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1.
i fell fell to bits to pieces doctors sewed my hands on where my legs were sewed my eyes on instead of ears my teeth in place of hands and I wandered the streets like this saying hello to people like this — buying potions from the drowned fisherman — selling poisons to the hanged maid treating a shattered boy with honey cookies that woman she sat in the market asked for water made presents of salt to bypassers strangers she had long tentacles for hair sticky unruly she begged „stop scaring passersby“ she begged „stop weaving perdition“ but they disobeyed they were screaming murder squealing and their scream was disturbing the dead „not the time“ they kept saying „now is not the time to officiate rains“ they said the deceased i fell fell to pieces to bits doctors came sewed my legs on to where my belly was reattached eyelids instead of lips replaced my tongue with one of the eyes I wandered the streets like this saying hello to people like this — and that mother she sat in the square with two boys born eyeless telling them of the sea of the sky of the forests and they listened their mouths open and there they were instead of teeth — the sea and the sky and the forests and their childish penises covered in scales penises with venomous fangs reached out to their faces and bit and the boys falling slowly asleep spelled doom to the city prophesied fires and downfall and famine and then ceased to listen once more to their mother telling them of the sea and the sky and the forests i fell fell to bits fell to pieces doctors they sewed my hair on in place of my breasts reattached fingers instead of ribs nipples instead of knees i wandered the streets like this saying hello to people like this — and the wind was blowing maleficent wind carrying odor of the future infirmaries shimmering wind threshing me with its frosts and i saw this wind breathing not like a wind like a demon of harm and death saw it embracing virgins from behind exposing their breasts exposing their thighs saw it kissing their lips covering them with shiver unknown before saw it entering their bodies and planting its poisonous seed planting its poisonous seed in your daughters‘ wombs planting its poisonous seed
2.
I have left for a distant land of red sounds into the earth of ailing colors into the realm of torn up smells under the sky that holds no water under the earth that has no sky under the water where there is no earth to the realm where even emptiness does not exist I the disgraced Queen who has sacrificed her life for the sake of earthly love for a man summer in my homeland – and hounds in sleep are flying the moon waning mad possessed scribbles for me the news on the crumbling furniture of the palace: gold an omen of parting silver an omen of sorrow the purple the usual omen of death summer in my homeland cramped up all furniture should have long been covered with cloth stifling the dead should have long been carried out of the room it is dark the dishes should have long been buried – earth is bleeding in a cup summer in my homeland – angels in sleep are howling Heracles will not come I do not believe the oracles here I shall remain and shall wake up twenty-five centuries later in a common grave of a common woman clad in common clothes and shall die a common death following the prescribed 50 minutes of agony and I shall be the disgraced Queen who has sacrificed her life for the sake of earthly love for a man and all shall be forgotten and all shall be forgotten by you and all shall be forgotten by you forever
3.
I walk my arms keep growing soon blood-carrying branches will crop up on them owls will perch on those branches and puff into my eyes I can hardly see you the living walk too fast I walk behind you my arms keep growing soon they will blossom with mammalian flowers worms will eat those flowers and will cough up my blood I can hardly hear you the living forget too soon I walk behind you step after step my arms keep growing soon carnivorous berries will ripen on them the wicked will drink the juice of the berries they will think I am the tree of Eden the dead have no voice turn around I am your wife for the rest of our death look at me and you go on I‘ll stay here forever
4.
can you hear me? with a shard of an antique mirror that comes from the royal palace of Thebes my former home I slash my belly cold it is in Hades husband of mine enter me to exit as my father can you hear me? with my finger I write in blood on the walls of my cell with my finger I write from the inside of my dried skull I look at you through the windows of the hollows that once held my eyes cold it is in Hades father of mine enter me to exit as my son can you hear me? I tear bed sheets wipe off the blood and weave a ladder to heaven I rip out my womb and raise it in my hands before you I fear neither blood nor pain nor the wrath of gods the dead know not fear cold it is in Hades son of mine enter me to exit as my god can you hear me? each day I ready myself for a long journey I dye my hair with chalk cut the skin of my face with iron rods cover myself with a shroud throw a noose over my neck put a coin in my mouth and stand before you cold it is in Hades god of mine enter me to stay there forever
5.

about

The music of the intimate whisper, choking sounds, spikes, whimpers, groans and four-pianissimo, from which incoherent words, sentences and cautious sounds emerge, fill the whole hour. This vocal score expresses resistance in its existential minimalism.

Gisela Nauck for Deutschlandfunk Kultur (12.12.2017)

Nekyia is Odysseus’ descend in Hades where he speaks to the dead. Each listener becomes Odysseus listening to the voices of Hades – four monologues by the heroes of Ancient Greece mythology: Alexandra, Alcestis, Eurydice and Epicasta.

Dmitri Kourliandski
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Offline version of “Nekyia” was premiered at Voznesensky centre in Moscow, March 13 - May 12, 2019 as an opera-installation combining 4-channel sound and multiscreen video created specially for the project by artist Elena Nemkova.

credits

released March 15, 2019

Nekyia
online opera*
2016

Dmitri Kourliandski: music
Dimitris Yalamas: text**
Elena Nemkova: video***

Performed by soloists of the Electrotheatre Stanislavsky choir:

1. Alexandra: Ekaterina Andreeva
2. Alcestis: Maria Menshenina
3. Eurydice: Tatiana Perevalova
4. Epicaste: Alina Gorina

Music director: Arina Zvereva

Recorded by: Ruslan Zaipold, Electrotheatre Stanislavsky Studio, Moscow, 2016

Special thanks to: Andrei Voznesensky Foundation and Electrotheatre Stanislavsky
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* online opera: the format provides a possibility of listening to solo arias-monologues as well as duos or trios of any combinations by playing the tracks in parallel on different devices or in different windows. The four monologues can be also listened to as a quartet in one track. Whether you are listening in headphones or with loudspeakers, outdoors or indoors – the surrounding everyday reality mixes up with the sounding monologues and becomes the scenic realization of the opera.

** Translated by Stanislav Lvovsky [1], Steven Saymour [2-4]

*** “Retinal poetries” by Elena Nemkova:

The inner layer of the eyes serve to create some moving images on the retina, much the same as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical events that ultimately trigger nerve impulses. These are sent to various visual centres of the brain through the optic nerve.

The colourful scintillate illusions of these Retinal Poetries are the flows of loss of consciousness, a bath of forced Eden, a brain melancholia; even they are driven by very mechanical stimuli.

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FANCYMUSIC Moscow, Russia

FANCYMUSIC is a record label focused on contemporary new music recordings. FANCYMUSIC is a broad platform for a wide variety of contemporary new music composed by different russian musicians. FANCYMUSIC is also a platform on which newer names may be encountered. ... more

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