For this year’s opera production, the Opera Factory Freiburg has chosen Viktor Ullmann’s chamber opera “The Emperor of Atlantis”, which was created in 1943/1944 in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The title character is an arbitrarily slaughtering tyrant, whom Death, of all people, refuses to follow – a bold reference to the conditions of the Nazi era.
The Opera Factory Freiburg will perform Ullmann’s chamber opera from October 13, 2018 at the Freiburg E-Werk. A handpicked cast of internationally renowned singers is accompanied by the Holst-Sinfonietta and conducted by Klaus Simon. The team Joachim Rathke (director) and Heike Mondschein (equipment) is faced with the challenge to perform this work today in a time-frame appropriate to our time, without flatly updating it. To this end, Ullmann’s work is framed by the world premiere of the commissioned work “Atlantis” by the well-known Karlsruhe composer Anno Schreier, which will act as a prelude and epilogue to the “Emperor of Atlantis”. Other music by Viktor Ullmann is integrated into the opera in the form of five songs (partly arranged by Klaus Simon for ensemble also as world premiere).
Performances:
// Premiere: Sat. 13 Oct. 2018, 8 pm, Saal, E-Werk
// Further performances: Tue 16, Fri 19, Sat 20 Oct. | 20.00 & Sun. 21 Oct. | 19.00
Introduction to the work 45 min. before the beginning of each performance
Viktor Ullmann: The Emperor of Atlantis
(or: Death’s Refusal) op. 49 (1943/44), 55 mins, Chamber Opera
Text by: Peter Kien
Anno Schreier: Atlantis, prologue and epilogue to Ullmann’s opera “The Emperor of Atlantis”,
10 mins, world premiere
Viktor Ullmann: Fünf Lieder, (partly) orchestrated by Klaus Simon 12 ‘world premiere
Admission normal price / reduced: 29, – € | 11, – €
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HOLST-SINFONIETTA
A production of the OPERA FACTORY FREIBURG in cooperation with the E-Werk-Freiburg.
WITH
Musical direction: KLAUS SIMON
Production: JOACHIM RATHKE
Director and costumes: JOACHIM RATHKE
Stage (based on an idea by Heike Mondschein): MELANIE KINTZINGER
Dramaturgy: CORNELIUS BAUER
Instrumentation:
Baritone / Kaiser Overall: EKKEHARD ABELE
Death / Speaker: NIKOLAUS SEA
Tenor / Harlequin + One soldier: KEITH BERNARD STONUM
Soprano / bobbed head: LENA KIEPENHEUER
Mezzo-soprano / The drummer: SIBYLLE FISCHER
Supported by the city of Freiburg, the State Association of Free Dance and Theatrical Performers Baden-Württemberg, the Anne-Fank-Fonds and the Sparkasse Freiburg Nrdl. Brsg.
ADMISSION 29,00 / 11,00 €
ALTERNATIVE DATES FOR THIS EVENT
TUE 16.10. | 8:00 PM FRI 19.10. | 8:00 PM SAT 20.10. | 8:00 PM SUN 21.10. | 7:00 PM
Taken from http://ewerk-freiburg.de/event/viktor-ullmann-der-kaiser-von-atlantis-anno-schreier-atlantis-urauffuehrung/ (in German)
Viktor Ullmann Foundation 