Toward a multimodal discourse on opera -- Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar : a myth of "wounded" freedom -- Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater : a narrative of trauma and ambivalence -- John Adams's Doctor Atomic (2005-2006) : a Faustian parable for the modern age? -- The anti-hero in Tan Dun's The first emperor -- Epilogue : opera as myth in the global age.