Two hilarious operas in one night! These satires mocking
oppression and dictatorship were written in 1943 Germany under vastly different
circumstances: Ullman's work in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt
(Terezin), and Orff's opera in Frankfurt, Germany.
Viktor Ullmann's "The Emperor of Atlantis"
is a witty send-up of fascism where a mad ruler advocates war against all, and
even causes Death to retire from his duties. In contrast, Carl Orff's "The
Clever One" is a cautionary fairy-tale about a foolish, tyrannical king
bested by a clever woman.
http://www.chicagooperatheater.org/the-season/the-emperor-of-atlantis-the-clever-one
