The simple stage shows a couple of bunk beds, similar to the ones I have seen in Nazi concentration camps. The beds form the backdrop for a work composed by Viktor Ullman, an inmate of Theresienstadt, commenting on death and tyranny in 1943. The opera had one final rehearsal that was "final" in more ways than one. The following day, SS realized the powerful message in the work and everyone involved was shipped off to Auschwitz, where they perished. The story concerns a dictator who is so brutal that even "Death" decides not to cooperate with him any longer. After realizing soldiers can no longer die gloriously in battle and that criminals will no longer die when they are executed, the dictator tries to "spin" this strange development as a powerful elixir he has given to the people. But no one is fooled. In the end, Death agrees to go back to work, but the emperor must be the first t0 die. In the end, stripped of his uniform, he joins the other "inmates" clad only in their underwear, as they march relentlessly toward a brilliant light. There's an excellent performance along the way by mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell as the Drummer, using her sex appeal to try and pursuade a young soldier to choose war over love. It's as if characters from Cabaret were suddently doomed to a concentration camp arriving with their luggage only to be shown to their bunks and ordered to become the characters in the opera. Someone smuggled the score out of the camp and it was found in London during the 1970s. Powerful stuff. See it if you ever have the chance. I can't wait to see what the Long Beach opera will do next!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
A Message from the Past
Although this isn't really a performing arts blog, I just have to post something about the powerful opera I witnessed last weekend, "The Emperor of Atlantis." Here is the scene, deep in the hull of the Queen Mary. The simple stage shows a couple of bunk beds, similar to the ones I have seen in Nazi concentration camps. The beds form the backdrop for a work composed by Viktor Ullman, an inmate of Theresienstadt, commenting on death and tyranny in 1943. The opera had one final rehearsal that was "final" in more ways than one. The following day, SS realized the powerful message in the work and everyone involved was shipped off to Auschwitz, where they perished. The story concerns a dictator who is so brutal that even "Death" decides not to cooperate with him any longer. After realizing soldiers can no longer die gloriously in battle and that criminals will no longer die when they are executed, the dictator tries to "spin" this strange development as a powerful elixir he has given to the people. But no one is fooled. In the end, Death agrees to go back to work, but the emperor must be the first t0 die. In the end, stripped of his uniform, he joins the other "inmates" clad only in their underwear, as they march relentlessly toward a brilliant light. There's an excellent performance along the way by mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell as the Drummer, using her sex appeal to try and pursuade a young soldier to choose war over love. It's as if characters from Cabaret were suddently doomed to a concentration camp arriving with their luggage only to be shown to their bunks and ordered to become the characters in the opera. Someone smuggled the score out of the camp and it was found in London during the 1970s. Powerful stuff. See it if you ever have the chance. I can't wait to see what the Long Beach opera will do next!
The simple stage shows a couple of bunk beds, similar to the ones I have seen in Nazi concentration camps. The beds form the backdrop for a work composed by Viktor Ullman, an inmate of Theresienstadt, commenting on death and tyranny in 1943. The opera had one final rehearsal that was "final" in more ways than one. The following day, SS realized the powerful message in the work and everyone involved was shipped off to Auschwitz, where they perished. The story concerns a dictator who is so brutal that even "Death" decides not to cooperate with him any longer. After realizing soldiers can no longer die gloriously in battle and that criminals will no longer die when they are executed, the dictator tries to "spin" this strange development as a powerful elixir he has given to the people. But no one is fooled. In the end, Death agrees to go back to work, but the emperor must be the first t0 die. In the end, stripped of his uniform, he joins the other "inmates" clad only in their underwear, as they march relentlessly toward a brilliant light. There's an excellent performance along the way by mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell as the Drummer, using her sex appeal to try and pursuade a young soldier to choose war over love. It's as if characters from Cabaret were suddently doomed to a concentration camp arriving with their luggage only to be shown to their bunks and ordered to become the characters in the opera. Someone smuggled the score out of the camp and it was found in London during the 1970s. Powerful stuff. See it if you ever have the chance. I can't wait to see what the Long Beach opera will do next!
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