Die Tote Stadt - Performance History

Performance History

When Die tote Stadt had its premiere on December 4, 1920, Korngold was just 23 years old with two short one-act operas, Der Ring des Polykrates and Violanta, already to his name.

The success of these earlier works was so great that Die tote Stadt was subject to a fierce competition among German theaters for the right to the world premiere.

In the end, an unusual double premiere was arranged and the opera opened simultaneously in Hamburg and Cologne. In Cologne the conductor was Otto Klemperer, and his wife Johanna sang Marietta. In Hamburg Korngold himself was in the theater, and the conductor was Egor Pollak. Die tote Stadt’s theme of overcoming the loss of a loved one resonated with contemporary audiences of the 1920s who had just come through the trauma and grief of World War I, and this undoubtedly fueled the opera’s popularity.

Die tote Stadt was one of the greatest hits of the 1920s. Within two years of its premiere it had circled the globe, including several performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

But the work was banned by the Nazi régime because of Korngold’s Jewish ancestry and after World War II it fell into obscurity. In recent years, however, the work has enjoyed notable revivals, among others in Bonn, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera and in Vienna State Opera.

The opera received its French premiere in 1982 at the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (concert performance). The first French staged performance was in April 2001 in Strasbourg under the baton of Jan Latham-Koenig with Torsten Kerl (Paul) and Angela Denoke (Marietta).

The opera received its UK premiere on 14 January 1996 in a concert performance by the Kensington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Russell Keable at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with Ian Caley (Paul) and Christine Teare (Marie/Marietta). The first UK staged performance was on 27 January 2009 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

The opera received its Australian premiere by Opera Australia on 30 June 2012 at the Sydney Opera House, with Cheryl Barker as Marie/Marietta, and Stefan Vinke as Paul.