It seems counterintuitive for an agricultural state in the middle of “flyover country” to be a regular creator of compelling modern operas, but Minnesota has enjoyed such a reputation for more than a half-century. In recent years, Minnesota Opera has premiered The Fix, Dinner at Eight, The Shining, and The Manchurian Candidate. In 2012, composer Kevin Puts won a Pulitzer Prize for Music for Silent Night, a Minnesota Opera commission with a libretto by Mark Campbell.