When Esther Nelson became general and artistic director of the Boston Lyric Opera in 2008, she wanted to expand the company's season, which then consisted of three operas in the Shubert Theater.

WSJ: A Potent Biblical Bargain, Undermined | Clemency | Boston Lyric Opera | By Heidi Waleson

Since its founding in 1980, the festival has been expanding its offerings such that in recent years, the highly anticipated centerpiece is an eye-popping, lavishly staged Baroque opera, supported by the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, an ensemble of internationally acclaimed Early Music specialists.

NPR: Opera Beyond Words: Rameau's Radiant Dances

For the fourth Opera Annex show, the BLO co-commissioned "Clemency, " by the Scottish composer James MacMillan, with the Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera and the Britten Sinfonia, and presented its North American premiere at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter on Boston's South Side last week.

WSJ: A Potent Biblical Bargain, Undermined | Clemency | Boston Lyric Opera | By Heidi Waleson