Opera Tribute Not Too Inconvenient for Gore

For a man sometimes described as the world's most famous loser, Al Gore is quite a winner. Since the start of last year alone, he has picked up an honorary fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, prizes in Spain and Sweden, several honorary doctorates, the Sir David Attenborough Award for Excellence in Nature Film-making and an Emmy - not to mention the Nobel peace prize.

But even Gore may feel humbled by the latest distinction to come his way. The legendary La Scala opera house in Milan has commissioned a full-length work to be based on his book, An Inconvenient Truth, and the Oscar-winning documentary of the same title.

La Scala's artistic director, Stephane Lissner, told a press conference the new opera had been commissioned from an Italian composer, Giorgio Battistelli. He said it would be staged in 2011.

"Lissner has had this idea in mind for some time," said a spokesman for the theatre. "Since before the award of Al Gore's Nobel, I believe."

He added that Battistelli, who was recently made artistic director of Veronaís Arena opera foundation, was a composer very much in tune with contemporary themes, including the environment. But he gave no hint as to how the 53-year-old maestro was expected to make an opera from the subject matter he has been allocated.

Battistelli, who until recently was composer-in-residence at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But the documentary version of An Inconvenient Truth deals not only with Al Gore's campaign to raise public awareness of global warming but also his life story; so a biographical work, with the former vice-president as one of the leading characters, may be in the offing.

Al Gore's concern for climate change dates from long before his defeat by George Bush in the 2000 presidential election. As a student at Harvard, more than 40 years ago, he was deeply influenced by the ideas and research of the oceanographer, Roger Revelle. He initiated the first congressional hearings on global warming, and in 1992 published a bestselling book on environmental issues.

Comparatively few recent operas have been written around contemporary themes. An outstanding exception is Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, which deals with the death penalty.