''Olegas'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

based on the life of Lithuanian-born Tasmanian wilderness photographer

Olegas Truchanas Olegas Truchanas (22 September 1923 – 6 January 1972) was a Lithuanian- Australian conservationist and nature photographer. He was a key figure in the attempt to stop the damming of the ecologically sensitive Lake Pedder in South West Ta ...

. Music for the opera was composed by

Constantine Koukias Constantine Koukias (born 14 October 1965) is a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. He is the co-founder and artistic director of IHOS Music Theatre ...

a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, where he is known by his Greek name of Konstantin Koukias. The libretto was written by Natasha Cica. Olegas Truchanas was instrumental in bringing the beauty of

Lake Pedder Lake Pedder, once a glacial outwash lake, is a man-made impoundment and diversion lake located in the southwest of Tasmania, Australia. In addition to its natural catchment from the Frankland Range, the lake is formed by the 1972 damming of the ...

in Southwest Tasmania to the attention of the Australian and international public in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the lake and its remarkable pink beach being inundated by a dam constructed to produce hydro-electricity. Sung in Lithuanian and English, the opera's themes are resilience and renewal – qualities that enabled Truchanas to rise from deprivation to find an inner strength and clarity, which he needed to do several times during his life. In addition to the loss of Lake Pedder, Truchanas suffered through World War II in Lithuania; several years later he lost his home (and his photographic work) in the devastating

1967 Tasmanian fires The 1967 Tasmanian fires were an Australian natural disaster which occurred on 7 February 1967, an event which came to be known as the Black Tuesday bushfires. They were the most deadly bushfires that Tasmania has ever experienced, leaving 62 p ...

. Truchanas drowned in the

Gordon River The Gordon River is a major perennial river located in the central highlands, south-west, and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. Course and features The Gordon River rises below Mount Hobhouse in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers Nationa ...

as the flood waters were rising on nearby Lake Pedder. ''Olegas'' is a major opera being developed with the support of Truchanas' widow, Melva. In 2007, IHOS Music Theatre and Opera presented excerpts from the work's three acts, the first set in Lithuania, the second in Tasmania up to and including the fires, and the third set in Tasmania during the Pedder campaign. As noted by Gordon Kerry, this work and an earlier opera by Koukias (''

Tesla – Lightning in His Hand ''Tesla – Lightning in His Hand'' is a large-scale opera about Serbian American engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), composed by Constantine Koukias, a Tasmanian composer and opera director of Greek ancestry based in Amsterdam, whe ...

''), "explore the lives of individuals concerned with elemental forces".Kerry, Gordon 2009, ''New Classical Music: Composing Australia'', UNSW Press, Sydney

References

External links

IHOS Music Theatre and Opera ''Olegas'' web page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olegas (Opera) Operas 2007 operas Multiple-language operas Operas by Constantine Koukias Operas set in Australia