' (German for ''The Dead City''), Op. 12, is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in three acts by

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...

set to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father,

Julius Korngold Julius Leopold Korngold (24 December 1860 – 25 September 1945) was an Austrian music critic. He was the leading critic in early twentieth century Vienna, serving as chief music critic of the '' Neue Freie Presse'' from 1904 to 1934. His son w ...

. It is based on the 1892 novel '' Bruges-la-Morte'' by

Georges Rodenbach Georges Raymond Constantin Rodenbach (16 July 1855 – 25 December 1898) was a Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist. Biography Georges Rodenbach was born in Tournai to a French mother and a German father from the Rhineland (Andernach). He was ...

Origins

Rodenbach's novel ' had already been adapted by the author into a play. The play was translated into German by Siegfried Trebitsch under the title ' (''The Silent City''), which he later changed to ' (''The Mirage''). Trebitsch was a friend of Korngold's father, Julius. The two met in the street one day and got into a conversation about a possible operatic adaptation. Trebitsch later met Erich, who was enthusiastic about the project. Trebitsch recalled " met the young master Erich Wolfgang Korngold in search of a scenario or, even better, a mood or operatic background that could be dramatically elaborated. I urged him to take up '."Carroll, Brendan G.; Pauly, Reinhard G., ''The Last Prodigy: A Biography of Erich Wolfgang Korngold'', Amadeus Press, Portland, 1997, pp. 121–3. Julius commented on the way the project evolved: Father and son decided to adapt the play themselves, and co-wrote the libretto, using the pseudonym Paul Schott. Julius decided to change the plot so that the murder occurs in a dream, rather than in actuality, as in the original. Korngold started the composition in 1916. He left it for a year to take up military service before resuming and completing the score.

Performance history

When ' had its premiere on December 4, 1920, Korngold was just 23 years old with two short one-act operas, ' and '' Violanta'', already to his name. The success of these earlier works was so great that ' was subject to a fierce competition among German theatres for the right to the world premiere. In the end, an unusual double premiere was arranged and the opera opened simultaneously at the Stadttheater Hamburg and Cologne (Glockengasse). In Cologne, the conductor was

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

, and his wife sang Marietta. In Hamburg, Korngold himself was in the theatre, and the conductor was Egon Pollak. The opera's theme of overcoming the loss of a loved one resonated with contemporary audiences of the 1920s who had just come through the trauma and grief of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and this undoubtedly fuelled the work's popularity. ' was one of the greatest hits of the 1920s. Within two years of its premiere it had circled the globe, including several performances at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

in New York City. The Berlin première was on 12 April 1924 with Lotte Lehmann as Marietta/Marie and

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

as Paul, conducted by

George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...

. But the work was banned by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

régime because of Korngold's

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestry and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it fell into obscurity. The key postwar revivals of the piece were at the Vienna Volksoper (1967) and the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

(1975). In recent years, however, the work has enjoyed notable revivals, among others at the

Theater Bonn Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance venu ...

, the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

, the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...

and at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...

. The French premiere of the opera took place in a concert performance in 1982 at the Paris

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while ...

. The first French staged performance was in April 2001 in Strasbourg under the baton of Jan Latham-Koenig with (Paul) and

Angela Denoke Angela Denoke (born 27 November 1961) is a German opera singer (soprano). Born in Stade, she studied at the University of Music and Drama of Hamburg. Her first contract was at the Theater Ulm (1992–1996), where she sang Fiordiligi (''Così ...

(Marietta). The opera received its UK premiere on 14 January 1996 in a concert performance by the

Kensington Symphony Orchestra Founded in 1956, London's Kensington Symphony Orchestra is a non-professional orchestra in Britain. It attracts top non-professional players from around London for its concerts at St John's, Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and ot ...

conducted by

Russell Keable Russell Keable is a British educator, composer and conductor. Keable studied conducting at the Royal College of Music with Norman Del Mar and later with George Hurst. Since 1983, he has been the principal conductor of London’s Kensington Symp ...

at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The Q ...

, with Ian Caley (Paul) and Christine Teare (Marie/Marietta). The first UK staged performance was on 27 January 2009 at the

, Covent Garden. The opera was first performed in Latin America at Teatro Colón in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina, on September 19, 1999, with Carlos Bengolea as Paul, Cynthia Makris as Marie/Marietta and David Pittman-Jennings as Frank; Stefan Lano was the conductor. In Australia, the work was first premiered by

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder ...

on 30 June 2012 at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, with Cheryl Barker as Marie/Marietta, and Stefan Vinke as Paul, conducted by

Christian Badea Christian Badea (né Cristian Badea) is a Romanian-American opera and symphonic conductor. A native of Bucharest, Romania, Badea's early training was as a classical violinist in Bucharest and Brussels. He later studied conducting at the Juillia ...

, directed by Bruce Beresford. In 1986, Beresford directed the episode "

Glück das mir verblieb Glück (transliterated Glueck) (german: "luck") is the surname of: * Arie Gill-Gluck (1930–2016), Israeli Olympic runner * Alois Glück (born 1940), German politician * Bernard Glueck (disambiguation), several people with this name * Christian ...

" of ''

Aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

''.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place:

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium, called the Dead City () for its pious gloom :Time: End of 19th century :Background: Paul lives in his house in Bruges where his young wife, Marie, had died some years before. Paul has not come to terms with the reality of her death. He keeps a (Temple of the Past) in her honor, a locked room including keepsakes, including photographs, a lute, and a lock of her hair. Until the action of the opera begins, no one had been in the room except himself and his housekeeper Brigitta.Schott, Paul. The Dead City : Opera in Three Acts Founded on G. Rodenbach's Das Trugbild. Program Publishing Company, New York, no date.

Act 1

Brigitta is showing Frank, an old friend of Paul's, in Bruges on a visit, the locked room, explaining that only the day before, Paul had unexpectedly announced the room could be open again. Paul arrives, excitedly insisting that Marie still lives. He tells Frank that the day before he met a woman on the streets of Bruges who exactly resembles Marie (indeed, Paul wants to believe she is Marie resurrected) and has invited her back to his home. Frank leaves, promising to return shortly. The woman, whose name is Marietta, appears for her rendezvous with Paul. She is in Bruges as a dancer in an opera company performing

Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le d ...

’s . Without explaining his motivation, he gives her a scarf to put on and a lute, recreating a photograph of Marie. He asks her to sing a song that Marie used to sing (Lute Song,""), joining in on the second verse, which ends with the words (believe, there is a resurrection). They hear some of her opera company colleagues pass by in the street. Marietta wants to go wave at them but Paul stops her, fearing scandal if the neighbors should see her in his rooms. She dances for him (""), but breaks off with the excuse that she must leave for rehearsal, hinting that he might seek and find her again. Paul meanwhile is driven into a state of extreme anxiety. Torn between his loyalty to Marie and his interest in Marietta he collapses into a chair and begins to hallucinate. He sees Marie's ghost step out of her portrait. She urges him to admit he is tempted by the other woman.

Act 2

From this point in the story until almost the end of the opera, the events are all part of a vision taking place in Paul's mind. It is a moonlit evening. Paul is standing alongside a canal, outside the solitary house where Marietta lives. The door is locked. He has given in to his passion for her, though he views it as a sin. A group of nuns passes, among whom is Brigitta dressed as a novice. She tells Paul she has left him because of his sin and passes on. Frank appears and Paul realizes that they are rivals for Marietta's affection, when Frank shows him he has the key to Marietta's house. Paul seizes the key from him and Frank passes on. Paul retreats to watch from a distance as boats come down the canal, bearing members of the opera company, among them Viktorin (the stage manager), Fritz (the Pierrot), Count Albert (a wealthy hanger-on) as well as others who all come off the boats. Viktorin sings a serenade to the still-unseen Marietta. Marietta herself then appears and explains she missed the rehearsal because she was not in the mood for it and had slipped away. She flirts with the Count. On her request, Fritz sings a nostalgic song (""). Marietta proposes that they rehearse the notorious ballet from in which nuns rise seductively from their graves, with herself as the head nun Helen. As they begin the enactment, Paul can bear it no longer and comes out of hiding to confront the group. Marietta defuses the situation by sending the others away. They have a tense quarrel during which Marietta finally realizes that Paul's obsession with her stems from her resemblance to his dead wife. She insists he love her for herself and they go together to Paul's house where she intends to break the hold of the dead Marie.

Act 3

Paul's vision continues. Back in his house, where he and Marietta have spent the night, it is morning on the day of a religious festival. Paul watches the festival procession from a window in the Temple of the Past, but doesn't want Marietta next to him in case someone outside should see them together. His preoccupation reaches the point where Paul imagines the procession is passing through the room. Marietta is increasingly fed up and starts to taunt him by dancing seductively while stroking his dead wife's hair. In a rage, Paul grabs the lock of hair and strangles Marietta with it. Staring at her dead body he exclaims "Now she is exactly like Marie." At this point Paul's vision ends. As Paul comes back to reality, he is astonished that Marietta's body is nowhere to be found. Brigitta enters and informs him that Marietta has come back to pick up her umbrella which she left at the house when she departed a few minutes earlier. Marietta comes in to take the umbrella and leaves as Frank returns, as he had promised. Paul tells Frank he will not see Marietta again. Frank announces he is leaving Bruges, and asks if Paul will come too, to which he replies, "I will try". The opera ends with a reprise of "", with however the last words now "Here, there is no resurrection". He gives the room a farewell glance as the curtain falls.

Recordings

*: Among the oldest recordings of the score are three sides made for

Odeon Records Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus a ...

by Lotte Lehmann,

and

soon after the Berlin premiere in April 1924; Maria Jeritza and Maria Nemeth, both involved in early performances of the opera, have also left recordings of the "Lute Song", while Karl Hammes and Richard Mayr, among the first to sing Fritz, recorded the ' ("") from Act 2. *1952: Munich release, available from ''Opera Today'' which includes Maud Cunitz and Karl Friedrich, Fritz Lehmann conducting * 1975:

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

recording, with

Carol Neblett Carol Lee Neblett (February 1, 1946 – November 23, 2017) was an American operatic soprano. Life and career Neblett was born in Modesto, California and raised in Redondo Beach. She studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1969 ...

, René Kollo,

Hermann Prey Hermann Prey ( Berlin, 11 July 1929 – Krailling, 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, who was equally at home in the Lied, operatic and concert repertoires. His American debut was in November 1952, with the Philadelphia Orchestra an ...

, and Benjamin Luxon, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, RCA Victor CD 87767, recorded in Studio 1 des Bayerischen Rundfunks im Münchner Funkhaus in June 1975 * 1983:

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the D ...

, with James King, Karan Armstrong, and William Murray, conducted by

Heinrich Hollreiser Heinrich Hollreiser (24 June 191324 July 2006) was a German conductor. Born in Munich, he attended the State Academy of Music there and went on to serve as the conductor at the opera houses in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mannheim, and Duisburg. From ...

, and directed by

Götz Friedrich Götz Friedrich (4 August 1930 in Naumburg, Germany – 12 December 2000 in Berlin, Germany) was a German opera and theatre director. He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin in (East) Berlin, where he ...

(DVD: Arthaus Musik 101 656) * 1996: Leif Segerstam, Dalayman, Tobiasson, Sunnegårdh, Bergström, live in Stockholm, on

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

* 2001: ,

and the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, conducted by Jan Latham Koenig, Opéra national du Rhin 2001, (DVD: Arthaus Musik 100 343) * 2003: Franz Welser-Möst, Emily Magee (Marietta / Die Erscheinung Mariens), Cornelia Kallisch (Brigitta), Norbert Schmittberg (Paul), Olaf Bär (Frank / Fritz), live in Zurich, EMI * 2004: Donald Runnicles,

(Marietta / Die Erscheinung Mariens), Daniela Denschlag (Brigitta), Torsten Kerl (Paul),

Bo Skovhus Bo Skovhus (born May 22, 1962 in Ikast, Denmark) is a Danish opera singer (baritone). Skovhus studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, at the Royal Academy for Opera of Copenhagen and in New York with Oren Brown. While studying voi ...

(Frank / Fritz), live in Salzburg, Orfeo * 2009:

Sebastian Weigle Sebastian Weigle (born 1961, in East Berlin) is a German conductor and horn player. He is currently ''Generalmusikdirektor'' of the Oper Frankfurt and principal conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. Biography Weigle is a nephew of ...

and the recorded the opera live in November 2009 for

Oehms Classics Oehms Classics is a German classical music label founded in 2003 by Dieter Oehms (born in Manderscheid, Bernkastel-Wittlich in 1941), a former manager for 35 years with DGG/Polygram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and ...

. * 2009:

Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice ...

in Venice, with Stefan Vinke, Solveig Kringelborn, and Stephan Genz, conducted by

Eliahu Inbal Eliahu Inbal (born 16 February 1936, Jerusalem) is an Israeli conductor. Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim. Upon hearing him there, Leonard Bernstein endorsed a scholarship for ...

, staged and designed by Pier Luigi Pizzi (DVD:

Dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics) ** Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air ** Analytical dyn ...

) * 2010: Finnish National Opera, with Klaus Florian Vogt,

Camilla Nylund Camilla Nylund (born 11 June 1968) is a Finnish operatic soprano. She appears internationally in lyric-dramatic roles such as Beethoven's Leonore, Verdi's Elisabetta, and Wagner's Elisabeth and Sieglinde. She is especially known for portrayin ...

, and Markus Eiche, conducted by Mikko Franck, staged by

Kasper Holten Kasper Holten (born 29 March 1973) is a Danish stage director. From 2011 until 2017 he was Director of Opera for the Royal Opera House in London. He is Vice President of the Board of the European Academy of Music Theatre. Career Born in Copenhage ...

, designed by

Es Devlin Esmeralda "Es" Devlin (; born 24 September 1971) is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. Early life Devlin was born in Kingston upon Thames, ...

(DVD: Opus Arte 2013); same production as performed at New National Theatre Tokyo (March 2014) with Torsten Kerl and

Meagan Miller Meagan Miller is an American soprano with an active international career in opera, recital and concert. Early life Miller was born in Wilmington, Delaware and grew up in West Chester, Ohio and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She attended high school ...

(TV:

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

Premium Theater: 12 May 2014) *2021 BD and DVD release of

Bayerische Staatsoper The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

's 2019 production, conducted by

Kirill Petrenko Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (russian: Кирилл Гарриевич Петренко, Latin script: ; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early life Petrenko was born in Omsk ...

and staged by

Simon Stone Simon Stone (born 19 August 1984) is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor. Early life Stone is Australian, but was born in Basel and grew up in Cambridge and Melbourne. His father, Stuart Stone, was a biochemist and his mot ...

, with Jonas Kaufmann (Paul), Marlis Petersen (Marietta), released by Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings (BSOREC2001).

References

Sources

*Palmer, Christopher, "Erich Wolfgang Korngold", ',

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

ed. L. Macy (Opera) (Accessed May 4, 2007)

External links

* * German/English libretto at Wikimedia Commons
Korngold Society's synopsis

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fo ...

*, directed by

Brian Large Brian Large (born 16 February 1939 in London, England) is a television director and author. He is among the world's foremost TV directors specializing in opera and classical music. Biography Studies Large studied at the Royal Academy of Music ...

English translation facing German original
at OrpheusIreland.ie {{DEFAULTSORT:Tote Stadt, Die Operas by Erich Wolfgang Korngold 1920 operas Operas set in Belgium Operas based on novels German-language operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Hamburg State Opera Bruges in fiction