Colorado MahlerFest

Der Kaiser von Atlantis

May 14, 2026

Info / Tickets

Description

Although it’s less than an hour long, Der
Kaiser von Atlantis is far more than an opera.
Written in 1943 by two Jewish prisoners in a
hybrid Nazi ghetto-concentration camp, Der
Kaiser is a message, a warning, and a lesson from one
of the darkest chapters of the 20th century. In just four
scenes, the audience is introduced to a world where
Atlantis hasn’t sunk and instead its emperor has waged
a global war so absurdly brutal that Death himself
goes on strike in protest. The opera’s creators—
composer Viktor Ullmann and librettist Peter Kien—
were transported to Auschwitz, where they met their
own deaths, never having witnessed their masterpiece
progress beyond rehearsals.
Yet, Der Kaiser endured: libretto drafts, a weathered
score, a vocal part booklet, a set design sketch, and
a six-panel cartoon about the production process
escaped the fires and travelled circuitous routes, until
they made their way to collections around Europe. In
the 1970s, the opera was rediscovered and found life
on the stage.
Any opera that survived these circumstances would
deserve to be celebrated, But Der Kaiser is not your
typical opera. It may not even be a finished opera. It
is an unpolished work of defiance; it is art that forges
hope and humor from bondage and transcends the
medium of classical music.