Opera Review: Goggles, Gears and Genocide

Opera Moderne returns with Der Kaiser von Atlantis.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The cast of Der Kaiser von Atlantis at the Bohemian Hall. Vincent B. Vincent
(center) stars as the Emperor Overall. Death (Jeffrey Tucker) is at right.
Photo by Sara L. Gamarro © 2012 Opera Moderne.

Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis is a work with a most painful genesis. It was written in Theresienstadt, the Nazis' "show" concentration camp where Ullmann was an inmate along with his librettist Peter Kien. Using a chamber orchestra of whatever instruments were available (including ad banjo!) they created a one-act, one-hour show: a bold lampoon of Hitler and the German idea of "total war."

The opera was cancelled when the SS learned of its subject matter. Ullmann and Kien were sent to Auschwitz and killed.

However, their collaboration survived, coming to light in 1975. Since then, the work has had a number of productions in Europe, but only a few in America. This is a short, difficult one-act work which requires serious vocal talent to bring off. And while Kaiser is not difficult to stage, its unique history and back-story make it difficult to pair with another short opera.

Opera Review: Possession Obsession

Opera Moderne presents The Turn of the Screw.

by Paul Pelkonen

Promotional art for The Turn of the Screw. Image © 2012 Opera Moderne.

On Saturday night, the Opera Moderne, a modest Manhattan company new to this publication ended its 2012 season with a taut performance of Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw at Symphony Space.

Britten's opera (the libretto is by Myfanwy Piper) is not a straightforward adaptation of  Henry James' ambiguous ghost story. In Ms. Piper's version, the ghosts Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are actual supernatural forces, preying on two innocent children at the Essex country estate of Bly. (James' novella leaves the reader unsure if the Governess is seeing things or slowly going insane.)