Life with an Idiot

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. Written as an allegory of oppression under the Soviet Union,[1] the opera was first performed at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, on 13 April 1992.

Life with an Idiot
Opera by Alfred Schnittke
The composer
Native title	Жизнь с идиотом
Librettist	Viktor Erofeyev
Premiere	13 April 1992 (1992-04-13) Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast Conductor: Mstislav Rostropovich
I	baritones	Dale Duesing/Romain Bischoff
Wife	soprano	Teresa Ringholz
Vova	tenor	Howard Haskin
Guard	bass	Leonid Zimnenko
Marcel Proust	baritone	Robbin Leggate

Synopsis

Act One

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".

Act Two

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.

Recordings

• Life with an Idiot (live recording of premiere cast), Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Rostropovich (Sony)

References

1. Penguin, p. 382.

Sources

• The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Holden (Viking, 1993).
• Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Discs (Penguin, 1993).
• Del Teatro (in Italian).
• Amadeus Online.