''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' (''The City Beyond the River'') is a German-language

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in three acts composed by Hans Vogt to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Hermann Kasack Hermann Robert Richard Eugen Kasack (24 July 1896 – 10 January 1966) was a German writer. He is best known for his novel '' Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' (''The city beyond the river''). Kasack was a pioneer of using the medium broadcast for li ...

based on his 1947

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

n novel ''

Die Stadt hinter dem Strom ''The City beyond the River'' () is a German language existentialist novel by Hermann Kasack, published in ''Der Tagesspiegel'' in 1946 and in a longer book version in Berlin in 1947. It is considered one of the most important novels written in G ...

''.

Background and performance history

''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' was Vogt's first opera, originally conceived as a

radio opera Radio opera (German: 'Funkoper' or 'Radiooper') is a genre of opera. It refers to operas which were specifically composed to be performed on the radio and is not to be confused with broadcasts of operas which were originally written for the stage. ...

. The librettist was Hermann Kasack, the author of the novel on which the opera is based. Kasack had written ''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' in 1942, 1943 and 1946, dealing with the horrors of the world wars. He imagined a ruined city with characters who resemble humans but act like puppets. The "Oratorische Oper" (oratorio opera) premiered on

Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Federal States of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September ...

and

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

in 1952. Vogt later revised the work for the stage. It was first performed as a live theatre piece at the

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden), also known as the Staatstheater Wiesbaden or Theater Wiesbaden, is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state of Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, b ...

on 3 May 1955 as part of the

Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden The Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden (International May Festival, IMF) is a theater festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Established in the late 19th century after the Bayreuth Festival, the festival is one of the most distinguished internationa ...

.Hans Vogt
operone.de Vogt had collaborated with the librettist Hermann Kasack and also with the publisher and musicologist

Fritz Oeser Fritz Oeser (May 18, 1911, Gera – February 23, 1982, Kassel) was a musicologist, most famous for preparing restored versions of Bizet's ''Carmen'' in 1964 and Offenbach's ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'' in 1976. The former was heavily criticized fo ...

. In an obituary for Oeser authored by Vogt, he recalled that Oeser had requested him to come to Wiesbaden to change the (choral prologue) and address a missing climax in one of the act 3 scenes and promised to pay for the change. Vogt, Hans (1982)
"Fritz Oeser"
''Musica 36'', vol. 2, pp. 194–196, 1982, re-published on fritz-oeser.de The libretto was published by

Suhrkamp Verlag Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and is generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010, ...

in 1955.''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom''; oratorische Oper in drei Akten A recording of the work by the Hamburg State Radio was broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

on April 28, 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadt Hinter Dem Strom, Die Operas 1952 operas Radio operas German-language operas Operas based on novels