Carlisle Floyd's SUSANNAH is arguably the greatest American opera ever composed. In this case "American" means by an American, about America. The topic is one reworked from a biblical story about an innocent young woman wronged by the malicious gossip of powerful members of her community. The opera is set in southern Appalachia. The music is beautifully specific, often poignantly rapturous, frequently tightly bound with the vehemence of mob mentality and brutality.
Be prepared to be "shaken and stirred." This work is timeless in that it's events and narrative speak to the inexorability of the tragedies wrought by those who allow the spite of the demagogue to infect and blind them to their own despicable actions.