(Schott). The opera was commissioned by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for its tenth anniversary season. Its libretto was completed in June, 1983, the vocal score in September, 1984, and, finally, the full score on March 12th, 1985. The world premiere was held on May 30th, 1985 at the Loretto-Hilton Centre by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. The original text was written by Colin Graham and translated into Japanese by Akiko Takemoto.