Special offer. Jake Heggie: Intelligence
Janai Brugger (Mary Jane Bowser), J'Nai Bridges (Lucinda), Jamie Barton (Elizabeth Van Lew), Caitlin Lynch (Callie Van Lew), Michael Mayes (Travis Briggs), Nicholas Newton (Henry), Joshua Blue (Wilson)
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Kwamé Ryan
Awards:
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Grammy Awards, 68th Awards (2026), Nominated - Best Opera Recording
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025, World Premiere Recording (New Work)
Heggie is a master of music-drama, with a gift for setting words and a musical style that borrows Barber's unabashed lyricism and the brash rhythmic drive of Bernstein. But in Intelligence,...
Special offer. Jake Heggie: Intelligence
Janai Brugger (Mary Jane Bowser), J'Nai Bridges (Lucinda), Jamie Barton (Elizabeth Van Lew), Caitlin Lynch (Callie Van Lew), Michael Mayes (Travis Briggs), Nicholas Newton (Henry), Joshua Blue (Wilson)
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Kwamé Ryan
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Grammy Awards, 68th Awards (2026), Nominated - Best Opera Recording
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2025, World Premiere Recording (New Work)
Heggie is a master of music-drama, with a gift for setting words and a musical style that borrows Barber's unabashed lyricism and the brash rhythmic drive of Bernstein. But in Intelligence,...
About
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 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.
Contents and tracklist
- Houston Grand Opera, Kwamé Ryan, Janai Brugger, J'Nai Bridges, Jamie Barton, Caitlin Lynch, Michael Mayes, Nicholas Newton, Joshua Blue
- Houston Grand Opera, Kwamé Ryan, Janai Brugger, J'Nai Bridges, Jamie Barton, Caitlin Lynch, Michael Mayes, Nicholas Newton, Joshua Blue
Spotlight on this release
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Janai Brugger on Intelligence
28th Aug 2025
The American soprano discusses her central role in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's new opera about an enslaved woman who becomes a Union spy in the Confederate White House during the American Civil War - the world premiere recording is released tomorrow on Houston Grand Opera's new label.
Awards and reviews
October 2025
Heggie is a master of music-drama, with a gift for setting words and a musical style that borrows Barber's unabashed lyricism and the brash rhythmic drive of Bernstein. But 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.
30th August 2025
Heggie launches the opera on a tidal wave of thunderous power, which gives an idea of the tense spy soundtrack to come...An outstanding cast gave Intelligence a full-throttle lift-off.
Awards Issue 2025
Heggie's text-setting, woven into a seamless orchestral narrative, is idiomatic and seemingly effortless, a miraculous fusion of lyrical lift and expository clarity. Reference to the style of Spirituals, folk song and blues harmonies, and a richly variegated and sometimes explosive orchestration, give the opera a distinctive palette.
