Korngold's Opera Die tote Stadt Rediscovered

200000 Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Die tote Stadt op.12 (opera in 3 acts). Programme Erich Wolfgang Korngold Die tote Stadt op.12 (opera in 3 acts) Die tote Stadt : a stunning opera by the young Erich Wolfgang Korngold and a century ago one of the greatest theatre successes. This almost cinematic opera is enchanting, dramatic and still relevant today. Unprocessed raw Twenty-three years old is Erich Wolfgang Korngold when his opera Die tote Stadt premiered in December 1920, on the same day in Hamburg and Cologne! It is already his third opera and with this he definitively establishes his name. The libretto is based on Bruges-la-Morte (1892) by Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach. This symbolist novel revolves around a widower who cannot come to terms with the death of his wife. He becomes captivated by a young, sensual dancer, in whom he believes he sees the image of his wife. Between dream and reality The 'dead city Bruges' figures in the background, 'in contrast with a boisterous group of comedians, corrupt seductions and intoxicating dances. Everything balancing between dream and reality', according to father Korngold, who wrote the libretto together with his son. The young Korngold delivered an ecstatic score that points ahead to his career as a film composer. Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv conducts the whole this afternoon. She is chief conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and has been a guest at Bayreuth and many other major opera houses.