men.


Li Po