Opera screening: Die Tote Stadt
Date/Time
Date(s) - 07/02/2020
12:00 am
Location
The Arts Station
Category(ies)
Fernie Friends of Opera screens productions from the world’s greatest opera houses, every month at the Arts Station. Admission is by donation. All DVDs are donated to the Fernie Heritage Library after screening. February’s opera is
Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt
Principals: Angela Denoke, Torsten Kerl
Opera National du Rhin, Strasbourg Philharmonic
conducted by Jan Latham-Koenig; directed by Inga Levant
German with English subtitles, 2001, 2:25
Suppressed by the Nazis as “decadent”, this wonderfully inspired score has Straussian ebb and flow, volcanic eruptions, tender, touching moments, unusual, colorful orchestral effects, not to mention unforgettable melodies. Korngold was only 23 when Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) was first staged. The opera opens in the rational world, but quickly dissolves into a dark dreamscape of hallucination as Paul works through his grief following the death of his wife. This psychological drama mirrors love and memory, death and reality, ending with a beautiful and brave spiritual release.
