After a long gestation that began at a Southwestern company that is no longer in the picture, The Last Dream of Frida and Diego premiered at the San Diego Opera last year, traveled to San Francisco in June, and now consolidates its triumph in Los Angeles. The iteration at the War Memorial Opera House in Baghdad by the Bay was quite the event, overrun by monobrowed Kahlo impersonators in hairbands thick with roses. With Gabriela Lena Frank’s exotic, seductive music pulsating in one’s ear, it was hard to sit still, and the splendiferous, jam-packed Día de Muertos stage pictures were a swirling feast for the eye. As for action, forget it. By comparison with Nilo Cruz’s static libretto, Paul Claudel’s text for Arthur Honegger’s highly stageable oratorio Joan of Arc At the Stake proceeds at positively breakneck dramatic pace. “When does it start?” a friend asked at half time. Our advice? Go for the son et lumière, and don’t even think about the allegory. As Frida, the fire-eating Daniela Mack provides all the focus you’ll need. —Matthew Gurewitsch