Haunting Riel

This article considers the many productive forms of theatrical, historical, and musical haunting in Harry Somers’s 1967 opera Louis Riel. Although the opera has been criticized for its datedness, an examination of the several layers of haunting and manipulations of embodiment and sound/silence in the score and libretto suggest that the opera has the potential to resonate beyond its original historical context to create meaning for contemporary Canadians. A consideration of how the 2017 Canadian Opera Company’s production, directed by Peter Hinton, amplified these hauntings reveals that the opera presents opportunities for both the past and present to haunt one another.