On October 2 and 4, New Orleans Opera will present the premiere performances of Pontalba: A Louisiana Legacy by Thea Musgrave, who celebrated her 75th birthday this year. Commissioned to mark the 20th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, when the United States bought the then Territory of Louisiana from Napoleon for the paltry sum of $15 million - or 4 cents an acre. Pontalba: A Louisiana Legacy is Thea Musgrave's ninth opera.
