Spanning centuries, the Curtis Opera’s double bill is as novel as it is bewildering.

NEW YORK — Opera is an open art form, and the Curtis Opera House has long been prone to all sorts of experiments that traditional companies can’t risk. In this enterprising spirit Comet/Poppea was presented in three well-selling performances from Friday to Sunday at an unusual venue, the 23rd Street Armory.

Conceived and directed by Yuval Sharon, this is an intriguing, thoughtful but problematic juxtaposition of George Lewis’s recent Comet and Monteverdi 1643 Coronation of Poppea it turned out that the two operas had almost nothing in common with each other and were to be developed more through purposeful, accidental crossovers than through any planned sequence.

Comet concerned two survivors of a modern apocalypse transcending class and racial divides; Poppea is a 17th-century retelling of how the ancient Roman dictator Nero got rid of previously loyal loved ones and laid claim to his new queen, Poppaea.

Seasoned opera lovers have no doubt seen nothing quite like this production, which can be seen here in its East Coast premiere after performances in Los Angeles and Santa Fe. This listener was 100 percent excited to attend the theatrical stage of this 90-minute, never-before-seen concoction, which also offered the opportunity to access Sharon’s work. Since it’s Bohemia The production was presented by Opera PhiladelphiaSharon has been invited to direct the next production at the Metropolitan Opera. Wagner ring cycle. But in this dual concept of production, not a single opera gave the full effect.

The armory room was dominated by a stage with a vinyl record player, each half of which was dedicated to each opera. The two parts alternated, almost like radio stations fading in and out. Cometthe music was thoroughly modernist: the disorientation of an unforeseen apocalypse conveyed by atonal vocal lines and an instrumental commentary full of varied, disembodied extended effects – sounds, not accompaniments, suggesting that all the usual rules of earthly existence had abruptly disappeared. Monteverdi’s language is concentrated in vocal lines designed to illuminate the words (there are few traditional standard arias) to a harpsichord-dominated accompaniment. The program notes discussed possible mutual coverage of the two. Instead, I had to re-acclimate myself to each world, which had completely different visual presentations.

Set design by Mimi Lien Poppea The side resembled a snow-white Roman bath, allowing you to imagine different settings. Comet The side was a luxurious hotel that the survivors found themselves in, decorated in burgundy and red tones and reminiscent of the Gilded Age of Robber Barons. With the audience seated at each end of a constantly moving turntable (with the orchestra on the side), the audience saw the same show, but at slightly different times. Luckily, the singers’ voices were amplified so they could be heard even when they weren’t visible, and could also overcome the grinding noise of the record player.

Neither the production nor the overall concept worked in any traditional way—and was probably never intended to. Having seen another multi-author production by Sharon – Proximitywhich focused on the topic of gun violence at the Lyric Opera of Chicago – Comet/Poppea admittedly influenced by John Cage’s occasional “see what happens” theories, throwing the question of meaning into the laps of individual listeners.

That meaning can change with each viewing of a piece—one reason why one attendee I spoke with after Saturday’s show committed to attending all three performances. Love or Hate Comet/Poppeait was not easy and was bound to raise questions. Such as? Monteverdi’s Nero and Poppea get what they want (each other) with the help of beautiful love music that shimmers through the characters’ personalities. Comet mourning the death of her child. Is the idea that love is what connects centuries? Even though Monteverdi’s characters are incredibly flawed and Comet Are the characters completely different?

One problem: was the audience given enough information to make such decisions? Operas like Poppea talk to our age now that the early music community has defined what they should sound like. Here individual scenes were presented, devoid of the usual narrative. On Comet On the other hand, Douglas Kearney’s libretto retained some of the language of W.E.B. Du Bois’s original 1920 story, but didn’t make much sense of the stage horror that gives the story its urgency.

Perhaps Sharon is saying that narrative does not have to be the main element of an opera (according to this), although the essence of any work loses its meaning if it is stripped of its context. I attended Saturday’s performance after doing a lot of preparation. But is it fair to expect the same from other listeners?

Additionally, the singers lacked consistency to truly build their characterizations. Some were listed as “guest artists, original cast.” Among them are bass-baritone Cedric Berry as Jim in Comet was excellent in vocals and theatre, although Curtis’s capable soprano Kylie Kreicher as his partner was by no means overshadowed. Curtis’s countertenor Sam Higgins made a double turn as Nero. Poppea and the robber baron father who appears at the end Cometsang well and looked too boyish for any role, but paid attention to who he was supposed to be in every theater production.

As Poppea, Curtis Jasle’s lush-voiced Puerto Rican soprano Rosario Santos leaves you wanting to hear so much more of her. Also on Poppea On the side, Evan Gray as the stoic Seneca and Amanda Lynn Bottoms as Otto carried the stage well. All Poppea the singers had a fairly good command of Monteverdi’s style, right down to the vocal trills. Conductor Mark Lowenstein forced the musician to convincingly jump between two completely different musical styles, although the bright-voiced harpsichord Poppea sections came across as chatty, which wasn’t meant to be so humorous. Or was it? There are no easy answers here.