Niobe was commissioned by the CzechPhilharmonic and first performed at the Rudolphinum,Prague, on November 11th 2017. The violin soloist wasTamsin Waley-Cohen and the Czech Philharmonic wasconducted by Ben Gernon. Niobe, daughter of Tantalus and wife of KingAmphion of Thebes, gave birth to seven sons andseven daughters. At the annual celebration in honourof Leto, goddess of motherhood and protector of theyoung, Niobe boasts that she is greater than thegoddess by virtue of the fact that Leto only has twochildren, Apollo and Artemis, whereas she has seventimes as many. Leto, enraged, sends Apollo to kill allher sons, and Artemis to kill all her daughters. Herhusband Amphion, devestated, kills himself. Niobe isturned into stone on Mount Sipylus and, as she weepsceaselessly, waters cascade down her rock face.
- ISMN: 9790708129486 (M708129486)
