A new opera entitled Another Brick in the Wall: L’Opera and based on the Pink Floyd album, opened to wildly mixed reviews in Montreal last weekend. Despite reports of standing ovations – one, pre-show, simply acknowleging the attendance of Pink Floyd singer songwriter Roger waters – the critical reception swung from the Montreal Gazette’s damning judgement, “a sullen, gloomy flop given the appearance of success,” to Rolling Stone‘s conclusion that the opera is “another brick that’s here to stay.”

Based on Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and staged by Opéra de Montréal, the new work tells the story of rock star Pink who alienates himself from the world, building a wall, as he copes with the pressures of stardom and his personal life. Composer Julien Bilodeau drew on elements of Pink Floyd’s music to create a largely original score.

Despite the hype and the legions of Pink Floyd fans willing to come along for the operatic ride, reviews have been largely negative. “The monotonous toggling of major and minor on the words ‘The Wall’ suggest strongly Bilodeau was working hard to flesh out a brief libretto by Waters that was big on...