Event Calendar
A Note on Opera: Erich Wolfgang Korngold's "Die tote Stadt"
Following the devastation of the First World War, Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold's 1920 opera "Die tote Stadt" [The Dead City], its dark title notwithstanding, provides a beacon of hope and re-birth after almost unendurable loss.
Set in the museum-like city of Bruges, Belgium, "Die tote Stadt" is about a man unwilling to move forward after his wife's death. He hallucinates a vision of his re-incarnated wife in the person of a carnival dancer, but ultimately abandons this delusion, leaves Bruges, and begins to rebuild his life.
Korngold himself, being Jewish, was later well-acquainted with loss and re-birth. He fortunately was able to escape Austria prior to the 1938 Anschluss, moved to southern California, and became a highly-praised composer of film scores. "Die tote Stadt" remains, however, his most famous work for the operatic stage.
To be taught in English by David Kerr. No pre-existing knowledge of either music or German required.
Admission:
Goethe-Atlanta members: $20.00 per session
Non-members: $30.00 per session
