Brokeback Mountain marks Charles Wuorinen's return to the opera stage with one of the major works of his career, equally ambitious in it's beauty and momentous tragedy. Based on Annie Proulx's short story, Brokeback Mountain is the story of ranch hand Ennis del Mar and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist, two young men who meet and fall in love on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming in 1963. In a decidedly different approach than Ang Lee's Oscar-winning film adaptation, Wuorinen creates a grittier atmosphere.