Fernie Friends of Opera: Die Tote Stadt

Fernie Friends of Opera screen an opera every month at the Arts Station, with admission by donation. This month's opera is Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) composed by Erich Korngold. Sung in German with English subtitles, 2h, 25 m. This production is from the Opera national du Rhin in Strasbourg, France, 2001.

Suppressed by the Nazis as "decadent", this wonderfully inspired score has Straussian ebb and flow, volcanic eruptions, tender, touching moments, unusual, colorful orchestral effects, not to mention unforgettable melodies. Korngold was only 23 when it was first staged in 1920. The opera opens in the rational world, but quickly dissolves into a dark dreamscape of hallucination. This psychological drama mirrors love and memory, death and reality, ending with a beautiful and brave spiritual release.