Nashville Opera Orchestra - Romulus Hunt (2023)

Nashville Opera has joined forces with Lexicon Classics to release the first-ever recording of Carly Simon‘s sole opera, “Romulus Hunt.”

Nashville Opera will present the recording as a birthday gift to its creator, who will celebrate her 80th birthday on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

The work was originally commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Kennedy Center in 1993 and is a semi-autobiographical work by renowned pop singer Carly Simon. The opera centers around the 12-year-old protagonist, Romulus, who faces a challenging decision between his divorced parents; a situation inspired by Simon’s own son.

The recording will star Victor Robertson, Susannah Biller, Adriana Zabala, Gus O’Brien, and Matthew Treviño. Dean Williamson conducts the Nashville Opera Orchestra. The recording is executive produced by John Hoomes, with Dean Williamson and Pat McMakin as producers and mixing engineers. Luke Gilfeather will be in charge of mastering.

For this recording, Simon collaborated with Hoomes to revise various aspects of the opera, including minor musical adjustments, significant staging revisions, and directorial enhancements. While excerpts of the opera were commercially released in 1993 following its original staging, the complete opera has remained unpublished until now.