Korngold: Die Tote Stadt (2-DVD) – Jonas Kaufmann, Marlis Petersen

Composer: Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Artists: Jonas Kaufmann, Marlis Petersen, Andrzej Filonczyk, Jennifer Johnston, Mirjam Mesak, Corinna Scheurle, Manuel Günther, Dean Power, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Chorus of Bayerische Staatsoper
Conductor: Kirill Petrenko
Director: Simon Stone
Format: NTSC 16:9
Sound Format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Language: German
Subtitles: German, English, French, Korean, Japanese
Number of Discs: 2
Studio: Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings
DVD Release Date: August 6, 2021
Run Time: 143 minutes

The premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Autumn 2019 was praised both by press and audiences. Marlis Petersen (Marie/Marietta) and Jonas Kaufmann (Paul) sang the main roles, with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester under Kirill Petrenko’s baton, in the intense staging by Simon Stone.

After the opening night, Joshua Barone wrote in the New York Times: “[The] work’s comeback may have reached its peak at the Bavarian State Opera. It’s difficult to imagine a better case for Die tote Stadt than was made in Munich.”

The boundary between dream and reality increasingly dissolves as Paul, mourning his dead wife Marie, meets the dancer Marietta. With her looks so similar to Marie’s, Marietta becomes the object of the projection of Paul’s erotic desires. Following a nerve-wracking vision with cathartic effect, Paul is finally reeled back to reality.

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