Rozalie Hirs wrote the libretto for the new opera "The cricket recovers" with music by Richard Ayres, commissioned by the Aldeburgh Festival and Almeida Productions, England, premiered in June 2005. The opera was staged in collaboration with the Brothers Quay. The libretto is based on the story "De genezing van de krekel" by Toon Tellegen, Querido, Netherlands, 1999. The main characters are the cricket, the elephant and the squirrel. Below you find two of the scenes to give you a taste of the project. The English translation is by John Irons. The Cricket Recovers Music: Richard Ayres Text: Rozalie Hirs; based on the story "De genezing van de krekel" by Toon Tellegen Commissioned by the Aldeburgh Festival All rights reserved by the authors and the Aldeburgh Festival, 2003 (Below are two excerpts of the text.) 3 ELEPHANT Really...I ought to climb a tree that's so small that I can't fall out of it. The elephant is walking through the forest. It is early morning. There is dew on the leaves of the bushes he is walking past. The sun is rising. After a little while he comes across the vole. ELEPHANT Hello, vole. VOLE Hello, elephant. ELEPHANT I want to ask you something: Do you know where there's a small tree? VOLE Yes...I happen to know a very small tree. He jumps into the air from sheer pleasure and runs off ahead of the elephant. (shouting) 'S not far now, elephant. Soon be there! 'S not far now, elephant. 'S not far now, elephant. Soon be there! Soon be there! Close to the edge of the forest is a clearing. The vole stops there and points. VOLE Voilà. The elephant can't really see what the vole is pointing at. ELEPHANT Voilà what?! VOLE That tree, there. ELEPHANT Can't see anything. VOLE (pointing) There! ELEPHANT (mumbling) Still can't see anything... The elephant lies flat on his stomach next to where the vole is pointing. Then he sees the tree too. VOLE Small, isn't it? ELEPHANT Yes. I've never seen a tree that small before. Must be really difficult to fall out of a tree like that. The elephant rubs his forepaws together. ELEPHANT Now, vole, you just watch this. VOLE All right. The vole sits down in the grass. The elephant tries to place his foot somewhere and wind his trunk round something. But the tree is so small that he meets with no success. He turns on his axis, staggers, turns completely red, puffs, and climbs a couple of times up his trunk instead of the tree. ELEPHANT (shouts) Very small indeed, vole! VOLE Just take your time! The vole leans back, shuts his eyes and chews on a blade of grass. The elephant is busy for a long time. ELEPHANT It's quite an unusual tree, vole. VOLE (half asleep) Yes, very unusual. Finally the elephant seems to be successful. He has placed his four paws on top of each other, with his trunk around them, with the tree somewhere inside. ELEPHANT (shouts) Yes! Now all I've got to do is keep my balance. Help! VOLE What did you say? ...sweet rye pie with willow bark...on a big table...in the middle of the forest...just for me... The elephant falls over backwards. There is quite a big bang, even though he only falls a tiny bit. When he opens his eyes, the vole is standing before him. VOLE Small, eh? The elephant nods but says nothing and gets up. They walk back together into the forest. ELEPHANT A little bigger would have been all right. VOLE Oh. ELEPHANT But not all that much bigger. VOLE No. ELEPHANT (sighs) Trees are complicated. The vole nods. ELEPHANT Complicated and inevitable. They come to the oak tree. The vole says goodbye to the elephant and goes on his way. VOLE Sweet rye pie...with willow bark… (unconsciously walking a little faster) Sweet...rye...pie...with...willow...bark... The elephant stays put and looks upwards. The sun is shining and the leaves of the oak are rustling. 6 In the middle of the night the cricket's door opens. The cricket does not dare move an inch. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see someone enter. CRICKET Who can that be? Could it be someone nasty, someone really, really nasty? I've heard that such a person exists, but I've never seen such a person. ... (hoarsely) Who are you? The unknown person looks round, lifts up the cricket's bed and looks underneath it, opens the cupboard, takes a jar of candied dandelions and sits down at the table. GALLWORM The gallworm. The gallworm waits for a bit. GALLWORM (with a shrill voice) Hello, gallworm! CRICKET (softly) Hello, gallworm. GALLWORM Thought so. It is quite silent for a moment. CRICKET I'm the cricket. The gallworm does not say anything, eats the contents of the jar and goes over to the window. He looks out into the pitch-dark night. CRICKET Never heard of him before. What are you doing here? The gallworm clears its throat. GALLWORM (with the same shrill voice) Nice, gallworm. How nice to have an unexpected visit! CRICKET I... ...what else should I say? GALLWORM (sings shrilly and noisily) I sing the song of fisticuffs, of loathing, the song of fisticuffs and loathing once more I sing... The lamp swings wildly and the walls crack. CRICKET Shall I say that I've this gloomy feeling in my head and that it's the middle of the night? The cricket does not interrupt the gallworm. GALLWORM (continues to sing shrilly and noisily) ... of fisticuffs, of loathing, the song of fisticuffs and loathing, that song I sing once more I sing... Finally the song is over. GALLWORM (after a few moments of deep silence) Thank you for your applause. Thank you so much. CRICKET I...? GALLWORM Care for a dance? The gallworm gets onto the bed and pulls out the cricket. CRICKET I'm gloomy. I've got a gloomy feeling in my head. GALLWORM Who cares…! CRICKET I don't understand what he means. The cricket's knees give way after the first step, so heavy is the feeling in his head. CRICKET The feeling in my head is so heavy. The gallworm lifts up the cricket and stuffs him under his bed. GALLWORM You're a great dancer, gallworm, thank you so much, gallworm! The gallworm then overturns the table, the chair and the cupboard and sweeps everything on the shelves onto the ground at one go. GALLWORM (mumbling) A little mess is the least... Then he goes over to the door and looks around once more. GALLWORM (shrieks) Thank you for such a nice visit, gallworm... (and with a deeper voice) Oh, it was nothing, cricket... CRICKET (from under the bed) I'm sorry! I'm sorry! The gallworm steps outside and disappears into the darkness. He leaves the door open, so that the dark night wind then blows it open and shut all the time. The cricket lies under his bed and is unable to get up. CRICKET That was a gloomy visit. He tries to nod to himself. CRICKET When you're gloomy, everything's gloomy. The cricket shuts his eyes and puts his front paws round his knees. His back cracks and there is a sawing and drilling sound inside his head. CRICKET (talking to the gloomy feeling) What are you doing in there? ... (to himself) I feel very sad.