But the opera, with music by Jake Heggie and a libretto by ... the composer of “Dead Man Walking” and DiDonato. Working on the opera, Hale said, “reminds you not to get lost in prison.” ...

In one scene after another, the music lets us feel and understand things ... Only one thing is lacking to make "Dead Man Walking" a complete success, and that is some means of making it available ...

“Dead Man Walking” could very well deliver on the ... staging remains one of inescapable confinement. Even Heggie’s music — a roiling and often thrilling concoction of Britten-esque ...

“Dead Man Walking,” the opera ... a kind of politely raucous echo of Bernstein’s rumble music from “West Side Story.”) De Rocher stubbornly denies responsibility for the crime as ...