Kaija Saariaho's opera Innocence, which opens at the Metropolitan Opera in New York on Monday, explores the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Finnish international school. The work, performed in nine languages including English, Swedish and Spanish, delves into themes of guilt, grief and anger, challenging the perception that school shootings are a uniquely American phenomenon.
The opera begins with survivors recounting how the deaths of ten classmates and a teacher in the early 2010s have affected their daily lives. Conductor Susanna Mälkki noted that even after a decade, the events continue to haunt the characters, raising questions about guilt, forgiveness and the possibility of moving on.
Set across two timelines—the present-day wedding of the shooter's brother and the school a decade earlier—the opera uses contrasting musical styles to highlight different experiences of the same tragedy. Saariaho, who died in 2023, composed the music, while fellow Finn Sofi Oksanen wrote the libretto.
Oksanen emphasised the importance of focusing on the victims rather than the shooter, who appears only briefly and without lines. She said this choice counters the fascination with perpetrators and gives victims more space, which she sees as a form of justice.
Finland has experienced several mass shootings, including incidents in 2007 and 2008 that killed 17 people, and a 2024 case where a 12-year-old killed one student. Oksanen noted that gun violence is not uncommon in Finland, a fact that often surprises people.
