Klutaimnestra
Klutaimnestra is a full length, Afrikaans opera by Cromwell Everson (1925–1991)
Contents
The original text
Said to be the first Afrikaans opera.
The opera conveys Afrikaner sentiments of oppression by the British. It has has three central themes or characteristics: first, it portrays women and children in concentration camps; second, the oppression of a powerful nation; and third, the oppressed nation’s rise to power. Written in Afrikaans to “uplift” Afrikaans to a language equal to that of Western European languages used in opera.
The whole work is based on a twelve-tone motive and makes use of a contrapuntal “spreekkoor”. It was performed in 1968 in Worcester.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1967: First performed.
Sources
Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.
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