Der Ka­iser von At­lantis

Of all places it was in the hell of Theresienstadt concentration camp that Viktor Ullmann would find his unmistakable voice as a composer. The marches of his childhood as the son of a high-ranking officer in the Austro-Hungarian empire, the teachings of his mentors Arnold Schönberg and Alexander von Zemlinsky, the jazz-flavoured popular music of his time, and his love of the formal rigour of Johann Sebastian Bach – in his opera ‘Der Kaiser von Atlantis’ Ullmann elegantly combines all these biographical influences into a lively mix of styles rich in echoes and associations.

The parable of death’s refusal to work, no longer willing to be exploited as Emperor Overall’s murderous henchman, was developed in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943/44. Its message of resistance against injustice and oppression is equally applicable today, as the recent winner of the 11th European Opera Directing Prize, the director Ilaria Lanzino highlights in her vivid production.