Opera: Der Kaiser von Atlantis

4802 Fifth Ave,Pittsburgh PA 15213

30 March, 2023

Description

Der Kaiser von Atlantis; or, The Refusal of Death Music by Viktor Ullman Libretto by Peter Kien Sara Tarana Jobin, conductor Karina Aviva Benjamin, director Der Kaiser Von Atlantis was the only surviving opera written in any of the camps during the Holocaust. It was a collaboration of two Jewish artists (writer and composer) who were acutely aware of the horrific genocide against the Jewish people, including themselves. They wrote this as a processing of this unimaginable moment, being faced with their own mortality and gaslit as to their own classification as human beings. We as contemporary audiences bear witness to the almost necessary comedic flairs that accompany utter despair in this hauntingly beautiful grasping of the meaning of life. Experience this unique production in the historic Fred Rogers Studio at WQED.