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’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
“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