The Netherlands and Russia have hailed 2013 as a bilateral year, and the Grachtenfestival is celebrating with a number of special concerts. To mark this Dutch-Russian year, composer Monique Krüs was invited to write a chamber opera for a libretto by Sjoerd Kuyper about the life of Peter the Great, founder of St Petersburg, who toured the Netherlands in 1697 and 1698. This performance features six singers accompanied by an unusual ensemble of piano, string quartet, clarinet and horn, led by a conductor. The language of the opera is English, with a generous sprinkling of Russian and Dutch, told from the perspective of Tsar Peter, who is lying on his deathbed and looks back on his life. The musical director is Jos Groenier.
Tsar Peter the Great senses that his end his near. He is tired, his friends are dead, and then there’s that nagging matter of Willem Mons, on trial for obfuscating government money and, what’s more, rumoured to be having an affair with the tsarina. Reason enough, in short, for Peter to descend into a bout of heavy drinking. But when the night sets in, the ghosts of his past return: his stepsister Sophia, his protector Matvejev, his best friend Lefort and his mistress Anna. In them, Peter sees his life pass by. And when morning dawns, he decides to save the condemned Mons from the chopping block – if only he could stay awake…
This program is supported by Stichting John Kasander