Kaija Saariaho Innocence
An Opera in Five Acts
Original Finnish Libretto by Sofi Oksanen
Multilingual Libretto by Aleksi Barrière
Vocal Score
Piano reduction by Raimonds Zelmenis
Chester Music
Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence was jointly commissioned by the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, Dutch National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and San Francisco Opera.
The first performance took place on 3 July 2021 at the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, given by Magdalena Kožená, Sandrine Piau, Tuomas Pursio, Lilian Farahani, Markus Nykänen, Jukka Rasilainen, with Simon Stone (stage director), the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Susanna Mälkki.
Duration: c. 1 hour 45 minutes to be presented without interval
CH88171 EAN 5020679003411
Music Setting by Raimonds Zelmenis
© 2019 Chester Music Ltd
Published in Great Britain by Chester Music Limited (Part of Wise Music Group)
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Act I
Prelude ..………………..………............................1
Scene 1: The Aftermath ...…………….……...........9
Scene 2: The Wedding .…………..…….................17
Scene 3: The Aftermath ..…………...…….............29
Scene 4: The Wedding ..………..………................40
Act II
Scene 5: The Wedding …….………......................51
Scene 6: The Aftermath …………………...............56
Scene 7: The Wedding …….………......................62
Scene 8: The Aftermath ……..………................... 75
Scene 9: On That Morning ……..………...............83
Act III
Scene 10: The Wedding .....………......................90
Scene 11: It .................…………………...............106
Scene 12: The Wedding .….………......................127
Scene 13: The Aftermath .…..………................... 142
Scene 14: The Wedding .….………......................162
Act IV
Scene 15: On That Night .....………......................168
Scene 16: The Wedding .….………......................180
Scene 17: Before The Shooting .…......................188
Scene 18: The Wedding .….………......................194
Scene 19: Before The Shooting .…......................202
Act V
Scene 20: The Wedding .....………......................208
Scene 21: A Gang of Three/Before The Wedding 228
Scene 22: The Wedding .….………......................229
Scene 23: After The Shooting .………................... 235
Scene 24: The Wedding .….………......................240
Epilogue
Scene 25: The Future ......….………......................264
Characters
and their native languages
At the wedding (sung roles)
The Waitress (Tereza) – Czech – mezzo-soprano
The Bride (Stela) – Romanian – lyric soprano
The Mother-In-Law (Patricia) – French – coloratura soprano
The Bridegroom (Tuomas) – Finnish/French – tenor
The Father-In-Law (Henrik) – Finnish – baritone
The Priest – Finnish – bass-baritone
Chorus (about 32 singers)
The communication language is English.
In the realm of memories (spoken and sung roles – all amplified)
The Teacher (Cecilia) – English – singer
Student 1 (Markéta) – Czech/Finnish – folk singer
Student 2 (Lilly) – Swedish – singer/actor
Student 3 (Iris) – French – actor
Student 4 (Anton) – German – actor (musical skills needed)
Student 5 (Jerónimo) – Spanish – actor (musical skills needed)
Student 6 (Alexia) – Greek – actor
These characters may be speaking to each other, or to themselves. Child actors may be used to represent the characters at the time of their memories. However, in no way should the Shooter be represented on stage.
Original Finnish Libretto by Sofi Oksanen
Text Dramaturgy and Multilingual Libretto by Aleksi Barrière.
Translations created with the assistance of Camilla Hoitenga (English), Linda Dušková (Czech), Carlos Alberto Pérez Tabares (Spanish), Isabelle Kranabetter (German), Viktor Sjöström (Swedish), Eleni Podara (Greek) and David Kozma (Romanian), and the cast and crew of the premiere.
Notation
Accidentals apply throughout the bar to notes in the same octave and the same stave
Trills should always be played up a semitone, unless otherwise specified
Singers
air (inhale – exhale) / breathy tone
x whispered
Synopsis
The wedding takes place in Helsinki in the 21st century, on a summer evening.
There has been a shooting at an international school in Helsinki: ten students and one teacher have been killed. A student of the school shot them with a weapon he stole from his father’s cupboard. Because he was underage at the moment of the deed, he didn’t face criminal charges, but was handled by Child protection and then processed to psychiatric care.
Ten years later, the shooter’s younger brother is getting married to a woman he met in Romania. The bride doesn’t know about the past events. This younger brother wanted to marry someone who wouldn’t see him first and foremost as the shooter’s brother. The family has decided it would be better to hide the shooter-brother’s existence from the bride.
One of the waiters of the company organizing the wedding’s catering has fallen ill, and a waitress called as a replacement happens to be the mother of one of the shooting’s victims. It is only upon arrival that she understands to whose wedding she has been sent, and she is even more shocked when she understands from an overheard conversation that the shooter has recently been released and has started a new life under a new identity. He has not been invited to the wedding though, because the bridegroom doesn’t want to see his brother ever again.
This is too much for the waitress. As she is serving the wedding cake, she snaps, and demands explanations for the shooter’s actions from his parents. The waitress’s unforeseen behaviour forces the family to tell the bride about the tragedy. Her reaction is not the one they had expected: she is ready to forgive the lies she has been told, because it is her husband she fell in love with, not his family.
Nevertheless the bridegroom leaves his wife. This fortuitous encounter has revealed to him that he is unable to escape from his past and his family, even though he has been trying so very hard to do so.
The bridegroom considers himself responsible for the tragedy. He knew his brother was secretly practising shooting and even took part in those sessions. He did so, because he admired his elder brother and craved for his approval. To him it was a game, but had he told someone about it, the tragedy could have been avoided. He has kept this secret to himself all this time.
The story is not centred on the shooter’s motivations and psyche, but rather on the victims and on how the rampage has impacted their lives. The plot brings to light people who have been influential to the deed, and none of them is innocent.
Sofi Oksanen and Aleksi Barrière
Sound Design
A performance of Innocence requires the enactment of the sound design crafted under the supervision of the composer, aimed at balancing acoustic sound sources and creating effects of spatialization and reverberation adjusted to the venue’s acoustics. A full technical rider for this sound design, created by sound engineer Timo Kurkikangas, is available from the publisher upon request.
- The voices of performers using unusual vocal techniques are amplified. This amplification is designed to blend with the orchestra’s sound in the same way the singing voices do naturally: its volume should therefore never be pushed to a level that sounds artificial.
- The main singers are also amplified for very discreet, delicate support, calibrated during performance to also not sound artificial.
- The choir and orchestra are also amplified, processed with reverb, and spatialized, to achieve a perfect balance with the other sonic components.
To achieve the most immersive and natural effect, the sound design requires live calibration during performances, the use of a sound localization calculation engine to match the positions of the performers on stage, and a specific placement of speakers on stage and in the house adapted to each venue. It should be implemented by a sound engineer familiar with the piece or the composer’s other music.
Kaija Saariaho
About the surtitling of Innocence
The basis for any surtitling or subtitling of this work should be the official English translation of the libretto contained in the score. This translation has also served as a basis for the French and German translations, which have been reviewed and amended by the creators.
In case one of these three versions is used in surtitles and requires adaptations (to a local dialect, or to fit into the displays) these adaptations need to be run by the creators via the publisher before the premiere. So does any other adaptation in any other language.
Because of the quantity of text, we would strongly encourage physically inserting the surtitles more organically into the staging than is customary in opera, to allow for a more comfortable reading experience. This also entails avoiding cuts in the text as much as possible, so as to follow the flow of the delivery on stage and not distract the audience with discrepancies between what is heard and what is read.
The full perception of multilingualism is intrinsic to the experience of Innocence. In an ideal situation, all text is displayed in the original languages as well as in translation, allowing for a better perception of language shifts and of nuances in text. In a situation where this is not possible and where the surtitles are monolingual, it is preferable to indicate the language that is being sung by using different text colors for each of the nine languages.
The text sung by the choir should also be surtitled and preferably styled in a specific way, italics being the most common solution. It may be omitted when the choir is merely echoing the voice of a protagonist (e.g. in scenes 6, 8, 10...). But when the choir provides a haunting counterpoint to the main action, the surtitles should reflect that superposition: for instance, the names of the victims being recited over the dialogue in scenes 12 and 20, or each occurrence of the names of Stela and Tuomas.
The inclusion or omission of scene numbers and titles, and of stage instructions, is a choice left to the directorial team.
Aleksi Barrière
I
Scene 1: The Aftermath
Molto giocoso, espressivo e = 160
(The Waitress fills glasses, the guests raise a toast. The Bride stands up.)
(Vibr.) (Tpts) (Str.) (Tbnes)
Scene 3: The Aftermath
Subito impazientemente q = 120
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
Sometimes I wake up in the closet, / sometimes under my bed
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
I can’t be in places / where my phone has to be switched off
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
I can’t go to work, / I can’t board a plane
(Fl.)
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
I can’t go to my classes, / I can’t go to the theatre
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
Sometimes I wake up in the closet, / sometimes under my bed
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
I can’t be in places / where my phone has to be switched off
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
I can’t go to the theatre, / or to the movies
Loud individual whisper or half-voice: natural, agitated speaking, repeat freely until your next sentence.
I can’t go to work, / I can’t board a plane
as before, always individiual p
Before those were places, / where monsters lurked.
Now they are the places / where I get the best sleep.
Now they are the places / where I get the best sleep.
Calm, as if reading a fairy tale or recalling something very ancient.
Speak or sing in given rhythm, following the given pitches. No portamento or glissando between the notes.
we would of ten play school,
When
& & & & & V
as before: rhythmically precise, forced, but always natural intonation
feroce (A. Fl.)
Senza
STUDENT 6
Scene 4: The Wedding
(The Mother-in-law and the Father-in-law watch from a distance, as a photographer takes pictures of the bridal couple)
Con tenerezza
(unis.)
= c60
humming, opening and closing mouth individually
humming, opening and closing mouth individually
humming, opening and closing mouth individually P
humming, opening and closing mouth individually P
? ? ?
ACT II Scene 5: The Wedding
(The Waitress lays the table for the wedding meal.)
Espressivo e = c92
WAITRESS: That name ended my life ten years ago.
Molto dolore, subito libero (q = c46)
Scene 6: The Aftermath
speaking in given rhythm, following the given pitches
calm, as before, absent-minded
our first born now,
aren’t more guests at the
(The Waitress comes to offer drinks. The Mother-In-Law runs away crying. The Father-In-Law drinks the wine as if it were water and is already pretty drunk.)
(The Waitress can’t take it anymore, she knocks over a glass and starts cleaning up.)
Scene 8: The Aftermath
Calmo, con tristezza q = c54
Calm, dreamlike with a natural young girl’s voice. p dolce (Solo Vl.) (Harp, Cel.)
Scene 9: On That Morning
rhythmically precise, forced, but always natural intonation
(Str. pizz.) intense, articulate STUDENT 4
* Cadenzas 1, 2 and 3: these short cadenzas will be improvised by the singer of Student 1’s role, based on the material in these specific measures. STUDENT 1: And I left my parents arguing, as usual, and on the way to school I sang a song I had made up the night before.
Sempre giocoso (q = c80)
Scene 10: The Wedding
(The Bride accidentally stumbles on her train, and rips it. The Waitress happens to be nearby.)
Would you mind
(Dance of the wedding couple.)
Onirico, sensibile {q = c120}
Scene 11: IT
hap pen’ d, hap pen’ d,
hap pen’ d, hap pen’ d
grabs Student 1's hand.)
STUDENT 1: Anna was pretty, Anna was blond and she always smiled, ever-smiling Anna. And girls like that, they always get their way. She stepped towards the shooter and asked him to stop, because we are taught to settle conflicts through discussion.
STUDENT
Chor.
ïd
his rage.
(The Mother-In-Law and the Priest watch the wedding dance from a distance. The Waitress fills everyone’s glasses, including theirs.)
Nervoso, ma con sentimento q
? & & & &
Choir: half spoken/sung, very articulated
¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ Ruut Mar ké ta
? ? ?
Scene 13: The Aftermath
Sempre a tempo Intenso, espressivo e sensibile
STUDENT 1
STUDENT 3
STUDENT 4
feverish, obstinate feverish, obstinate
STUDENT 5
TEACHER
obstinate
tills näs ta
¿ j¿ ¿ ¿ . ¿ la de sui van ¿ > j¿ j¿ ‰ 3 näch sten
STUDENT 6 œ m jœ # Œ 3 as ti, skjut ning. ¿ j¿ Œ te, . ¿ ¿ j¿ ‰ Schies se rei,
f feverish, obstinate (Cel.)
b . ¿ ‰ 3 shoot ing,
# œ n˙3 ˙ gliss. p F (Fl.) more sung
Seu raa vaan . skjut ning.
Un
Un
Un
Un
Un
Un til the next shoot ing.
Un
Un til the next shoot ing.
Un til the next shoot ing.
œ œ œ jœ
gliss.
gliss.
Meno mosso q = c48 Delicato, poco libero in distress p
Scene 15: On That Night
Intenso, tempestoso q = c120
Meno mosso q = c60
Calmo, dolce
Colla voce (repeat as needed)
slow speech interrupted by sudden quick words and sighs, frail as earlier
Ce soir-là maman n’a pas allumé la télévision, / elle croyait me protéger des reportages, / mais moi je lisais tout sur mon téléphone / en secret dans mon lit.
Intenso, tempestoso q = c120
Meno mosso q = c60 Espressivo
Colla voce (repeat as needed)
STUDENT 2
P expressive, intense (Crot.) (Picc.)
Dom lämnade blommor vid vår dörr / som om någon dött. / Mamma slängde dom i hemlighet i soporna, / men jag hann se dom och tänka att någon tyckte / att skottet borde ha träffat mig.
P (Cel.)
Nervoso
STUDENT 5
F agitated p (play only the 1st time)
Cuando estaba a punto de entrar a mi casa / después de trotar, como todos los días, / el vecino me miró / como si no debiera estar haciendo / lo que normalmente habría hecho.
(Tamb.) (Large Frame Drum)
STUDENT 2: Flowers had been left at our doorstep as if there had been a death in the house. Mom threw them away discreetly, but I had time to see them and it seemed like someone believed that bullet should have hit me.
STUDENT 5: When I came home on that night from my daily jog, the neighbour looked at me as if I shouldn’t have been doing anything I would have done normally.
Meno mosso q = c60 Doloroso
Very expressive, partly spoken, partly sung with given pitches. Notes with fermatas should always be suddenly extreme and wild.
& & & &
& & & & &
& & & & &
no ticed. He wrote of him self in the third
start with low vocal fry
? ? & ?
Colla voce (repeat as needed)
Jeder, der sich seltsam verhielt, / wurde zu einem potenziellen Schützen. / Jeder, der schlechte Haut hatte. / Jeder, der zu pummelig war. / Jeder, der keine Freunde hatte. / Jeder, dessen Eltern irgendwie seltsam waren.
(Str. pizz.)
Scene 16: The Wedding
(The Waitress brings the wedding cake and starts serving coffee and such. The Bridegroom and the Father-In-Law grow nervous.)
felice q = c80
Scene 17: Before The Shooting
Meno mosso q = c60 Fragile, irreale (sempre flessibile, colla voce)
STUDENT 3
Moi et toi, nous étions amis / et notre amitié a commencé sur le chemin de l'école / quand nous avons vu une carcasse de chien sur la route. more present than earlier, passionately dreamy P
(Harp)
Les autres la contournaient de loin, / tout le monde sauf nous. / Nous nous interrogions sur la cause de sa mort et / tu as désigné la carcasse / sur laquelle une voiture avait fait plusieurs fois marche arrière. / Volontairement, de toute évidence. gliss.
Everyone
Pendant que les autres pensaient à leur premier baiser, / toi et moi nous nous demandions / si nous pourrions acculer tous les élèves dans la salle de classe / et contempler la peur de près / dans le blanc des yeux. / Ou si nous cueillerions nos victimes de loin, dans la lunette du fusil.
STUDENT 3: While the others thought about their first kiss, you and I were thinking about whether we would force the students into the classroom and would examine their fear up close, straight in the eye. Or whether we would pick our victims from afar through the
STUDENT 3
Pendant que les autres se demandaient / à qui ils donneraient leur virginité / et où ils pourraient acheter de l'alcool, / toi et moi nous nous demandions / où nous procurer les armes les plus destructrices / et tu m'as emmenée dans la gravière / et tu m'as appris à tirer / gliss. gliss.
et nous tirions sur des photos de nos camarades de classe / et à la maison nous nous repassions les scènes / de fusillade dans les films / et en apprenions les répliques par cœur.
gliss.)
J'avais l'impression d'être sur le chemin / qui m'avait toujours été destiné. / C'était comme si j'avais enfin enfilé un pull / parfaitement ajusté.
(The Waitress throws a bottle of wine at the Mother-In-Law. The bottle breaks on the wall and the wine spreads on the floor. The Waitress’s rage ends and she bursts into tears.)
Scene 19: Before the Shooting
Misterioso
Colla voce q = c54 – 60 (repeat if needed)
slow, troubled, grievous
Alors Jerónimo et ses amis l’ont emmené dans les douches des vestiaires et l’ont forcé à se déshabiller
STUDENT
and then you left him when you wanted your Jerónimo, your
And Jerónimo and his friends
to
STUDENT 2: That had nothing to do with what happened later.
and
Colla voce (repeat if needed) F slow, stressing every word
et ils ont fait toutes sortes de choses et ils ont tout filmé et envoyé les vidéos à tout le monde et tout le monde en a ri longtemps de ces vidéos, mais ils n’en rient plus désormais.
and they did all sorts of things and filmed it all and shared the videos with everyone and everyone laughed at length at those videos, but they do not laugh anymore.
Scene 20: The Wedding
(The Bridegroom
Scene 21: A Gang of Three / Before the Shooting
Molto sensibile, dolce q = c60 STUDENT 3
(to the shooter) P pensive
Ce n’est que le w ww ww
(Vl.) (Pno)
P (Harp) (Colla voce)
F more lively, intense
que j’ai compris / ce qui clochait dans notre plan. / Si nous nous tuions nous-mêmes après les autres, / nous irions au même endroit que les morts, le même endroit que ceux / que nous aurions tués, et quand j’ai compris ça / j’ai voulu tout annuler. / Je ne voulais plus jamais revoir mon beau-père. (Tpts)
tu n’as pas voulu annuler, / et tu es parti avec ton frère en direction de l’école / et tu m’as
Je ne t’ai plus jamais revu après ce qui s’est passé, / et plus jamais mon beau-père n’est venu examiner / la croissance de mes seins. / Quelques instants plus tard il mourait de la / balle que tu avais tirée. f haunted
(Tpt, Pno)
(Tpts, Harp)
(Str.)
Dolce
Colla voce
P tender, nostalgic
Personne n’a su ce qu’avait été notre amitié. / De celles où l’on partage tous les secrets.
(Cel.)
Scene 22: The Wedding
(The Priest holds the Bridegroom back.)
BRIDEGROOM:
Scene 23: After the Shooting
Intenso, ma sostenuto q = c40
STUDENT 3
F slow, considered (to the shooter) (A.
Quand
dreamy, in fascination Colla voce (q = c40)
... qui avait fait ces vidéos / où les détonations sont comme un tonnerre / excitant et charmeur.
... quelqu’un les regarde quelque part sur la toile / et désire être meilleur que tu ne l’étais. (Vla pizz.)
Qui trouve un sens à sa vie / en quelqu’ un comme ... intense, charmed
Più mosso q = c120
Febbrile
BRIDEGROOM (to the friend)
F emphasizing the important words fervently
STUDENT
Ton frère a eu droit à tous les gros titres / dont nous rêvions. (to the Bridegroom) F ecstatic
tempo (q = c120
150 Colla voce, sempre espressivo (repeat as necessary)
STUDENT 3
P dreamy (Harp)
(The Father-In-Law and the Priest drag the Bridegroom back to the Bride.)
Meno mosso q = c72 Espressivo, poco appassionato
(to the Bridegroom) fervent P p (Pno) (Harp)
(The Father-In-Law interrupts the dialogue.)
V ? & ?
If I had told you my bro ther had made me
BRIDEGROOM: Dad, if I had told you that my brother was secretly sneaking into your locker nobody would have died.
Subito molto calmo, teneramente
gliss. gliss.
(lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga)
& & & & V
(lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga)
(lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga) (lunga)
Leggero, libero
Sereno,
Scene 25: The Future
Colla voce STUDENT