| Nausicaa | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Peggy Glanville-Hicks | |
&sq=crain_ford&lang=en&file=File:Jean_Veber_-_Ulysses_and_Nausicaa,_1888_Cropped.jpg) Jean Veber - Ulysses and Nausica (detail), 1888 | |
| Translation | Ναυσικά (in Greek) |
| Librettist | Robert Graves, Alastair Reid |
| Language | English and Greek |
| Based on | Robert Graves' Homer's Daughter |
| Premiere | August 19, 1961 |
| Other | Prologue and 3 Acts |
Nausicaa (Greek: Ναυσικά, Greek pronunciation: [nafsiˈka]) is an opera in three acts by the Australian composer and music critic Peggy Glanville-Hicks. Most of the work's libretto was sourced from Robert Graves' 1955 novel Homer's Daughter, and it was written by Graves and the librettist Alastair Reid; the soloists' words were set in English and the choruses in Greek. In terms of rhythm, form and melody, the opera's music echoes the Greek musical tradition.
The opera's story is an adaptation of the myth of Nausicaa and Odysseus. In the libretto, Odysseus is replaced by "Aethon", a shipwrecked nobleman from Crete, who, upon reaching a shore after the shipwreck, gets to meet Nausicaa, a princess romantically besieged by a set of suitors taking advantage of her father's absence. Aethon enters the palace disguised as a beggar and, following goddess Athena's instructions, eventually manages to exterminate the suitors and marry Nausicaa. Following Graves' work, the opera's fable concludes with the depiction of Nausicaa as the author of a different version of The Odyssey.
The opera was composed from 1958 to 1960 for the Athens Festival, at which it was premiered on 1961, with soprano Teresa Stratas embodying the title role at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. More than 150 contributors collaborated for a total of three performances at the festival, after which the opera became one of the two best known works by the composer, the other being The Transposed Heads. Despite its success, the opera has not yet been produced since 1961.