Ullmann - Der Kaiser von Atlantis | BR Klassik 900339

Ullmann - Der Kaiser von Atlantis

£13.25

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Label: BR Klassik

Cat No: 900339

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Opera

Release Date: 6th May 2022

Contents

Artists

Juliana Zara (soprano)
Christel Loetzsch (mezzo-soprano)
Johannes Chum (tenor)
Adrian Erod (baritone)
Lars Woldt (bass)
Tareq Nazmi (bass)
Munchner Rundfunkorchester

Conductor

Patrick Hahn

Works

Ullmann, Viktor

Der Kaiser von Atlantis

Artists

Juliana Zara (soprano)
Christel Loetzsch (mezzo-soprano)
Johannes Chum (tenor)
Adrian Erod (baritone)
Lars Woldt (bass)
Tareq Nazmi (bass)
Munchner Rundfunkorchester

Conductor

Patrick Hahn

About

Viktor Ullmann's one-act chamber opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis was written in the Theresienstadt camp and did not see its premiere until 16 December 1975 in Amsterdam, since the performance had been banned after its dress rehearsal in 1944. The concert performance of the version by Henning Brauel and Andreas Krause (Schott), which took place on 10 October 2021 at the Prinzregententheater in Munich, was recorded for this CD. Alongside the internationally renowned Austrian Kammersänger Adrian Eröd in the title role, mainly young performers sang, accompanied by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Patrick Hahn, who made his debut here as the orchestra's principal guest conductor.

Viktor Ullmann, born in 1898 in Teschen, Silesia, studied with Arnold Schoenberg and Alois Hába in Vienna. He worked first as a bandmaster and then as a bookseller, and settled in Prague as a freelance artist in 1933. Because he came from a Jewish family, he was deported to the Theresienstadt camp by the Nazis in 1942. In October 1944 he was murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, together with composers Pavel Haas and Hans Krása, who were almost the same age.

Since the Nazis allowed a lively cultural life in their "showcase camp" of Theresienstadt, Ullmann was also able to be musically active. The intellectual and cultural heritage of that time is reflected in his music – also, and especially, in the "one-act play" that he wrote there entitled Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder Die Tod-Verweigerung (The Emperor of Atlantis or the Disobedience of Death), based on the libretto by his fellow prisoner Peter Kien. The play begins with a concept that is as absurd as it is comforting: Death goes on strike. He is weary of his existence, and refuses to serve. In many ways, this reflects the reality of life for those deported to Theresienstadt.

The opera, set in the legendary Atlantis, is a parable of the inhuman system of the National Socialists. The message of the work is just as relevant today. The Munich audience was every bit as impressed as the journalists. This haunting work, created by a great composer with the few resources available to him in Theresienstadt, is highly effective – even more so as a live recording on CD.

Cast:
- The Girl with Bobbed Hair, a Soldier: Juliana Zara (soprano)
- The Drummer: Christel Loetzsch (mezzo-soprano)
- Harlequin; A Soldier: Johannes Chum (tenor)
- Emperor Overall: Adrian Eröd (baritone)
- The Loudspeaker: Lars Woldt (bass)
- Death: Tareq Nazmi (bass)

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