Christopher Columbus' legacy is, of course, all of ours. Like it or not, the effect of his connecting Europe with the Americas -- his mistaken Indies -- has led to the world we live in. From the Colombian exchange of flora and fauna to the transmission of endemic diseases to the exploitation and slaughter of entire cultures, the expedition of 1492 has had massive consequences.

		'Death of Columbus' What: In concert performance. Robert Page, conductor; Jon Garrison, Judith Jenkins, Katherine Mueller, David Okerlund, singers; Carnegie Mellon University Philharmonic and Repertory Chorus; Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. Where: Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland. When: 8 p.m. today. Tickets: $5-$10; 412-268-2383.

But what of Columbus, himself? A touchstone for controversy today, he has been given the honor of a celebratory name day, but some boycott it. Probing beneath his almost mythical perception today, getting to the essence of this obsessive Italian navigator's turbulent life isn't easy.

"He is a tragic figure," says Leonardo Balada.

For the Spanish-born Balada (a Catalan), the pull of Columbus proved too great to ignore, not unlike Columbus' headstrong desire to find the Western route to China. The Carnegie Mellon University composer examined the first part of the explorer's life in "Christopher Columbus," which premiered in 1986 (with Jose Carreras and Montserrat Cabelle, which the label Naxos will release in a few months).

Now, he feels compelled to finish the story. Whereas the first opera tracks the navigator's difficult efforts to secure funding and ends with his approaching terra incognito in the Santa Maria, the sequel, "Death of Columbus," begins with his triumphant return to Spain.

The action, however, is viewed through flashbacks as Columbus is on his deathbed, haunted by the sobering realization of what "the discovery really meant for the world." The opera tracks the rest of Columbus' life, filled with questionable policies as viceroy, the enslaving of natives and further troubled trips to the Americas. Facts mix with Balada's interpretations, as is the case in many historical operas.

"The mood is surrealistic, reflecting the delirium of death of a man of unreal imagination, whose utopian visions often bordered on madness," writes Balada in his synopsis. The opera's first performance takes place tonight in concert version by CMU students and professional singers.

"He almost acted like a fool," says Balada of Columbus. "He was lucky enough to see the islands or he would have [had] to go back to Spain, dishonored, or be thrown in the ocean. He was Jewish (though people argue still about that) at a time [when] Spain was getting rid of the Moors and the Jews were given the chance to convert or quit. Columbus converted. Columbus was arrogant -- he thought his destiny was clear cut."

As "the Death of Columbus" unfolds, however, Balada surmises that Columbus lived to regret his stubbornness and ethnocentrism. From his deathbed, Columbus is haunted by a Mysterious Character -- Columbus' guilty conscious -- who mocks his accomplishments and decries the aftermath: "It used to be the Paradise. It stopped being so as soon as your men tore the bodies and pride of those innocent peoples."

Various flashbacks take him to the events of his life post-discovery of the new world, including a public chastising by Queen Isabella for enslaving the natives (she only wanted them to be baptized). He eventually is urged by Isabella to explore again, this time "without eagerness for gold or desire and glory" in a dream that finds him launched to the stars. However, the opera ends desolately, with Columbus begging for forgiveness for the suffering he caused as he dies. Hardly a hero's send-off.

"The point of this is that the discovery of America was the beginning of the discovery of science, but of abuses, too, that we are abusing the gift of science and discovery," says Balada. "The Spaniards didn't behave very well. We didn't say that in the first opera. In the new opera there are a couple of scenes that briefly make the point. But it is not so much against the Spanish, but the period. The English killed more Indians than the Spaniards."

A chorus of monks chant "Ave verum corpus" throughout the 100-minute opera, Balada's fifth. The main characters -- Columbus, Queen Isabella, Beatriz Enriquez and Mysterious Character -- are joined by four actors who change characters from Columbus' accusers to his family to contemporary navigators to servants of the apocalypse.

While Balada says the concert version "makes me a bit nervous about getting the story across," he ultimately feels the drama of Columbus' life will carry it.

"I want them to get the tragedy of Columbus," he says. "This guy went through hell to get to the highest."

Whether or not the ultimately penitential view of this controversial figure will change people's minds about his accomplishments is another matter.