The Emperor of Atlantis or Death's Refusal op. 49b One-act play by Peter Kien 烏爾曼 總譜 歐伊倫堡版

1942 年 9 月，維克多-烏爾曼被關押在特萊西恩施塔特集中營，1943 年，他根據獄友彼得-基恩（Peter Kien）的劇本創作了歌劇《亞特蘭蒂斯皇帝》（Der Kaiser von Atlantis）。這部歌劇由党衛軍允許成立的一個室內樂團排練，但在最後一次排練後就被禁止首演。1944年烏爾曼被送往奧斯威辛集中營前不久，他將樂譜的親筆簽名連同劇本一起交給了一位朋友，這位朋友在戰爭結束時保存了這兩份手稿。死神拒絕履行自己的職責，結束了這場混亂--現在，每個人都將永生。國王失去了權力，但人民卻渴望從生活的痛苦中解脫出來。只有皇帝的自願死亡才能恢復死亡的初衷。劇本以懸疑劇的形式對第三帝國，尤其是特萊西恩施塔特集中營進行了有力的描述。音樂中多次引用爵士樂和時下流行的輕音樂，有時甚至直接引用，使作曲家扮演了政治評論家的角色，沿襲了 20 世紀 20 年代專題歌劇的傳統"

作曲家: Ullmann, Viktor
編者: Brauel, Henning
樂器:
出版社: Ernst Eulenburg & Co. GmbH
原文簡介:
In September 1942 Viktor Ullmann was interned in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt where he composed the opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis [The Emperor of Atlantis] on a libretto of Peter Kien, a fellow prisoner, in 1943. This opera was rehearsed by a chamber ensemble founded with the permission of the SS, but its first performance was prohibited after the final rehearsal. The autograph of the score only survived because shortly before his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, Ullmann handed it, together with the libretto, to a friend who was able to save both manuscripts at the end of the war.The opera is a parable of a cruel emperor, whose senseless war is claiming many lives. Death puts an end to the chaos by refusing his duty - now, everyone lives for eternity. The king becomes disempowered, but the people long for a release from the pain of life. Only the voluntary death of the emperor can restore death's original purpose.The libretto is a vigorous take on the Third Reich and more particularly the concentration camp of Theresienstadt through the means of a mystery play. The music, with its numerous references to jazz and then current light music, sometimes by direct quotation, puts the composer in the role of political commentator, following the tradition of topical opera in the 1920's.