DVD + Blu-Ray:
Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings: Die tote Stadt

Ultimate all-star performance: Kirill Petrenko conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, with Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen in the leading roles.

After the opening night of "Die tote Stadt" in Munich, Joshua Barone wrote 2019 in the New York Times: „[The] work’s comeback may have reached its peak at the Bavarian State Opera. It’s difficult to imagine a better case for Die tote Stadt than was made in Munich.“

The boundary between dream and reality increasingly dissolves as Paul, mourning his dead wife Marie, meets the dancer Marietta. With her looks so similar to Marie’s, Marietta becomes the object of the projection of Paul’s erotic desires. His grief has the traits of a ritual: The carefully composed strands of his dead wife’s hair are guarded like a relic. Following a nerve-racking „vision“ with cathartic effect, Paul is finally reeled back to reality. He can leave the Belgian city of Bruges as the place of his death cult. The original title of the piece, „Triumph des Lebens“ (Triumph of Life), is symbolic of the main character’s personal development.

Because of their melodic urgency, arias such as „Glück, das mir verblieb (Marietta‘s Lute Song)“ and „Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen (Pierrot‘s Song)“ have found a home among the concert repertoires of numerous opera singers and radiate far beyond the fame of Die tote Stadt.

This production is the first audiovisual release on the newly launched label Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Original title Die tote Stadt
Recording location Recorded live at the Bayerische Staatsoper
Recording date December 2019
Duration 143 min.
Stage Director Simon Stone
TV Director Myriam Hoyer
Distribution DVD Naxos Group