Magnum opus [great work] refers to a creator’s most ambitious and seminal work. In alchemical tradition, the term describes the method by which the prima materia (first matter) is transmuted to create the Philosopher’s Stone, the proverbial material which will serve as a catalyst for the individual’s spiritual transformation.
Oresteia is the most ambitious work that Christou conceived. His handwritten notes reveal that he had been labouring on the work’s framework since 1967, while its premiere – a production by the English Bach Festival – had been scheduled to take place in London on April 20, 1970, as part of an ongoing world tour.
Based on Aeschylus’ trilogy (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides), Christou described this work as a contemporary opera. The production was to feature soloists, a mixed chorus, instrumentalists, conductors and technicians in a multimedia ensemble that incorporated tapes and visual effects, departing radically from the stage conventions of both theatre and opera. The composition intended to incorporate some of his shorter works, such as Enantiodromia, and a selection of the approximately forty planned pieces of Anaparastasis.
We don’t have a complete picture of the work today. The car accident that claimed Jani Christou’s life in the early morning of January 8, 1970, left behind the material evidence of a fascinating yet unsolved mystery – a wealth of information but without the code to decipher it.
