Livlaegens Besog

The vocal score for Livlægens Besøg (The Visit of the Royal Physician) - an Opera in 2 Acts by Bo Holten (2007-08)

Libretto: Per Olov Enquist
Dramaturg: Eva Sommestad Holten

Full score available: WH30984

Cast:

Johann Friedrich Struensee: Bass Baritone
King Christian VII: Tenor
Queen Caroline Mathilde: Mezzo Soprano
Ove Høegh-Guldberg: Bass
Queen Dowager Juliane Marie: Soprano
Count Shack Carl Rantzau: Bass
King Frederik V: Tenor
Enevoldt Brandt: Tenor
Bootee-Cathrine: Soprano

Synopsis:

The Opera is based on the Swedish writer P. O. Enquist's bestselling historical novel, The Visit of the Royal Physician. In 1765 the young German doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee arrives at the Danish Court in Copenhagen as newly appointed Royal Physician for the mentally unstable King Christian the VII. Close to the power and the young Queen Caroline Mathilde, Struensee dreams of making a better world for everyone. As time goes by he usurps still more power and tries to reform Denmark according to the ideas of the Enlightenment. Struensee engages in a fatal romantic relation to Caroline Mathilde and his bold grasp of power ends bloody.