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- Korngold, Erich Wolfgang
Duration: 4 minutes
Description: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) composed the opera DIE TOTE STADT (THE DEAD CITY), composed between 1916 and 1920 and premiered simultaneously in Hamburg and Cologne on December 4, 1920. Based on Georges Rodenbach’s symbolist novel BRUGES-LA-MORTE, the opera follows the widowed Paul as he grapples with his obsession over his deceased wife Marie through a hallucinatory encounter with her double, Marietta. Scored with sweeping late-Romantic richness and cinematic flair, the opera reveals Korngold’s compositional maturity at a young age. Although it fell into neglect mid-20th century, it has seen a major resurgence in recent decades and is now firmly reestablished in the operatic repertoire. “Marietta’s Song,” requested by Paul in Act I because Marie used to sing it, is admired for its soaring lyricism. Instrumentation: 2+Picc.2+EH.2+BCl.2+CBsn: 4.1+BTpt.3.1: Timp.Perc(1): Clst.2Hp.Pno: Str(4.4.3.3.3 in set): Solo Sop. Reprint edition.