A man’s obsession with his dead wife threatens his sanity in Erich Wolfgang
Korngold’s intense psychological study—a harrowing mix of hallucinatory
fantasy and painful reality that has been compared to Hitchcock’s Vertigo. This
emotionally gripping, visually arresting trip into the dark side of a troubled psyche
features a voluptuous, colorful score reminiscent of both Puccini and Richard
Strauss. Critics called director Willy Decker’s production “magical and intriguing...Decker brilliantly succeeds in blending reality and the dream world.” Donald
Runnicles conducts the San Francisco Opera premiere of the renowned film
composer and two-time Academy Award winner’s greatest work for the stage.
A man’s obsession with his dead wife threatens his sanity in Erich Wolfgang
Korngold’s intense psychological study—a harrowing mix of hallucinatory
fantasy and painful reality that has been compared to Hitchcock’s Vertigo. This
emotionally gripping, visually arresting trip into the dark side of a troubled psyche
features a voluptuous, colorful score reminiscent of both Puccini and Richard
Strauss. Critics called director Willy Decker’s production “magical and intriguing...Decker brilliantly succeeds in blending reality and the dream world.” Donald
Runnicles conducts the San Francisco Opera premiere of the renowned film
composer and two-time Academy Award winner’s greatest work for the stage.
Act I
Paul mourns the death of his young wife Marie. The decaying city is a constant reminder to him both of her and of the past. Brigitta, Paul's housekeeper, shows Paul's visiting friend Frank the "Temple of Memories," where Paul keeps a portrait and mementos of Marie. Paul enters, exclaiming that he has met a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Marie and that he has invited her to visit him. This woman, Marietta, a dancer from Lille, arrives. She sings a nostalgic song and then performs a seductive dance. She accidentally dislodges a curtain, exposing Marie's portrait, and is startled by its resemblance to her. She then leaves for her rehearsal of Robert le Diable. Paul is torn between his loyalty to Marie and his desire for Marietta. When Marie appears in a vision, Paul vows his fidelity. Marie bids him to "see and understand." The apparition vanishes, replaced by an image of Marietta dancing.
Act II
A few weeks later, Paul's vision is continuing; he imagines himself outside Marietta's house, where he encounters Brigitta, who has left his service to become a nun, and then Frank, who has arrived for a tryst with Marietta. The two jealous men begin to fight, and Paul wrests from Frank the key Marietta gave him. Frank runs off. When members of Marietta's troupe arrive, Paul hides. Marietta enters with the dancer Gaston. Fritz, the troupe's Pierrot, sings a sentimental love song and Marietta proposes a toast, suggesting an impromptu performance of Robert le Diable. She then rises, as the character Hélène, from a mock bier and flirtatiously dances toward Gaston. Paul, outraged by this burlesque "resurrection," emerges to stop the show. Marietta is left alone with Paul who scornfully reveals the reason for his bizarre attraction to her, and declares that he has never loved her. Marietta, challenging her dead rival, seduces Paul. She insists they go to his house to banish the phantom forever.
Act III
The next morning, Paul finds Marietta in the "Shrine of the Past." She refuses to leave, for she wants to watch Bruges's annual religious procession from the window. Paul becomes engrossed in the ancient ceremony, finally falling to his knees in religious fervor. Marietta attempts to regain Paul's attention by seducing him. Haunted by his guilty conscience, Paul imagines that the procession is menacingly entering the room. When Marietta ridicules his superstition and accuses him of hypocrisy, Paul orders her to leave. But Marietta again challenges Marie: "life against death." She seizes Marie's golden braid and begins an alluring dance. Paul, furious, strangles her with the braid.
At this point the vision ends. Paul awakes and sees the lock of hair untouched. Brigitta announces Marietta, who has returned because she forgot her umbrella and roses, suggesting that this is an omen that she should stay. When Paul does not respond, Marietta leaves for good. Frank enters, and Paul tells him he will never again see Marietta—his dream of love has been destroyed forever. Frank asks Paul to go with him and he agrees to leave Bruges, "the dead city."
- Approximate running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes including one intermission
- Sung in German with English supertitles
- San Francisco Opera Premiere
- Co-production of the Vienna State Opera and the 2004 Salzburg Festival
- Die Tote Stadt is made possible, in part, by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Bernard Osher Endowment Fund.
- Production photo: Axel Zeininger, courtesy of Wiener Staatsoper GMBH
- Cast, program and schedule are subject to change
