Life with an Idiot (Russian: Жизнь с идиотом) is an opera by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. The libretto is by Viktor Yerofeyev. It was first performed at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam on 13 April 1992. The opera is an allegory of Soviet oppression.
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"...
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Life with an Idiot (Russian: Жизнь с идиотом) is an opera by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. The libretto is by Viktor Yerofeyev. It was first performed at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam on 13 April 1992. The opera is an allegory of Soviet oppression.
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".
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.
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