Yuhi no mimi

Yuhi no Mimi ( _ja. 夕日の耳; Yūhi no Mimi) is a chamber opera by Swiss composer and guitarist Walther Giger (1952- ), based on a Japanese poem written by Katsuichiro Kaizu.

The work is scored for soprano, baritone, violin, guitar and doublebass.

ynopsis

The male narrator recounts a scene from a war (presumably World War II) where a friend of his is lost at sea. He dives in to look for his body in order to give it a proper burial, but all he finds is a seashell. Later, he meets his friend's widow, a woman who has been deaf since childhood. He gives her the seashell, and when she holds it to her ear during sunset, she can hear her lover's voice and is able to speak again.

Recording

There is a recording with Maria Glarner (soprano), Shigeo Ishino (baritone), Noriko Kawamura (violin), Walther Giger (guitar), and Fumio Shirato (doublebass) Jecklin JS 315-2.