Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2014

The history of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s opera (German for “the dead city”) is almost as tumultuous as the life of its composer. Korngold was just 23 years old in 1920 when German theater launched a bidding war in an effort to secure its premiere. It was a hit, but he fled Austria in the face of mounting anti-Semitism. Later, the Nazis declared all his works verboten. The fact that he found work in Hollywood got him ostracized by the classical music world and he died in relative obscurity in 1957. His work has since been reappraised, recorded and performed, but the opera that made his reputation is rarely staged due to challenging tenor and soprano roles. This production sees Torsten Kerl and Meagan Miller tackle the leads.

Mar 12-24, New National Theatre, Tokyo.