"Champion" Opera at the Met: A Bold Retelling of a Bisexual Boxer's Tragic Story.

Terence Blanchard's "Champion" opened at the Metropolitan Opera, telling the real-life story of boxer Emile Griffith, who was haunted by guilt after an opponent died following a fight. The opera is the second by Blanchard to be staged at the Met in back-to-back seasons, following "Fire Shut Up in My Bones." "Champion" is a jazz-inflected work that depicts Griffith's life in flashbacks from his shattered memory, with three singers portraying him as a child, a young fighter, and an old man. The opera is diverting and smoothly staged, but sluggishly paced and eventually wearying, with a feeling of stagnancy.