By ALAN RIDING [NY Times, 4 April 2006]
PARIS, April 4 ó At its most powerful, opera takes human, religious and political dramas of the past and gives them enduring relevance. “Adriana Mater,” the new opera by the heralded Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, borrows its haunting narrative from our own age and shows it to be a story for all time.