‘The Emperor of Atlantis’ gets a modern update
Two Grammy Award winners will visit Northwestern to coach voice and opera students
- Link to: Northwestern Now Story
EVANSTON, Ill. --- A new staging of a classic opera and a master class lead by Grammy Award-winning American soprano Christine Brewer are among the highlights of the fall voice and opera season at the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music.
The new staging of Viktor Ullmann’s opera “The Emperor of Atlantis” incorporates a modern twist with elements of artificial intelligence. The opera, performed by Bienen voice and opera program students together with the Contemporary Music Ensemble, was composed while Ullmann was a prisoner of the concentration camp at Terezín in the Czech Republic. Its plot explores a war-torn world in which Death goes on strike, granting immortality to all.
In the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class series, voice and opera students receive coaching from renowned professionals. November’s class is taught by Christine Brewer, who has received acclaim for her appearances with many of the world’s leading orchestras, particularly for her titular role in Richard Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” and her myriad performances of his “Four Last Songs.”
The series will continue in the winter quarter with a master class given by multi-Grammy Award- and 2018 Olivier Award- winner Joyce DiDonato on January 8.
Tickets are available online at concertsatbienen.org, by phone at 847-467-4000 or by visiting the Bienen School Ticket Office at 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston..
Program details follow:
Viktor Ullmann’s “The Emperor of Atlantis”
7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 16-18
3:00 p.m., Sunday, Nov.19
Free pre-performance talk at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16
Ryan Opera Theater, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $18 or $8 for full-time students with valid ID
When the cruel eEmperor orders a senseless total war, Death decides to put an end to the chaos by going on strike. The people long for a release from the struggles of life, but only by willingly going to his own death can the Emperoremperor convince Death to resume his role. Ullmann composed this opera during his internment at a concentration camp at Terezín between 1943 and 1944. Though camp authorities forbaide its performance and Ullmann did not live to see it staged, the work survived in the hands of a fellow prisoner and was finally premiered by the Netherlands Opera in 1975. “The Emperor of Atlantis” is both a satire on militarism and an unsettling contemplation of what life might be like if humankind were given immortality. In this new staging with additional musical selections, the story introduces further questions about the nature of information and propaganda in the age of artificial intelligence.
The opera is performed in English and has a run time of approximately 70 minutes.
A free pre-performance talk will take place on Thursday, Nov.ember 16 at 6:30 p.m. Bienen School musicologists Jesse Rosenberg and Inna Naroditskaya will join Contemporary Music Ensemble conductor Alan Pierson and opera director Joachim Schamberger to discuss Viktor Ullmann’s opera and the history of the work’s creation while its composer was at the Terezín camp.
Master Class with Christine Brewer, soprano
Part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series
7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 21
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $10 or $5 for full-time students with valid ID
Grammy Award-winning soprano Christine Brewer has appeared with celebrated orchestras throughout the world, most notably giving more thanover 100 performances of Strauss’s “Four Last Songs” and singing for the reopening of Covent Garden. On the opera stage, Brewer has received international acclaim for her portrayal of the title role in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos,” with additional performance highlights including Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at San Francisco Opera, Gluck’s “Alceste” with Santa Fe Opera, Strauss’s “Die Frau ohne Schatten” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Paris Opera, and Britten’s “Albert Herring” at Santa Fe Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. In this master class, she coaches accomplished Bienen School voice and opera program students.
Master Class with Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano
Part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series
7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 8
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $10 or $5 for full-time students with valid ID
A multi-Grammy Award winner and a 2018 Olivier Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has soared to great heights, both as a performer and a fierce advocate for the arts. Her performances of Handel and Mozart operas, as well as her bel canto roles of Rossini and Donizetti, have earned her international acclaim. During the 2023-24 season, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the roles of Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” and Virginia Woolf in Kevin Puts’s “The Hours.” She also appears as Dido in Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” in Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Hamburg and Essen.
Artist Bios
Soprano Christine Brewer is highly regarded for her striking portrayal of the title role in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos,” which she has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Théâtre du Chatelet, Santa Fe Opera, English National Opera and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She also originated the role of Sister Aloysius in the world premiere of Doug Cuomo’s opera “Doubt.” BBC Music named Brewer one of the top 20 sopranos of all time. Attracting glowing reviews with each role, she has performed Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at San Francisco Opera, Gluck’s “Alceste” with Santa Fe Opera, the Dyer’s Wife in Strauss’s “Die Frau ohne Schatten” at Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Paris Opera and Lady Billows in Britten’s “Albert Herring” at Santa Fe Opera and the Los Angeles Opera.
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato’s recent roles include “Agrippina” at the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House and the title role in “Cendrillon” and Adalgisa in “Norma” at the Metropolitan Opera. Much in demand on the concert and recital circuit, DiDonato has held residencies at Carnegie Hall and at London’s Barbican Centre; toured extensively in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia; and appeared as guest soloist at the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms. Other concert highlights include the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Accademia Santa Cecilia Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra USA under Sir Antonio Pappano. DiDonato’s expansive discography includes the highly celebrated “Les Troyens” (winning Gramophone’s coveted Recording of the Year) and Handel’s “Agrippina” (Gramophone’s Opera Recording of the Year). Her albums “Diva, Divo,” “Joyce & Tony – Live From Wigmore Hall” and “Songplay” have won Grammy Awards in the classical category.
