Track Listings (24) - Disc #1| All Artists: Viktor Ullmann, Lothar Zagrosek, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Iris Vermillion, Jonathan Alder Title: Ullmann: Der Kaiser Von Atlantis Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: London / Decca Release Date: 11/15/1994 Genres: Pop, Classical Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 028944085426 |
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Search - Viktor Ullmann, Lothar Zagrosek, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester :: Ullmann: Der Kaiser Von Atlantis
 | Viktor Ullmann, Lothar Zagrosek, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester Ullmann: Der Kaiser Von Atlantis Genres: Pop, Classical
Ullmann's opera has got to be one of the most terrifying and moving works in the history of the form. It was composed in 1943 in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, though never performed there. That the music survive... more » |
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Amazon.com Ullmann's opera has got to be one of the most terrifying and moving works in the history of the form. It was composed in 1943 in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, though never performed there. That the music survived at all is something of a miracle, as Ullmann himself was later taken to Auschwitz and gassed. The story is an allegory: the emperor (a thinly disguised parody of Hitler) decides to wage total war, and so offends Death by seeming to take over his job that Death goes on strike, and people everywhere stop dying. Death only agrees to go back to work when the emperor permits himself to be the first victim. Although only about three quarters of an hour long, the music makes a terrific impact, and this gutsy performance pulls no punches. --David Hurwitz Similarly Requested CDs
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Member CD Reviews Carol S. from PARADISE, CA Reviewed on 2/16/2007... Beautiful vocal German music with piano accompanying the singers.
CD ReviewsInexcusable neglect RALPH P. GRAY | New york, NY United States | 08/23/2007 (5 out of 5 stars) "This one act opera is one of the degenerate music" releases on the old London label. It deserves to be widely heard. I find it emotionally powerful, both in text and music, and also helped by knowing it was written in concentration camp. The music is not forbidding, as is much of XX Century music. SOme of it is quite lyrical. The singing and the playing of the 13 instruments are just fine.
The story concerns the rule of dictatorial Emperor Overall and his order for "a holy war" in which everyone kills everyone. Harlequin, who stands for life, is old and tired. He wants Death to take him, but Death tells him that laughter is eternal. Death himself feels feeble. He recalls his old glory. The other characters are a soldier, a drummer girl, and a young woman with a boy's haircut. Very important is Loudspeaker who serves as occasional narrator and answer man for the Emperor. Hermann Prey sings Death, and his clearly reduced voice fits the role perfectly. As already noted, all the singing is fine." |
