According to Rue Morgue magazine, composer Dennis Báthory-Kitzs has created a chamber opera that tells the life of Countess Elizabeth Bathory. The opera, titled Erzsébet, takes the story of the Blood Countess to a new level, exploring in depth the life of this legendary woman.
Elizabeth Bathory is best known for killing over 600 young women, it is believed by most that she tortured them, bathed in and drank their blood. Báthory-Kitzs did some hardcore research and learned that not all was as it should be. “Most of the legends were false, and the untold part of the story, her actual historical character, was left unexplored.”
The opera is set to open in Vermont this fall, but Báthory-Kitzs is currently in the process of raising the $12,000 he needs to stage the production (you can help him out by going HERE).
As for the details on the show – it’s an hour long and is compromised of a musical ensemble of eight, with the addition of one vocalist to play the Countess. “Because the tale is complicated, it’s tricky to make this work,” said Báthory-Kitzs. “So I have the Countess tell part of the story as if talking to herself and others who are offstage, sometimes as if speaking with her children, and other times simply reflecting on her own life and her fate … In other words, she has to invent interactions that the audience perceives as real, or at least real in her own imagination. And that’s the nice thing about monodrama format: the entire world is viewed through the actions of the main character.”
Erzsébet is currently set to come out October, 2011 and will star Lisa Jablow and the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble with production and lighting design by Jan Herder and stage design by Pavel Kraus.
For more information on the production visit their official website HERE.
To read Rue Morgue’s excellent article and interview with Dennis Báthory-Kitzs pick up a copy of the magazine HERE.
– Moonlight
5 comments