Heggie’s ‘Intelligence’ Receives Album Release • August 2025
Worldwide
Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Intelligence
Composer Jake Heggie’s opera Intelligence is based on the little-known true story of two women – one formerly enslaved, one a Southern woman of privilege – who infiltrated the Confederate White House and ran a Union spy ring during the American Civil War. Created with director and choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and librettist Gene Scheer, the work was hailed by the Houston Chronicle as “groundbreaking…a gorgeous, nuanced, layered and suspenseful masterpiece that deftly balances drama and wit.”
The live recording was captured during the world-premiere run and features the original cast, led by Jamie Barton as Elizabeth Van Lew, Janai Brugger as Mary Jane Bowser, J’Nai Bridges as Lucinda, and Michael Mayes as Travis Briggs, with Kwamé Ryan conducting the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra.
Intelligence is the first release in a newly announced partnership between Houston Grand Opera and LSO Live – the label’s first-ever collaboration with an American opera company. The album is available in both physical and digital formats, including Apple Music Classical, Amazon, and Spotify.
See the full list of available purchase and streaming options for Intelligence here.
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Critical Acclaim
Opening night of Intelligence / photo by Elizabeth Knox
“Heggie launches the opera on a tidal wave of thunderous power, which gives an idea of the tense spy soundtrack to come. Much of [Elizabeth Van Lew and Mary Jane Bowser’s] story is unknown, so the libretto deals mostly in historical fiction, with plenty of the high-stakes emotional drama that works well in opera. An outstanding cast gave Intelligence a full-throttle lift-off. The three main women’s roles are taken by first-class singers — Janai Brugger, Jamie Barton and J’Nai Bridges — and they are strongly supported by Michael Mayes and Joshua Blue.”
–Financial Times
“Heggie and Scheer probe the unhealing wound that runs deep in the United States then and now: slavery. And by extension white supremacy. Heggie is a master of music-drama, with a gift for setting words and musical style. In Intelligence, the persistent drumming with its African echoes, the bittersweet Act 2 duet for Elizabeth and her sister-in-law Cellie and almost remembered spirituals are entirely his own. By the end, Barton has the measure of Elizabeth, torn between her best political instincts and a dark family secret. Brugger's Mary Jane is scarcely off the stage for two hours, and her final aria 'My Mimma's Eyes' insists that you reach for your conscience.”
–BBC Music Magazine
“Heggie’s ‘Intelligence’ ignites with drama, melody, and star power – What strikes immediately is the extraordinary capacity of Heggie to write pleasant, immediately recognizable tunes well underlined by a sapient orchestration and well written for the voice. It is fun and surely an immediate pleaser for the general public. Based on a historical true story, the two main characters are an enslaved Black woman with an extraordinary memory, here sung by the excellent Janai Brugger, and a white Southern aristocrat lady secretly aiding the Union, sung by the equally marvelous Jamie Barton. Generally speaking, the entire story, a real spy thriller with danger, high-risk situations, and a surprising finale, revolves around these two women. It is also true that the minor characters are well-designed to be powerful, mean when necessary, and, as a Puccini opera teaches us, many of them die dramatically. As a natural part of such a large project, some dancing sequences are incorporated in the form of colorful spirits, underscoring the semi-mythological atmosphere.”
EarRelevant
“From scant surviving facts, Heggie, Scheer, and Jo Zollar (founder of the Urban Bush Women, whose dancers appeared in the show) have fashioned nail-biting melodrama powerfully infused with magical realism. Audio alone can’t convey the supernatural element, but with an assist from the listener’s imagination, the excellent live recording casts a disquieting spell.”
–Airmail
“There are episodes of intense drama and poignancy but occasional levity too. Arias and duets seamlessly emerge at strategic moments without disrupting flow. Brugger brings Mary Jane to life with a dynamic and richly textured performance, and Barton humanizes Elizabeth and enriches her portrait by showing the many personality facets that emerge through her interactions with different character types. Infused with urgency, Heggie's music mirrors the emotional twists and turns of the action, playful at one moment and yearning at another. Blues, folk, gospel, and jazz flavours blend seamlessly with classical as the splendidly orchestrated score draws on a panoply of moods and styles to illuminate Scheer's text. Lamenting and tumultuous passages are abundant in this wholly entertaining work, and tuneful melodies and motives are likewise plentiful, with many resonating long after the opera's finished.”
–Textura
“From its opening dramatic flourishes, Heggie's latest opera demonstrates precisely why the Wall Street Journal has hailed him as ‘arguably the world's most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer.’ This inaugural release captures a work of remarkable theatrical power and musical sophistication. Heggie's compositional mastery is immediately apparent. His melodic lines flow with natural grace, perfectly matching the contours of Scheer's intelligent libretto. The composer demonstrates an uncanny ability to marry dramatic urgency with musical beauty. Each vocal line serves the narrative while maintaining its own lyrical integrity. Ryan's interpretation reveals the score's every nuance, achieving that rare orchestral transparency where dramatic weight never overwhelms vocal clarity. The vocal performances are uniformly superb. Barton brings compelling authority, whereas soprano Brugger's Mary Jane radiates both vulnerability and determination, and the supporting cast matches this standard throughout. What emerges is opera at its most compelling: a work that honours both historical truth and musical craft. Heggie has created something genuinely rare in contemporary opera—a score that grips from its opening bars and never loosens its hold. Intelligence confirms Heggie's position among America's most significant living opera composers. More importantly, it demonstrates that new opera can indeed captivate audiences when dramatic instinct and musical invention work in perfect harmony.”
–Yorkshire Times
“Heggie’s music is immediate and accessible, without ever feeling simplistic or trite. His vocal lines are a miracle of elegance and craft, his melodies stylish and memorable. He taps into a popular vein that reflects both 19th-century music hall and an element of dance. It’s a heady melting pot that Heggie binds seamlessly into a cohesive whole while always remaining attentive to the music’s underlying tension (among Intelligence’s many attributes, it is also an action-packed thriller). Brugger is sympathetic and powerful as Bowser, and Barton’s is a masterful creation, warm and tyrannical by turns, compelling the listener to invest fully in this complex and conflicted character. The recording has immediacy and depth with voices both well caught and deftly balanced against the orchestra.”
–Limelight Magazine