Checking in with the experimental classical scene in New York we find this guitarist-composer, who has been basically everywhere and with everyone, having recorded with people like Nels Cline and Debbie Harry in addition to seeing his pieces performed by myriad quartets and a few orchestras. This opera centers on the last moments of German-Jewish critic-philosopher Walter Benjamin, who, facing extradition to Nazi-occupied France, overdosed on morphine in the Spanish town of Portbou. The quartet tasked with bringing this utterly morose tale to life includes pianist Jenny Lin (I’m pretty sure we’ve covered her before), a laptop guy and an accordionist. The overture begins with creepy, borderline industrial noise-chill buffeted by the sounds of advancing soldiers, then moves into low-tech electro, then a scrambling, desperate cacophony from the crew on board, and eventually to bass/baritone singer Nicholas Isherwood, whose chest-tones lay out the desperation of the subject before moving to more traditional baritone techniques and, later, throat-singing, crazed growling and other oddities. As advertised, the libretto seeks out what Benjamin might have been thinking in those pitch-dark hours, possibly regretting his previous “wise” words of social criticism and at last facing the inevitable. This can be appreciated for its deathly analog urgency or its eerie samples, take your pick. Absolutely captivating. A+ — Eric W. Saeger