L'écume des jours (English: The Foam of Days) is an opera in three acts (14 scenes) by the Russian composer Edison Denisov. The French (also German and Russian) text is by the composer based on the novel of the same title by Boris Vian. It was composed in 1981. Composition history Denisov conceived of the opera in the 1970s, and he worked on it up until 1981. The libretto is written in French. In it, Denisov used text from the novel and from numerous songs by Boris Vian. He also used religious texts, including a song by an anonymous author (14th tableau), a text from a funeral liturgy (13th tableau), and the Latin text from the mass (Credo and Gloria – 2nd tableau) and from the requiem (Agnus dei and Requiem aeternam – 13th tableau). Denisov defined his opera as a lyrical drama. The musical language is typical of Denisov's music of the 1980s with complex chromatic vocal lines, dissonant harmony and rich orchestral textures. There are many quotations, hidden quotations or allusions to music of different styles and epochs: songs by Duke Ellington, American jazz, French chanson, or Gregorian chant. All of these are veiled and transformed in some way, and even the quotation from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde has a jazzy hue. The duration of the work is 2 hours and 20 minutes. It was published by Le Chant du Monde in Paris. Performance history The premiere performance was given on 15 March 1986 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, conducted by John Burdekin and directed by Jean-Claude Fall. Subsequently, productions were mounted at the Perm Opera Theatre in 1989 and the Staatsoper Stuttgart in late 2012. Roles Scoring Singers: 2 sopranos, mezzo, 4 tenors, 2 baritones, 3 basses, 2 mimes, 1 boy soprano, chorus Orchestra: 3.3.3.3 – alt saxophone, tenor saxophone – 3.3.3.1– percussion – electric guitar, bass guitar – piano/celesta – harp – strings Synopsis Act 1 1st Tableau: Colin's room Colin lives together with Mouse, the friend of his house. Colin is waiting for his friend, engineer Chick, whom he invited for dinner. His cook Nicolas is reading the recipes from the cook book. Chick arrives, and Colin shows him the "piano-cocktail", his own invention – the piano that makes cocktails. Chick plays an improvisation on Duke Ellington themes and then tells him about Alise, the niece of Nicolas, whom he met at the conference of