A ‘Moby-Dick’-inspired opera opens at the Met

Gene Scheer whittled down the 600-plus-page novel to a 64-page libretto, often tweaking Herman Melville’s phrasing to make it more singable.

When Leonard Foglia was invited to direct an opera based on Herman Melville’s masterpiece about a white whale, his first reaction was: “Moby-Dick. That’s great!”