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DIE TOTE STADT

While Paris was the uncontested international capital of music until 1850, in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century, Vienna claimed this title for itself. A not insignificant number of important musicians made their home in the capital of the declining Danube monarchy. The first part of the life of Erich Wolfgang Korngold coincided with this amazingly fertile era. Born in 1897 in Brünn, he grew up in the Vienna, the son of the man who was perhaps the foremost music critic in German-speaking countries. Erich Wolfgang was considered a child prodigy, and with the backing of his father, Julius Korngold, his earliest compositions were very soon played in public privately published music. The not quite 13-year-old astounded no less than Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler with his highly developed abilities. With the help of his teacher, Alexander von Zemlinsky, he produced the pantomime The Snowman at the Vienna Court Opera in 1910. Six years later, two one-act operas by the rising young composer were premièred in Munich: The Ring of Polycrates and Violanta. A short time later, they were performed in his hometown nd enjoyed resounding success. The fact that these works were presented by celebrated conductors such as Bruno Walter, and that a singer as famous as Maria Jeritza sang the title role in Violanta first in Vienna and later at the Met in New York illustrates the standing the compositions of Korngold enjoyed in the music profession. A production of Much Ado About Nothing for which he had written a score, for example, was shown at the Vienna Court Theatre some eighy times. He finally enjoyed his greatest success with the work that also ebsured that his work would live on even after his death: the full-length opera Die tote Stadt. A total of four years went by between the first sketches and the world première. Duríng this time, the title of the work and the overall concept were changed, and a new librettist had to be found. Bruges la Morte served as the literary basis, a novel popular around the turn of the century that the author, Georges Rodenbach, had also turned into a play. In 1902 this stage version was premièred in Berlin under the title Das Trugbild in the German version by Siegfried Trebitsch. The young Korngold first came across the work in a german version of all Rodenbach's plays translated by Trebitsch. Korngold was extremely excited about the work and immediately made plans to set it to music. As with his early works, he initially conceived of a one-act opera, for which he even drew up a complete scenario. Hans Müller, who had written his libretto for Violanta, persuaded him to expand the plot to a three-act version. Although Korngold followed this recommendation, Müller terminated the collaboration early, with the result that Korngold's scholary father stepped into the breach and produced the libretto in collaboration with the composer. (Presumably in order to conceal this family cooperation, Julius Korngold did not use his name but took the pseudonym Paul Schott.) The original title, The Triumph of Life, hints at the main difference between the Korngold version and the Rodenbach text. Whereas Bruges la Morte is a tragedy in which the principal male character finally murders his lover, who resembles his dead wife, this scene in the opera occurs only as part of a nightmare that helps the main character achieve a state of psychological clarity and liberation. It is entirely conceivable that Julius Korngold championed this happy ending, since in his opinion the opera genre should "revitalize people during trying times", and a fatal ending in this case would have been contrary to this belief. The enormous success that the opera finally named Die tote Stadt enjoyed was heralded two months before the première: in October 1920 Korngold played the work on the piano to Puccini, earning considerable respect from his older colleague. From that moment on, Puccini believed the not yet 23-year-old composer was one of the most promising composers. The fact that the world première took place on 4th December at two different opera houses at the same time - in Hamburg and in Cologne - made the sensation perfect. Two song-like arias that stand out from the overall Expressionist style attained instant popularity. But also the generally brilliant instrumentation, the bold harmonies and the unique atmosphere created by the almost imperceptible shifts between reality and dream contributed to the ovations from the public. After the double première, Die tote Stadt conquered one opera house after another in quick succession. But the taste changed, the attraction of this form of musical language also aubsided. Both Die tote Stadt and the last two of Korngold's pieces had to make way to the new trend in contemporary opera, in the style of Krenek's Jonny spielt auf. It was only after Korngold's death (in 1957) that a real rebirth of Die tote Stadt took place.