The Limelight Recording of the Month for October is Intelligence, the latest opera from Jake Heggie, one of the world’s leading musical dramatists and composer of Dead Man Walking.

A gripping thriller, it’s based on a true story set in the South during the American Civil War. The cast, captured here at its Houston Grand Opera premiere, stars Jamie Barton as Elizabeth Van Lew – White, privileged and sharp as a tack – and Janai Brugger as Mary Jane Bowser, an enslaved Black woman who worked at the Van Lew mansion. An unlikely partnership saw them infiltrate the Confederate White House, sending crucial information north.

Clive Paget caught up with Heggie to learn more about this remarkable story and find out how the composer went about telling his tale.

How did you come across the subject matter for Intelligence?

Ten years ago, I was doing an event with Susan Graham at the Smithsonian. I was sitting in this chair, and a docent came over and said, “You know, I have a great idea for your next opera.” I hear this a lot, Clive [laughs]. I hear it a lot. So, I said, “Can you wait one second? I have to do something....