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KAMOURASKA by Charles Wilson Opera in two acts Libretto by the composer, after
the novel by Anne Hébert (1970) Composed 1974-75 Workshop reading: 17 May
2008, The Edward Jackman Centre, Toronto Kamouraska is based on the
novel by the same name written by Anne Hébert. Set in 19th century Quebec, it
tells the story of a woman, Elisabeth D’Aulnières, who conspires with her
lover George Nelson, an American doctor, to kill her husband, the Squire of
Kamouraska. The narrative begins with Elisabeth beside the death bed of her
second husband, Jérôme Rolland, a notary. Her story is told in a series of
flashbacks with little or no regards to a linear order of events or places,
disconcertingly linking the facts in Elizabeth’s life through emotional
highlights as if in a dream. Soon enough we meet the younger Elizabeth, her
life under the tutelage of her three aunts at the age of 15, her plunge into
an abusive relationship with her first husband Antoine Tassy, her court
appearances and her fateful meeting with George Nelson on one of those
occasions in which the pregnant young wife was brutally assaulted by Antoine.
The illicit affair between wife and doctor is assisted by the young servant
Aurelie Caron. After an initial attempt at murder, it is George who finishes
the deed culminating in the trial proceedings against both Elizabeth and Aurelie
while George evades Quebec justice by fleeing to the United States. Elizabeth
was ultimately acquitted of wrong doing for lack of evidence. |