Most American’s know Erich Wolfgang Korngold for his film music or possibly his oft revived opera “Die Tote Stadt,” but on this week’s Sunday Opera (1/28 3:00 p.m.), we’ll be listening to a recording of in 1927 opera “Das Wunder der Heliane” which is considered by many to be his greatest work.
The libretto by Hans Muller is seen by some as allegorical and as metaphysical by others and deals with a totalitarian or fascist ruler in an unnamed totalitarian state at an unknown time.
Heliane (Annemarie Kremer) is the wife of The Ruler (Aris Argiris). The Ruler is unnecessarily cruel and has become more so because he cannot win the love of Heliane who does not love him because of his cruelty. Since the ruler is unhappy, he won’t tolerate anyone else being happy, and this is why The Stranger (Ian Storey) has been arrested and sentenced to death: he has the talent to make people happy.
Through the three acts of the opera, Heliane falls in love with The Stranger which, of course, makes The Ruler even more furious, and he doesn’t believe Heliane when she claims that nothing has happened between them. To help her, The Stranger kills himself supposedly making it impossible for The Ruler to prove that Heliane is lying.
The Ruler, however, has a different idea. He tasks Heliane to prove she is innocent before God by bringing The Stranger back to life the next day.
The Stranger does come back to life after a thunder crash and the appearance of stars in the sky, but when Heliane runs into his arms, The Ruler’s rage gets the better of him, and he stabs Heliane. The opera ends with the miracle in which the stranger, holding onto the still alive Heliane, rises to heaven after blessing the people and banishing The Ruler for a strange but happy ending.
Other members of the cast include Katerina Hebelkova, Frank van Hove, Nutthaporn Thammathi, and Gyorgy Hanczar. Fabrice Bollon conducts the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Opera and Extra Choruses of the Freiberg Theatre and members of the Freiburg Bach Chorus.
More of Korngold’s music will be featured after the opera, so if you really aren’t that familiar with his classical work, it should prove a treat. Right now, we’re looking at his lone Symphony among other pieces, but you’ll just have to tune in to see what we end up selecting.
Korngold has long been one of our favorite composers, and we hope you’ll join us this week to see why.
