The Tsar, his wife, her lover and his head       

Libretto                      Sjoerd Kuyper

English                        Monique Krüs

Commission            Aurora Festival Groningen (NL)

Premiere                   August 2nd 2013, Groninger Museum, Groningen, more shows

                                         in the Hermitage Museum, Amsterdam        

The former Peter the Great (now: Aurora) Festival invited Krüs to write a chamber opera with accessible music, suited for singers who are just starting their career. Together with singers Marion van den Akker and Marcel Reijans from the Festival, Krüs decided to let the six roles be sung by six different voice-types, to make all kinds of vocal ensembles possible.

For Krüs this opera marked a new step in her career: she was asked to conduct it herself - and she loved it!

Peter the Great looks back upon his life. His youth with his cruel stepsister Sofia, the happy times in Holland with best friend Lefort and falling in love with Lefort's fiancee Anna. And now he's sick and paranoid, drinks too much and on top of it all his wife Catherine betrays him with her fraudulous chamberlain Willem Mons.

Willem is convicted to death for fraud and Catherine begs Peter to show him mercy.

Peter decides to do so, but falls asleep after drinking too much...

Of course he wakes up too late and lets Willem's head be taken to Catherine's room.

She bids Willem farewell and shows her love for Peter again.

In the epilogue-like finale everybody gathers around Peter to tell him he was a good Tsar.