Die Odyssee

Libretto by Pamela Dürr after Homer's 'Odyssey' (G)

2S,M,A,2T,2Bar,2B;
1(=picc,afl).0.2(I=Ebcl,Srec,II=bcl).asax(=ssax).1-2.1.1.1-perc(2):marimba/vib/glsp/crot/Thai gongs/t.bells/Tibetan singing bowl/almglock; drum set:3wdbl/4tom-t/4tpl.bl/tgl/whip/thundersheet/SD/cyms(clash,susp)/BD/tam-t-harp-gtr-acc

After the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus makes his way homewards to Ithaca. The goddess Athena bids the victorious hero a speedy voyage. But Poseidon, the god of the seas, doesn’t want to see Odysseus and his companions make the trip so quickly – and sends them on a journey brimming with adventure. It ends up taking Odysseus ten whole years to finally make his way back to his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. On his odyssey across the Mediterranean, his ship is tossed and turned by wind and waves, and he lands repeatedly on unknown shores. Untold dangers and temptations – among them the enchantingly beautiful shores of the land of the Lotus Eaters – await the voyagers on their journey home. They must outwit the giant cyclops Polyphemus and the powerful sorceress Circe, who changes Odysseus’ companions into pigs and shows him the way to the Underworld, where his dead mother awaits him. Temptations and storms also await on the seas: the sirens try to lure Odysseus with their seductive song, hoping to destroy his ship. And the crew faces near-certain death between the twin horrors of Scylla and Charybdis. When the hungry crew members feast on a herd of cattle that belongs to Helios, the sun god, the angry deities prolong their journey once again. Stranded on Calypso’s paradisical island, Odysseus nearly forgets that he’s trying to find his way home...
Zurich Opera

Dramatic