The Decades-Long Journey To A Workable Version Of Lou Harrison’s Opera ‘Young Caesar’

Harrison’s score was always recognized for its good qualities, but the story of the youthful Julius Caesar’s possibly-mythical affair with a foreign king was plagued by an overlong, repetitive libretto to which Harrison refused cuts. John Rockwell tells the story of the 46-year-long effort to create a Young Caesar that could captivate and hold an audience.