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The Week in Germany: Culture November 14, 2007 Once Persecuted and then Forgotten, Ullman Opera “The Emperor of Atlantis or the Refusal to Die” to Launch the Jewish Cultural Days in Munich
Composed in imprisonment at the concentration camp in Theresienstadt, Viktor Ullmann’s (1898-1944) opera, “The Emperor of Atlantis or the Refusal to Die” was forgotten for over three decades before its world premiere in 1975. Since then, it has been performed all over the world, and a Munich-based youth orchestra is working to ensure that it will be remembered with an elaborate production that features members of the Bavarian State Opera. Ullmann collaborated with librettist Peter Klein on the Opera, which was written for the Theresienstadt Ensemble to perform in the camp. Their Emperor is a cruel ruler who ruthlessly sends his subjects to war until death itself refuses to obey him. Camp officials recognized the Opera as a dark allegory for of Nazi Germany and put an end to rehearsals, deporting Ullmann, Klein, and most of the Ensemble to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. The Munich-based Orchester Jakobsplatz, which features young Jewish and non-Jewish musicians, will perform the piece together with members of the Bavarian State Opera on November 15 and 17. The performances will take place at the Herbert Burda Auditorium in the Jewish Center at Jakobsplatz. Inaugurated in 2007, the center is the largest Jewish cultural institution built in Germany since World War II. The performances will launch the Jewish Cultural Days festival in Munich, which run from November 15 -27.
Links: City of Munich Opens Jewish Museum Alongside New Synagogue (TWIG, March 23, 2007) |
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