By Viktor Ullmann

Jordan Rodu, music director


Brittany Duncan & Jordan Rodu, stage directors

Friday, January 25, 2008, at 8:00 PM


Margaret Jewett Hall
, First Church in Cambridge


11 Garden Street, Cambridge


Pre-performance lecture at 7:00 PM

 

Saturday, January 26, 2008, at 3:00 PM


Downstairs Meeting Room


Brookline Public Library - Coolidge Corner Branch


31 Pleasant Street, Brookline


Pre-performance lecture at 2:00 PM

Pre-performance lectures will be given by James O'Leary, Ph.D. candidate in musicology, Yale University.

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From the darkness of a World War II concentration camp, a thought-provoking -- and ultimately hopeful -- look at life, love and death.

Der Kaiser von Atlantis was written by Austrian composer Viktor Ullmann in 1943. Ullmann and Peter Kien, the opera's librettist, were among the artists and musicians interned at Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in Terezin (now part of the Czech Republic). Written for six soloists and an eclectic instrumental ensemble, the opera was rehearsed in the camp but performances were ultimately banned by camp leaders, most likely because of the story's inflammatory allegorical content. The composer, librettist and entire cast were deported to Auschwitz where many, including Ullmann and Kien, were killed. The manuscript survived and the work was premiered in Amsterdam in 1975.

Drawing on varied musical sources and employing a complex harmonic vocabulary, the opera tells the story of Kaiser Uberall, who, secluded in his palace, has called all his citizens to holy war on the enemy. Death resents Uberall's presumption of control over his domain, and decides to abolish death throughout the kingdom as retribution. The struggle of wills that ensues examines the merits of life and death -- and the importance of love.

Performance time is approximately one hour.