Forget all the blood and thunder and exploding volcanoes of Jason Momoa’s Chief of War. In their new opera, the composer Herb Mahelona, librettist Victoria Kneubuhl, and director Patrick Makuakāne set out to examine Hawaiian history in a far quieter key. In hopes of maintaining the sovereignty of the Hawaiian kingdom, Kamehameha dispatches the royal secretary Timoteo Haʻalilio, his lifelong friend, to seek treaties with the United States, Great Britain, Belgium, and France. In the 1840s, Haʻalilio dedicated over two years abroad in this noble, foredoomed endeavor. The leading role of Ha’alilio falls to the Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey, who began his operatic career 35 years ago in the Hawaii Opera Theatre chorus and is now a fixture as Rigoletto and Scarpia on great lyric stages all over the world. —Matthew Gurewitsch