Lair of the Beholder
The Lair of the Beholder is a tragic Opera by Cantonovan Half-Elf composer Katerina Woyznic, written in Y1055-59 and premiered in Y1060. Despite its critical acclaim and the concert popularity of several of its arias including "The Rogue's Aria" and "The Enchantress Weaves a Deadly Spell," it is rarely performed today due to its infamous association with the Curse of the Eldritch Play.
Summary
A party of three adventurers—a beautiful Elvish Enchanter (The Enchantress, soprano), a Paladin devoted to the gods of order and light (The Champion, tenor), and a skilled but endlessly paranoid Human assassin (The Rogue, mezzo-soprano)—explore an abandoned cave rumored to be the last resting place of a cult of chaos. They are shocked to find a single member of the cult left alive (The Summoner, bass-baritone), who warns them to turn back or face a certain, painful death. The party argues amongst themselves: the Champion believes the Summoner to be a liar, the Rogue trusts him and wishes to turn back, and the Enchantress insists that, whether or not he is a liar, they can use him to get closer to their goal. She weaves a powerful enchantment spell that makes him fall in love with her, and he agrees to lead them further into the chamber. Soon, they discover that the evil he summoned is a beholder, which has been controlling him this entire time. The beholder attacks and kills the party, except for the paranoid Rogue; given the choice between attempting to rescue his party (or at least die a hero's death beside them) and fleeing back to the surface to live with the guilt, he chooses the latter, as the beholder slowly turns the others to stone.Historical Details
History
By Y1055, 30-year-old composer Woyznic had written a number of well-received song cycles, but had been desperate to write an opera for many years. She wrote directly to the Royal Arts Commission of Cantonova outlining the opera she wished to have commissioned: a dark tragedy loosely based on the story of the Cave of the Banished Scholars and the many adventuring parties who had died plumbing its depths. The council ignored her letters for many years; nevertheless, she worked on the opera as best she could, finally completing the score in Y1059.
Woyznic sent the score to both the Royal Arts Commission and the College of the Arena in Cape Hildegard upon its completion. She was prepared for rejection from the Commission, and was in the process of planning travel to Cape Hildegard to meet with the dean of the College of the Arena for a discussion about the opera's premiere, when she received a personal letter from Robert Murgatroyd, celebrated bass-baritone and recent appointee to the RAC. He insisted upon personally sponsoring the opera's premiere at the Cantonova Opera House and singing the role of the Summoner, which the composer gladly accepted.
The premiere was given on 27 October Y1060 at the Cantonova Opera House with a star-studded cast: soprano Lana Trebenko as the Enchantress, tenor Laurence Brownleaf as the Champion, mezzo-soprano Pauline Calbus as the Rogue, and Murgatroyd as the evil Summoner. During the opera's third act, however, a devastating storm hit the opera house, destroying part of its façade and quickly flooding the pit and audience floor. The cast, crew, and even Woyznic herself leapt into action to help as many people as possible escape the flooding; as a result, there were relatively few fatalities, but Woyznic and all four main singers were among them.
Legacy
The opera is rarely performed in its entirety, due to the superstition associated with the Curse of the Eldritch Play. However, its main soprano and mezzo-soprano arias are popular in recital, and its dramatic, dissonant score is widely studied by music theorists and bards as an example of extremely effective modern vocal writing.
Type
Manuscript, Musical
Medium
Paper
Authoring Date
Y1060
Location
Comments