Zhelsu

***Zhelsu*** is an opera written by Iäna Pel-Thenhior and first performed at the Vermilion Opera in Amalo, and is the first elven opera with a goblin lead.

## Details

The opera stars the female goblin manufactory worker, Zhelsu. “*Zhelsu* starts with the adult chorus onstage singing about work in a dreary, monotonous, and horribly infectious tune.” Eventually, the overseer arrives to yell at the chorus for singing, and then he performs a smug aria.  A lecherous overseer pursues Zhelsu throughout the story, and the first act ends with the overseer propositioning Zhelsu. Zhelsu has an aria in the second act. At some point, Zhelsu and a fellow manufactory worker and her closest friend, Tebora, sing about their dream of escaping the manufactory. During the second act, Zhelsu has a duet with her mother, who tells Zhelsu to sleep with the overseer and "use his favor to her advantage." All those close to Zhelsu - Tebora, Zhelsu's mother, and Zhelsu's lover - fail to help her, and she has nowhere to turn to for help. During the final scene of the opera, the overseer corners Zhelsu and threatens to assault her if she doesn't yield, and Zhelsu leaps into the manufactory machinery rather than submit. The opera ends with Tebora screaming in shock.

The opera has a Chorus of Workers and Chorus of Ghosts. Othoro Vakrezharad performed as principal mid-soprano in *Zhelsu* at the Vermilion Opera. Arveneän Shelsin potentially played Tebora, and had a duet with Veralis Telonar in the opera. Arveneän was temporarily replaced by Toïno Culainin after the former's murder, and then Min Nesthin. Tura Olora played the role of the overseer before his death, and was possibly at least temporarily replaced by Hathet, and then Mer Mesunar.

*Zhelsu* has relatively drab costumes by opera standards, but the set at the Vermilion Opera is "towering and elaborate with gearwheels and copper pipes. The centerpiece was a giant wheel that actually turned."

In the cycle of the opera rotation at the Vermilion Opera, *Seleno* is replaced by *Zhelsu* when the former finishes being performed.

There was a riot immediately following *Zhelsu's* first performance at the Vermilion Opera, possibly in response to the tragic ending and/or the fact that a goblin sang the lead role, which caused damage to the Opera, but the scandal and interest recouped losses for the damage. Tura also committed suicide during the riot.

## Trivia

* Davelo Matano said that Iäna wrote the opera for Othoro, though Iäna denies it. This, and the fact that Othoro had the principal role, infuriated Arveneän.
* Iäna told Thara Celehar that he planned to make the opera he wrote after *Zhelsu* and *The Grief of Stones* "so shocking it makes *Zhelsu* look tame."
* *General Olethazh* is *Zhelsu's* opposite in almost every way, and Iäna seemingly put it on in the same cycle as *Zhelsu* to reassure the audience that he wasn't being completely radical, as it's a more comfortable performance for a conservative audience.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Addison, Katherine. *The Witness for the Dead*, First ed., Tor, 2021.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Addison, Katherine. *The Grief of Stones*, First ed., Tor, 2022.