Die toten Augen

Libretto by Hanns Heinz Ewers after Marc Henry (G)

7S,M,A,3T,2Bar,B; chorus
3(III=picc).3(III=corA).3(III=bcl).3-4.5.3.1-timp.perc-2harps-cel-strings

Jerusalem in Roman times

Myrtocle, wife of the Roman envoy, Arcesius, is blind. She loves her ugly husband passionately, believing him to be more handsome than even the god Eros himself. Arcesius does not disillusion her for he is afraid that she would not love him if she knew of his ugliness. When Jesus of Nazareth comes to the town and everyone talks about the miracles that he performs, Myrtocle is taken to him and her sight is restored. Returning home, she meets the handsome captain, Aurelius Galba, Arcesius' friend, whom she takes to be her husband. Aurelius reciprocates her kisses and embraces but Arcesius, from a hiding place, has witnessed the misunderstanding and he kills Aurelius in a fit of mad jealousy. Myrtocle is horrified when she learns from her maid that it is not the dead man who is her husband but the misshapen murderer, who had seemed to her like a wild animal. To save their love, Myrtocle decides to sacrifice the light of her eyes that she has just regained. She lets the sun's rays blind her and allows Arcesius to believe that she never saw him.

Dramatic, Poetic, Romantic, Tragic