Korngold's opera *Die tote Stadt* Rediscovered

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Erich Wolfgang Korngold was twenty-three years old when his opera*Die tote Stadt*premiered in December 1920—on the same day in Hamburg and Cologne! It was already his third opera, and with it he definitively established his reputation. The libretto is based on*Bruges-la-Morte*(1892) by the Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach. This Symbolist novel revolves around a widower who cannot come to terms with his wife’s death. 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 of Bruges” appears in the background, “in contrast to an exuberant group of comedians, depraved temptations, and intoxicating dances.” ‘Everything balancing between dream and reality,’ according to his father Korngold, who wrote the libretto together with his son. The young Korngold delivered an ecstatic score that foreshadows his career as a film composer. Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv will conduct the performance this afternoon. She is the chief conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and has been a guest conductor at Bayreuth and many other major opera houses.