Amorys
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Amorys |
| Shape: | Chamber opera in one act and two pictures |
| Original language: | Dutch |
| Music: | Nico Richter |
| Libretto : | Hendrik Lindt |
| Premiere: | 2nd September 1966 |
| Place of premiere: | Amsterdam |
| Playing time: | approx. 22 min |
| Place and time of the action: | Not determined. |
| people | |
Amorys is a chamber opera by the Dutch composer Nico Richter (1915–1945) in one act and two pictures. It is the composer's only surviving opera and his longest work. In the work, the title character Amorys makes a pact with the magician Wonder in order to be able to be close to his deceased lover again.
action
Amorys mourns the loss of his lover Isabele (spelling of the libretto). He would do a lot to enable him to continue his previous life with her; so he would accept the renunciation of 20 years of his own life. Wonder offers Amorys just that in his role as a magician . Amorys agrees in the hope of a life together with his lover. Wonder hands him a coat, which for him means the loss of twenty years of life, but which is available to Isabele on the other side. Wrapped in the cloak - aged twenty years, gray and stooped - he is faced with his lover who has come to life.
In the second picture of the one-act play , Amorys and Isabele look forward to the time that is now breaking. However, it is not the aged Amorys that Isabele desires, but the young dancer Abelie. Amorys is disappointed, complains of his misery to his confidante hooker and remembers the words of the wizard: "And if you ever regret this, shout: where is Wonder, the wizard?" With the expression of this formula Wonder appears again. He places Abelie and Amorys each on a stone and positions Isabele between the two, who is now to decide who she wants to stay with. The villagers' chorus commented on the merits of the two men. Amorys repeats his description of his love and sacrifice for Isabele, while Abelie lets his dance and youthfulness speak for itself. Isabele's choice falls on Abelie. Amorys gives up his coat and rejuvenates by 20 years. Isabele dies.
Emergence
The opera was written from April in the following months of 1937. During this time, Richter stayed temporarily in Ascona, Switzerland . The trips to the artists' colony there were made possible by his parents for the then student of medicine and music for artistic development.
libretto
The libretto of the chamber opera is based on a Dutch legend, which had no fixed literary form before the opera was written. The artistic version was made by journalist and music critic Hendrik Lindt. The text version was developed in coordination between the librettist and the composer in 1937. The German version of the libretto by Bernd Matzner and Lars Straehler-Pohl was created in 2017.
occupation
The ensemble consists of four soloists, a dancer and a four-part mixed choir. The chamber music orchestra includes:
- Strings : 1st violin and 2nd violin (each doubles), viola , cello , double bass (each singly)
- Flute / piccolo , clarinet in Bb, bassoon
- Horn in F
- Percussion
- piano
literature
- Lars Straehler-Pohl: Amorys - On giving and taking time in: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, 01/2018, p. 58.
Web links
- Dutch Music Institute Location of the handwritten manuscript
- Julia Muller-van Santen: nico richter 1915–1945 . Accessed September 14, 2017
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eleonore Pameijer: Nico Richter. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Dr. Julia Muller-van Santen: nico richter 1915–1945. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Amorys: kameropera in een acte. Retrieved September 14, 2017 (Dutch).