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The Estonian National Opera has added a new ballet, The Lizard<\/i> (Estonian: Sisalik<\/i>), to its repertoire. The work is a ballet composition begun by Estonian composer Lepo Sumera <\/b>(1950\u20132000) in 1987, but left unfinished due to major political upheavals, and it never made it to the stage. Now composer M\u00e4rt-Matis Lill<\/b>, who was also Sumera’s student for a while, has completed the work based on Sumera’s manuscripts. <\/span><\/p>\n The Lizard<\/i> is set in two parallel worlds: a love story that begins on the set of a film during the war, and the reality behind the scenes, where love takes on a concrete form.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have all heard stories where a more sensitive actor goes crazy, and drinks himself to death. You can\u2019t always say that the reason is a role that the person has not been able to let go of, but it has definitely affected the person\u2019s personality. We love talking about hypersensitive people\u2014and The Lizard<\/i> is about one of them,\u201d says the ballet\u2019s choreographer and director, Marina Kesler<\/b>.<\/p>\n M\u00e4rt-Matis Lill, the composer who finished the ballet, describes the composition Sumera started as modern: \u201cThe composition of this ballet must have been one of the most prestigious commissions Lepo has received, and it is clear that Lepo has shown his skills with great joy in the first parts. The composition contains numerous fine solutions that must have been very modern in their time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSumera’s music is very powerful, and gives strong choreographic impulses. It is amazing how modern and relevant this ballet libretto is! This lacks the standard plot of classical operas and ballets, where most of the events are predictable. The Lizard<\/i> is a story of real people,\u201d describes Kesler.<\/p>\n