ABSTRACT
This chapter is divided into two parts: the first charts Saariaho's development as an opera composer, whilst the second considers her two full-length operas, L'Amour de loin and Adriana Mater. In particular, the operas will be examined from the point of view of musical semantics in a semiotic-hermeneutic framework, applying Raymond Monelle's theory of musical topics. And although Saariaho chaired the anti-opera Korvat auki, her personal relationship with the genre was a more favourable one. There was also a change in Saariaho's musical language in the vocal works of the mid-1990s, starting with Chateau de l'ame and Lonh: melody was no longer a forbidden musical device. In L'Amour de loin, the pianto is written primarily for the chorus, whose role is to comment on the events taking place in the opera. Similar to the opening scene of L'Amour de loin, where Jaufre Rudel is singing and playing, Act begins with Adriana singing a song: une sorte de vieux rondeau.
