Details
Bold Tendencies Multi-Storey Car Park
Rye Lane
Peckham
London
SE15 4TG
England
Programme
Viktor Ulmann – The Emperor of Atlantis
Performers
Polly Graham – stage director
Timothy Burke – Conductor
Nate Gibson – Set and Costume Designer
Tom Randle – Tenor
Chiara Vinci – soprano
Peter Brathwaite – baritone
Matthew Buswell – baritone
Chroma
Loud Crowd
Other concerts in this Series (+)
Programme Note
The Emperor of Atlantis by Viktor Ullmann is an opera about the need for humans to respect death. The megalomaniac Emperor has declared a war that will only end when there are no survivors left. Death, an old tramp, outraged that a mortal should supplant him, goes on strike. The war begins but panic sets in as no one can die. The Living Dead walk the earth. The Emperor’s power weakens. He submits to the greater power of Death, and natural order is restored.
Originally written in the concentration camp at Terezín in 1943 as a satire of the Nazi regime, this project also reads the piece as a prophecy for our time, presenting it within the context of current political debates about nuclear warfare, big man politics, and the value of life in relation to power.
Directed by Polly Graham, and conducted by Timothy Burke, in a new translation by Max Hoehn, the production is designed by Nate Gibson and will feature players from the award-winning Chroma Ensemble and Grammy award-winning, internationally acclaimed tenor Tom Randle, and rising stars Chiara Vinci, Peter Brathwaite and Matthew Buswell.