The Leopard

In Northwest India lies an extraordinary place where leopards scratch out a living on the rocky hills of the Aravalli mountains in Rajasthan. One such leopard is Neelam, a mother fighting for the lives of her offspring through the region's dry and monsoon seasons. Follow Neelam's eventful year as she fends off threats from male leopards, weathers the sharp teeth of her own children, and braves the local herdsmen in order to feed her family.

Michael Dellaira has earned a considerable reputation for his series of operas, of which the latest to be recorded is The Leopard. The libretto, by the distinguished poet J.D. McClatchy, is drawn from the 1958 novel written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. It charts social and political upheavals during the Italian Risorgimento and, as the young idealist Tancredi tells his uncle, the Prince of Salina, ‘If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.’ The opera’s premiere, conducted by Gerard Schwarz, was exceptionally well received and described by Opera Magazine as ‘superbly crafted.’

The population of the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) has drastically declined; this Asian leopard subspecies has disappeared from some parts of its former range. Containing large areas of potential habitats with leopard presence across almost all of its provinces, Iran is known to be the last stronghold for the Persian leopard in the region.

Shake your bones, listen to your dreams, and feel the earth beneath your feet.