WHRO.org
Vicki L. Friedman
January 27, 2026
Virginia Opera is performing ‘Intelligence,’ which is based on two Richmond women who worked for the North during the Civil War. The opera will be performed in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax.
Composer Jake Heggie is accustomed to shoulder taps and “excuse me’s” from patrons attending publicity events promoting his work.
Next comes the recommendation for the next great opera. Rarely does Heggie give those ideas more than a polite listen.
“Intelligence,” inspired by the relationship between an enslaved woman and a prominent socialite from a Confederate family in Richmond, is the exception. Virginia Opera will present the commonwealth premiere of the Grammy-nominated opera at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Harrison Opera House, followed by a matinee on Sunday.
San Francisco-based Heggie and New Yorker Gene Scheer, arguably today’s most acclaimed composer-librettist team, recall the moment in Washington when a docent asked, “Have you ever heard of Elizabeth Van Lew and Mary Jane Bowser?”