Anamnesis

A versatile opera which could be performed in concert form with piano or fully staged with strings and electronics, it is divided into ten chapters, or arias, for a single countertenor voice. Musical interludes between the arias thread these chapters together, moving the story forward. This piece requires minimal staging, with the atmosphere created through lighting, potential video projection, simple costuming and the singer’s choreographed movements.

Inspiration for the opera was taken from the word anamnesis itself, the Greek for ‘remembrance’ or ‘memorial’. Associated with the recollection of things from previous existence, it is often used with reference to Platonic philosophy. In the Orthodox Christian context, it refers to the part of the Eucharist in which the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ are recalled – not as a passive memory, but as a dynamic representation that breaks the barrier of time, allowing the faithful to directly enter the mystery.

This work is a meditation on the cycle of a human soul – being born into the natural world, experiencing the encounter, loss and remembrance of his beloved, and ascending to participate in full communion with her once again outside of time. As noted earlier, these reflections on birth, death, love and the soul’s ultimate perfection are here presented through the lens of the personal experience of the librettist. However, the goal of the opera is to touch on themes that affect all people as we strive for an eternal state of unconditional love and supreme connection.