'John Brown' Looks at the Cost of Freedom: A Truly American Opera about the Struggle to End Slavery

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He was an abolitionist, a man of faith and in today's terms a terrorist. John Brown, the fierce foe of slavery who launched a raid on the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va., in 1859 in a vain effort to arm and liberate the slaves of Virginia and thence the South, is the subject of a new opera. Composed and written by Kirke Mechem, "John Brown" had its world premiere May 3 at the Lyric Theatre in Kansas City, Mo., not far from "Bloody Kansas" where the opera opens.

For opera buffs, indeed for anyone interested in the drama of moral choice, "John Brown" rewards attendance. The opera features a lush choral score drawn from American hymns and folk music. It works as theater, with the case for and against violence on behalf of a noble cause presented in all its complexity. What unfolds on stage over the course of a nearly three-hour production is a historical drama that seems strikingly contemporary in its concern with individuals taking up arms against the state and the religious warrant for this. With its strong score and story, the opera is likely to become a standard in the operatic repertoire.

Mr. Mechem took nearly 20 years to complete "John Brown." He …