Lotta Suter

Yona: a Chamber Opera Lotta Suter First edition

Children of many generations have been greatly impressed by the story of Yona in the belly of the whale and imagined the deep darkness of the ?big fish? and the miraculous landing on safe shore. But the Book of Yona also contains a different story. The Christian, the Judaic and the Islamic narrative all show: this prophet must have been a rather stubborn man: He knew how to tell right from wrong and he was ready to bet not only his own life but the life and welfare of others on this truth. This chamber opera explores what such a strong sense of justice could have meant to his own family and the neighbors in his village. How did it affect his traveling companions on the boat when he run away from God?s command and headed for Tarshish, the farthest place he could imagine? What did the people of Jerusalem, whom he warned first as a messenger of God, make of Yona? How did the people of Nineveh, who were rescued from destruction by his prophesies, see this man? While all the above people are mentioned in the traditional legends, they appear in Yona as individual characters. The story is narrated from the perspective of Yona?s fictitious daughter Shachar (morning, dawn). The scenes of the opera are all set in Yona?s house. The time is right after the funeral of the prophet, while his daughter is sitting the seven days of Shiva for her father.