Life with an Idiot
| Life with an Idiot | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Alfred Schnittke | |
The composer
|
|
| Native title | Жизнь с идиотом |
| Librettist | Viktor Erofeyev |
| Premiere | 13 April 1992 Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam |
Life with an Idiot (Russian: Жизнь с идиотом, Zhizn s idiotom ) is an opera by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke to a Russian libretto by Viktor Erofeyev. An allegory of Soviet oppression, the opera was first performed at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, on 13 April 1992.
As a punishment for not working hard enough, "I" is forced by the authorities to live with an idiot. He chooses Vova from a lunatic asylum. Vova is only capable of speaking a single word: "Ech".
At first Vova behaves well but then he suddenly begins to make a nuisance of himself, including tearing up I's wife's copy of the works of Marcel Proust. I and his wife go to live in another room and Vova calms down. I's wife falls in love with Vova and becomes pregnant by him. Then Vova and I turn on the wife. Vova kills her and I becomes an idiot.
...
Wikipedia