This a record of the past performance
The Emperor of Atlantis (Der Kaiser von Atlantis)
or The Disobedience of Death
Kaiser Overall (Emperor Overall) – Ivan Conrad, baritone
Der Lautsprecher (Loudspeaker) – Justin Ryan, bass-baritone
Ein Soldat (A soldier) – Joel Edwards, tenor
Harlekin (Pierrot) – Daniel Kamalic, tenor
Bubikopf (A maiden) – Jurate Svedaite/Felicia Baker, soprano
Der Tod (Death) – Steve Fredericks, bass-baritone
Der Trommler (Drummer girl) – Rachel Abrams, mezzo-soprano
Alan Mann – Stage Director
Adrian Sylveen – Artistic Director, Conductor
Der Kaiser von Atlantis was created in 1943 at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, the “Artists Camp” that was used to deceive the Red Cross and the world to show how well the Jews were living under the “benevolent” protection of the Third Reich. Poets, artists, composers, playwrights, philosophers, business people, families all lived here, for a while… There was an orchestra, various instrumental ensembles, a theatre company and an opera company – there were also torture chambers, tens of thousands of people died from disease or starvation (mostly), and above all, it was a transit camp from which more than 100,000 souls were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz, Treblinka and elsewhere. SS officers attended a final rehearsal of Kaiser in September 1944 and became outraged by what they saw. They shut down the production and shipped composer Viktor Ullmann, librettist Peter Kien, the entire cast, orchestra, and all their families to Auschwitz for immediate liquidation. Only the composition and several of the singers survived.
As the opera opens, the characters Harlequin and Death are reflecting on the sorry state of the world when the Drummer-girl arrives with a proclamation from Kaiser Überall (Emperor Overall) declaring total and universal war, pitting everyone against everyone else. Death is outraged and refuses to cooperate. The Kaiser, who conducts the war through a microphone from his empty palace, learns that despite all the fighting, no one is dying. Hospitals are full of wounded patients who are unable to die. Prisoners are hanged, but remain alive. A soldier and a girl from the enemy side meet on the battlefield and, unable to kill each other, fall in love. The Kaiser is appalled. Finally, Death agrees to relieve the human race of its endless pain by going back to work – on condition that the Kaiser be his first victim.
This production has been partially funded by a generous ArtWorks grant from the National Foundation of Arts. Sung in English translation from the original German, the production will further enhance the impact of the opera with the participation “Voices of Hope” – an organization of Holocaust survivors and their families sharing their personal experiences – after the performance, as well as an exhibition of reprints of art works created during the Holocaust, as well as more recent examples of genocide and/or mass atrocity such as Sarajevo, Syria and Iraq