New York City Opera has commissioned American composer Charles Wuorinen to write an opera based on Annie Proulx’s short story "Brokeback Mountain," a love story about two US ranch-hands that won three Oscars when it was turned into a movie.

The opera house's spokesman Gerard Mortier said in a statement on Sunday that Wuorinen had accepted an invitation to compose an opera of the short story. It is slated¹ to premiere during City Opera's 2013 spring season.

This would mark New Yorker Wuorinen's second world premiere at City Opera. He also composed "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," an adaptation of a Salman Rushdie novel which opened in 2004.

"Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so," Wuorinen, 70, said in a statement.

"Brokeback Mountain" is the story of two men who meet and fall in love on the fictional² Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming in 1963 with their complex relationship lasting³ 20 years.

The story was made into a film in 2005 by Taiwanese director Ang Lee which won three Oscars. The late Australian actor Heath Ledger⁴, who died in January this year of an accidental overdose of prescription⁵ drugs at the age of 28, was nominated for an Oscar for his role.

纽约市歌剧院日前邀请美国作曲家查尔斯•沃里宁操刀执笔，将安妮•普罗克斯的短篇小说《断背山》改编为歌剧。《断背山》讲述了两个美国牛仔的爱情故事，根据该小说拍摄的电影曾获三项奥斯卡大奖。

纽约市歌剧院的发言人杰拉德•莫尔蒂尔于上周日发表一份声明称，目前沃里宁已接受操刀歌剧版《断背山》的邀请。该作品预计将在纽约市歌剧院2013年春天的演出季期间首演。

这将是纽约作曲家沃里宁的作品第二次在纽约市歌剧院举行世界首演。沃里宁根据萨尔曼•鲁西迪的小说《哈伦与故事海》改编的同名歌剧曾于2004年在纽约市歌剧院首演。

70岁的沃里宁近日发表声明说：“自从我接触到安妮•普罗克斯的这部优秀作品，我就一直想把它改编成歌剧。如今，杰拉德和纽约市歌剧院给了我这个机会，我很开心。”

小说《断背山》以美国怀俄明州一个虚构的地点“断背山”为背景，讲述了两个男人开始于1963年的一段长达20年的复杂恋情。

这部小说曾于2005年被台湾籍导演李安改编成电影，并获三项奥斯卡大奖。该片主演、澳大利亚影星希斯•莱杰于今年一月死于意外服药过量，年仅28岁。他凭借该片获得奥斯卡最佳男主角提名。