Life with an Idiot (Russian: Жизнь с идиотом, romanized: 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.

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

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 2

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

Further reading

• The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Amanda Holden (Viking, 1993).
• Del Teatro (in Italian).