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Years ago, I saw a production of Ullman's Der Kaiser von Atlantis and became fascinated by it. Last night I came across a 2006 production by Teatro Colón; no subtitles, but I remembered enough of the story to follow everything.
It's a balancing-act of an opera -- every production has to decide whether to emphasize its fairy-tale theme or its origins in Terezin, and the best juggle both until the epilogue. This production manages all the subtleties: Death is slightly comical right up the point where, despite his Uncle Fester make-up, he's not. Kaiser Overall is basically Hitler, except Ullman and the librettist Peter Kien made their villain complex and gave him a chance of redemption, even as they suffered under his real-life counterpart. The staging keeps Overall in a grotesque desk/motorized wheelchair contraption until Death frees him.
The interlude with the two soldiers, unable to die, who fall in love on the battlefield was performed with particular charm. Harlequin walks the tightrope between otherworldly clown and prisoner; there's a subtle diamond pattern overlaid on his shabby jacket, and a tattered yellow star on his left breast. I like the idea that he's won the Drummer over by the time Death comes through Overall's mirror.
It's a balancing-act of an opera -- every production has to decide whether to emphasize its fairy-tale theme or its origins in Terezin, and the best juggle both until the epilogue. This production manages all the subtleties: Death is slightly comical right up the point where, despite his Uncle Fester make-up, he's not. Kaiser Overall is basically Hitler, except Ullman and the librettist Peter Kien made their villain complex and gave him a chance of redemption, even as they suffered under his real-life counterpart. The staging keeps Overall in a grotesque desk/motorized wheelchair contraption until Death frees him.
The interlude with the two soldiers, unable to die, who fall in love on the battlefield was performed with particular charm. Harlequin walks the tightrope between otherworldly clown and prisoner; there's a subtle diamond pattern overlaid on his shabby jacket, and a tattered yellow star on his left breast. I like the idea that he's won the Drummer over by the time Death comes through Overall's mirror.
