Die Tote Stadt/Odyssey Opera

Enshrouded in an air of ancient religious mystery as well as a dark, dank atmosphere, the Flemish city of Bruges was a favorite of fin-de-siecle, Symbolist writers and artists. It is also the setting for Erich Wolfgang Korngold's aptly named opera "Die Tote Stadt" (The Dead City).

With two wildly successful one-act operas already to his credit, the wunderkind completed his first large-scale theater work in 1923. So heated was the anticipation of Korngold's new opera, that "Die Tote Stadt" was given simultaneous premieres, in Cologne and Hamburg. And it did not disappoint, soon meeting with enthusiastic acclaim in houses throughout the globe, including the Metropolitan. However, with the rise of the Third Reich, the opera, along with several others by Jewish composers, was banned in Germany, and fell into obscurity during the post-war period.

The 1975 RCA Victor recording helped to revive interest in the work, and, in general, the classical music Korngold composed prior to those legendary film scores of his Hollywood years. Yet subsequent performances have been few, perhaps owing to the difficulty of the music, and the sizeable, requisite performing forces. On Saturday evening, Boston's terrific new company, Odyssey Opera, treated audiences to a concert version of "Die Tote Stadt" ---and a superb reading of the haunting score!

The storyline resonates with Hitchcockian pre-echoes. Reminiscent of "Vertigo," the plot concerns a grieving widower obsessed by the perfect love he found with his dead wife. He spots Marietta, a beautiful young dancer, who reminds him somewhat of her, and enters into a carnal relationship. Yet, like "Rebecca," Marietta is continually haunted by the specter of Marie, Paul's deceased wife. The flowery libretto, written by Korngold's illustrious father Julius under the pseudonym "Paul Schott," contains several references to the gloom of Bruges, the "dead" city.

Stylistically, the opera borrows heavily from Wagner and Strauss, with smatterings of Mahler and Puccini. During one of the intermissions on Saturday night, an audience member loudly exclaimed, "Pretty music, but it doesn't go anywhere." It is true that Korngold's melodic style is episodic, a constant stream of brief, lushly scored, musical gestures, one following the other. However, "Die Tote Stadt" offers some extended melodic sequences of great beauty, such as the Act 2 "Pierrotlied," and, of course, the greatest hit tune of the work, "Marietta's Lied." It is the only selection from the opera that is regularly excerpted; and it is characterized by such lyrical beauty that Korngold reprised it for the moving finale of the opera.

As the opera was presented in a concert version, the massive orchestral forces were assembled on the stage of NEC's Jordan Hall, rather than being submerged in the orchestral pit of an opera house. As a result, the sound, particularly in massive orchestral tutti, was awe-inspiring. The extended Act 2 orchestral prelude followed by Paul's impassioned monologue was a highlight of the performance. The Opera Odyssey orchestra played splendidly throughout, seemingly undaunted by Korngold's intricate, virtuoso writing. The company's music director, Gil Rose, conducted the rhythmically complex score with remarkable facility. Managing forces that included the huge orchestra, solo singers and antiphonal choruses positioned about the theater, Rose managed to keep everything tightly in place. The entire performance flowed in a highly fluid and stage-worthy manner.

The solo singing was more than respectable. As Marietta, the young soprano Meagan Miller displayed a supple, lyric soprano voice, keen musicianship, and a good sense of the idiom. The much-anticipated "Lied" comes early on in Act 1, and her interpretation was quite good, though the music did not really soar as it should. Yet, in the second act, her voice had opened up substantially, and by the extended Act 3 duet with Paul, it became electrifying.

The true hero of the evening was tenor Jay Hunter Morris, who sang the excruciating role of Paul. Heroics are necessary to undertake the part, as the tessitura is extremely high, and Korngold's vocal demands are Wagnerian in scale. Having recently sung Siegfried in the Met's new "Ring Cycle," Morris was the man for the job. With its slightly dry timbre, the voice is hardly a gorgeous one. Yet he nailed one high note after another, carried with ease over the huge orchestra, and proved himself a powerful stage presence.

It is unfortunate that, having amassed such sizable forces and superior talent, OO's "Die Tote Stadt" was given only a single performance. Understandably, it was a sellout, and tickets were among the hardest to score in recent seasons here. The performance met with a thunderous and interminable ovation. This is proof that, with a fresh, new opera company performing unusual repertoire at high musical standards, opera can certainly flourish in Boston.

For more on Odyssey Opera, visit the company's website.