An opera written by concentration camp inmate Viktor Ullmann, who was sent to his death in Auschwitz soon after composing the work, will be performed by students from the Yale Opera program at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, in Sprague Memorial Hall, 470 College St.
"The Kaiser of Atlantis" (or "Death Abdicates"), a chamber work in four scenes, is an allegory about the horrors of war and Nazism. At the beginning of the work, 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 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 named Bubikopf 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.
The libretto for "The Kaiser of Atlantis" was written by Peter Kien (1919-44). The music, composed in 1943, is considered to be Ullmann's masterpiece. It is also an example of "entartete musik" -- music suppressed by the Third Reich.
Ullmann (1898-1944) was born on the Polish-Czechoslovak border, the son of an Austrian army officer. He served in the Austrian army during World War I, and after studying with Arnold Schoenberg, he joined the New German Theater in Prague as a conducting assistant. He subsequently taught, lectured, conducted and wrote music criticism in Aussig, Stuttgart, Zurich and Prague. When the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, Ullmann was detained, and in September of 1942, he was deported to Theresienstadt (Terezín).
Although it served as a transit camp for prisoners en route to the death camps in Poland, Theresienstadt was also the "model" ghetto shown to inspectors from the International Red Cross. Jewish artists and intellectuals were imprisoned there and allowed a measure of creative expression. When Ullmann arrived, he found a flourishing concert scene, and he was appointed the camp's official music critic.
In Theresienstadt, Ullmann composed, organized concerts and taught music. "The Kaiser of Atlantis" was being prepared for performance in September of 1944, when an S.S. delegation turned up at one of the final rehearsals and discovered the satiric allusions to Hitler and the anti-war and anti-Nazi sentiments. The project was terminated, and most of the participants, including Ullmann, were sent to Auschwitz.
It was 32 years before the opera was finally produced. It premiered in December of 1975 in Amsterdam.
The Yale production of "The Kaiser of Atlantis" is directed by Joshua Major, head of the opera program at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and conducted by Timothy Long, an opera coach at Yale. The production will be fully costumed and staged, and accompanied by an unusual ensemble of instruments including banjo, harmonium and alto saxophone.
The cast includes Robert Gardner as Kaiser Überall, Patrick Carfizzi as Death, Mark Calvert as Harlequin, Joanna Mongiardo as Bubikopf, Monika Krajewska as Drummer-girl, James Creswell as Loudspeaker and Ryan MacPherson as Soldier.
The instrumental ensemble is composed of members of the Yale Philharmonia Orchestra. The production features lighting designed by William Warfel, professor emeritus at the School of Drama; costumes by drama school student Sarah Iams; and stage settings by Cindy Bongo. Victoria Navarro is stage manager.
Tickets for "The Kaiser of Atlantis" are $10; $5 for students. They may be purchased in advance by calling 432-4158.
Doris Yarick-Cross is artistic director of the Yale Opera program in the School of Music. The program provides private voice lessons, intensive coaching in both operatic and song literature, weekly seminars, voice classes, master classes and lessons in languages, style, acting and movement. For more information about the program, call John Baril at 432-2690.
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