About the work
Abessalom und Eteri (Georgian: Abesalom da Eteri) is a Georgian opera in four acts by Zakaria Paliashvili to a libretto by Petre Mirianashvili, based on the Georgian folk epic 'Eteriani'. Composed between 1909 and 1918, it premiered on 21 February 1919 at the opera house in Tbilisi, after parts of the third act had already been shown in 1913.
Plot
The peasant girl Eteri and Prince Abesalom marry despite their difference in rank. The jealous courtier Murman gives Eteri a cursed necklace that makes her ill; Abesalom lets her go to recover, but she returns to Murman. When the dying Abesalom visits her once more, he dies in her arms, and Eteri takes her own life in grief.
Cultural significance
The work blends Georgian folk music with elements of European Romanticism and has since been regarded as the Georgian national opera. A motif from the score was incorporated into the Georgian national anthem in 2004, and the opera still regularly opens the season at the Tbilisi opera house.