A dry text becomes singable

That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang wanted to learn. So he turned Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into an oratorio. We tag along as Lang’s piece heads toward its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic. (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Fleur Barron, opera singer and mezzo-soprano.
  • David Lang, composer and professor at the Yale School of Music.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Finally, an Opera About Economics," by Stacey Vanek Smith (Bloomberg, 2026).
  • "The Little Match Girl Passion," by David Lang (2023).
  • The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith (1776).

• EXTRAS:
  • "In Search of the Real Adam Smith," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

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