''Rembrandt's Wife'' is a chamber opera composed by Andrew Ford with libretto by

Sue Smith Sue Smith may refer to: * Sue Smith (politician) (born 1951), member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council *Sue Smith (footballer) (born 1979), English footballer *Sue Smith (trainer) (born 1948), British horse trainer *Sue Smith (writer) Sue Smi ...

. It explores the relationships of Dutch artist

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

with three women: the death of his wife

Saskia Saskia is a Germanic feminine given name. There are at least two different sources of the name. One is of North German and Northeast Netherlands origin, where it originally meant "a Saxon woman" ( metathesis of "Saxia"). Notable people with the nam ...

, the madness of his former lover

Geertje Dircx Geertje Dircx (; 1610-1615 – c. 1656) was the lover of Rembrandt van Rijn after the death of his wife Saskia. She was hired as a wetnurse to the painter's son Titus, but lived with Rembrandt as his lover for several years. The relation ...

and his muse to be,

Hendrickje Stoffels Hendrickje Stoffels (1626 – 21 July 1663) was the longtime partner of Rembrandt. The couple were unable to marry because of the financial settlement linked to the will of Rembrandt's deceased wife Saskia, but they remained together until Hendri ...

. Smith was inspired to write the opera when, at an exhibition of the artist's etchings, she learned that he sold the burial plot and headstone of his wife.

Victorian Opera Victorian Opera is an opera company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company was founded in 2005 by the Victorian Government as a replacement for the Victoria State Opera. It commenced operations in January 2006 with Richard Gill as ...

premiered the work at the CUB Malthouse, Melbourne in April 2009, conducted by Richard Gill. For ''Rembrandt's Wife'', Ford and Smith received a Melbourne

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

for New Australian Opera. Smith's libretto received the

AWGIE Award for Music Theatre The AWGIE Award for Music Theatre is awarded by the Australian Writers Guild at the annual AWGIE Awards for Australian performance writing. The award is for the script/text, lyrics or book of works written for the theatre in which music plays an ...

in 2010.

References

{{reflist 2009 operas English-language operas Operas Works about Rembrandt Operas set in the 17th century Cultural depictions of Dutch women Operas set in the Netherlands Cultural depictions of Rembrandt Operas based on real people