Iconic director Lars von Trier's apocalyptic Melancholia took the world by storm in 2011. Composer Mikael Karlsson - known to Royal Swedish Opera audiences for his music for Alexander Ekman ballets such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Escapist - has now made a full-length opera based on the riveting film. The librettist is Royce Vavrek, who also wrote the libretto for the operatic version of von Trier's Breaking the Waves. Soloists include soprano Lauren Snouffer - a virtuoso performer of both baroque opera and contemporary music - as Justine, the Metropolitan Opera's rising young star Rihab Chaieb as Claire, and Anne Sofie von Otter as the icy mother Gaby.