Tiriel (Russian: Тириэль, 1985) is opera by  Dmitri Smirnov in three acts (9 scenes) with Symphonic Prologue  to his own libretto after a poem of the same title by William Blake.  Language: English (also translated to Russian and German). 

 
==Creation and performance history==

The opera was composed during 1983-1985 in  Russia. The libretto combines the text  from Blake's early symbolic work "Tiriel" (c1789) with the addition of  five of his poems:  the Introduction and The Divine Image from the Songs of Innocence (1789),  The Tyger and A Divine Image from the Songs of Experience (1789-1794), and A Cradle Song from his Note-book (Manuscript D. G. Rossetti, 1793).

The premiere took place on January 28, 1989, at the Stattheater, Freiburg (Germany) with subsequent performances on January 31, February 2, 11, 19, March 15, 30, and April 13. 

German translation: Paul Esterhazy
Stage director: Siegfried Shoenbohm 
Decorations: Brigitte  Friesz
Costumes: Renate Schmitzer
Choreography: Krisztina Horvath
Conductor: Gerchard Markson. 

==Roles==

Tiriel, the old and blind king – baritone:  Rudolf Kostas
Har, his father – tenor: George Maran
Heva, his mother – soprano: Melinda Liebermann
Ijim, his brother –  tenor: Grant Wollaber
Zazel, his brother – bass: Jasse Ciston/Friedemann Kunder
Hela, his daughter – soprano: Annette Robbert
Mnetha, nurse of Har and Heva – contralto: Kathrin Asman
Myratana, Tiriel's wife –  silent role: Elke Buerger
Nightingale – dancer: Antoinette Laurent
Tiger – dancer: Mauno Hyvaerinen
Tiriel's sons (and daughter) –  male chorus (or mixed chorus) 
Zasel's sons –  male chorus 
Birds and flowers – dancers 

Time and Place: at the dawn of time

Duration 113 minutes. 

==Scoring==

Singers and actors: 7 singers; male chorus; actress; dancers;
Orchestra: 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 saxophones, 3 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 4-5 percussion players (5 timpani, triangle, sonagli, cymbals, 3 gongs, claves, 3 temple blocks, 2 wood blocks, 2 bongos, 5 tom-toms, tambourin, side drum, guiro, bambusi, lion's roar, cassa rulante, bass drum, tam-tam, crotales, flexatone, tubular bells, glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, celesta, harp, and strings.

==Publishers==

This work is represented by Boosey & Hawkes in the UK, British Commonwealth (excluding Canada) and the Republic of Ireland
Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski, Hamburg, for Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Netherlands, Portugal, Scandinavia, Turkey. 

==Music and sound example==

Sound sample: The beginning of the Scene 1 ==Synopsis== The blind and aged king, Tiriel, calls down curses on his sons whom he has summoned to observe their mother’s death. The sons bury their mother, but declare that they have tired of their father’s tyranny and now will rebel against it. So Tiriel sets off wandering into the mountains. Eventually he comes to the ‘pleasant gardens’ in the Vales of Har, where he finds his own parents, Har and Heva, who are both quite senile and have become like children again. They invite Tiriel to help them catch birds and listen to Har’s singing in the ‘great cage’. In madness and dismay, Tiriel abandons them and sets out further on his wanderings. Tiriel’s wild brother Ijim finds him, captures him and takes him back to his children who are living in what once was his own palace. Tiriel, ever madder and more enraged, curses his children yet more passionately, calling down thunder and pestilence and destroying them. Doing so, he sends his favourite daughter Hela mad. Nonetheless it is Hela who must guide Tiriel back to his parents in the Vales of Har. On the way through the mountains they pass caves which are the home of another of Tiriel’s brothers, Zazel. Zazel, together with his sons, hurls dirt and stones at Tiriel and his daughter. Eventually Tiriel and Hela arrive once more at the tent in the Vales of Har, where Har and Heva live. In a final speech, Tiriel explains how his father’s laws and his own wisdom now ‘end together in a curse’. And he dies at his parents’ feet. Over Tiriel’s body the goddess Mnetha sings a lullaby to mankind who sleeps forever.  ==Quotations== "It is important when presenting works like Tiriel in the West not to apologize for what might seem to be naпve. Russians feel the way they do because they want to, not because they can't do anything else. In this respect, the Freiburgers' musical performance struck me as exemplary..." (Gerard McBurney)

==External links==

text of poem (1)
text of poem (2)
Review
Recording
Boosey & Hawkes page
Wikipedia page