On March 16, 1968, the United States Army killed over 500 unarmed civilians in the hamlet of Mi Lai, Vietnam. The unimaginable brutality of the event impacted all those who witnessed it firsthand, including helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson, who, against orders, intervened to save Vietnamese lives. Thompson's story is the basis of the opera Mi Lai, composed by Jonathan Berger (music) and Harriet Scott Che'sman (libretto) for Kronos Quartet, Vietnamese multi-instrumentalist Van-Anh Vanessa Vo, and vocalist Rinde Eckert. This definitive recording of Mi Lai captures the visceral, phantasmal depictions of Thompson's grief, horror, and guilt as he is haunted by persistent memories of that cataclysmic day, half a world and nearly four decades away. Tense and unforgiving, Mi Lai is a gripping affair, beginning to end ( York Times). Presented here alongside recollections by Vietnamese survivor Tran Van Dac, it is a memorial to all the Mi Lai villagers killed on that grim day.
Specifications- Artist: Kronos Quartet, Rinde Eckert, Van-Anh Vanessa V
- Year of Release: 2022
- Label/Collection: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
- Country(s): United States
- Genre(s): Classical, Contemporary & Electronic
- Instrument(s): Cello, Lead vocals, T'rung, Viola, Violin, Zither
- Language(s): English, Instrumental
- Recording Era(s): 2020s
- Weight: 2 lbs
