Dmitri Smirnov (*1948) TIRIEL, Op. 41 [1985] Opera in 3 acts (9 scenes) by Dmitri Smirnov based on a poem by William Blake English – German by Paul Esterházy full eve Tiriel, an old, blind king ........................... baritone Har, his father ................................. tenor Heva, his mother .............................. soprano Ijim, his brother ................................ tenor Zazel, his brother ................................ bass Hela, his daughter ............................. soprano Mnetha, Hars and Heva’s nurse ........................ contralto Myratana, Tiriel’s wife ............................ silent role Tiriel’s sons (and daughters) ................. men‘s choir/mixed choir ad lib. Zazel’s sons ............................... men's choir Nightingale, tiger, birds and flowers........................ ballet 3(picc).3(ob d’amore, cor anglais).3(bass clar).soprano sax. baritone sax.3(db bn) – 4.3.3.1 – 4-5 perc (timp, tgl, jingles, crot, claves, guiro, flex, 3 temple bl, 2 wood bl, 2 bongos, 5 tom-t, tamb, side dr, field dr, bass dr, cym, susp.cym, sizzle cym, bells, 3 gongs, tam-t, glsp, xyl, vibr, lion’s roar). harp. cel. strings King Tiriel, his dying wife Myratana in his arms, returns to his former palace. After he had become blind, his sons had rebelled against him. Tiriel then went with his wife into the wilderness, where he hoped in vain for the destruction of his sons. Myratana dies and her sons bury her. Tiriel holds them responsible for the death of their mother, but the curse he pronounces over them has no effect. Tiriel goes wandering again and ends up in the valley of the river Har, where he has been brought up. Without recognising him, his parents Har and Heva ask him to stay. Tiriel continues his travels, however, and meets his brother Iyim in the forest. When he sees Tiriel, Iyim thinks he is beholding an evil apparition and leads his brother to his palace. Tiriel’s sons are disgusted over the return of their father. Frightened, Iyim returns to the forest. The blind king repeats his curse, however, which this time has a terrible effect; only his daughter Hela is unaffected by it. He forces her to lead him to his parents. Agitated by her hate, he also curses his daughter; snakes begin to grow in her hair. Travelling, he encounters his other brother Zarel and his sons, once his slaves, who now mock him. Having arrived at his parents’, he curses them as well, but the curse spoken against his father turns back on him, and everything is destroyed with him..