Klutaimnestra
Klutaimnestra is a full length, Afrikaans opera by Cromwell Everson (1925–1991)
Contents
The original text
Said to be the first Afrikaans opera. Based on a classic Greek figure of Clytemnestra.
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 ("speaking choir").
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1967/1968: First performed in Worcester.
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 Unpublished PhD thesis.
"Everson, Cromwell". University of Pretoria. https://www.up.ac.za/sacomposers/article/2755748/everson-cromwell-
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