Alzheimer's Aria
A British woman has written an opera about Alzheimer's diseaseCopper news
The premiere of an opera about Alzheimer's disease, written by Russian-born composer Elena Langer, took place in London, the London Evening Standard reports (Memories are made of this: How Alzheimer's inspired an opera). The work was performed at the Royal Opera in London.
When Langer and the author of the libretto Glyn Maxwell (Glyn Maxwell) were working on the creation of the opera, the head of the production company Opera Group James Fulljames (James Fulljames) suggested that they contact the Institute of Psychiatry in London. After that, the composer and poet repeatedly met with scientists, attended presentations, and also communicated with patients, their relatives and nurses. According to Langer, this helped to make the characters of the opera more real. Interestingly, the performers of the main roles have the closest relatives suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Starring Dave Hill.
The work, called "The Lion's Face", tells about an elderly man who is gradually losing his memory due to illness, and the different attitude towards him from his wife, doctor and doctor's daughter.
Langer has no relatives suffering from Alzheimer's disease. However, her mother had an episode of memory loss when she did not recognize her own daughter, which, according to the composer, helped her understand how the relatives of the patients felt.
As Professor Simon Lovestone, who worked with the authors of the opera, noted, "music speaks to us at the deepest level, starting from early childhood, and is the kind of perception of the world that is lost last."