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Nelsons, the BSO, and Korngold’s “Die tote Stadt”

Christine Goerke has long blond curls. She wears bright pink lipstick and an off-the-shoulders black dress. She smiles and looks over her shoulder at David Butt Philip, who has dark brown hair and a short beard. He wears a blue button-up and a dark blazer, and smiles softly at the camera.
Arielle Doneson: Goerke; Andrew Staples: Butt Philip
Soprano Christine Goerke and tenor David Butt Philip

Saturday, February 1, 2025
8:00 PM

Erich Korngold’s opera Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) is an incredibly tender work, begun when the composer was only 19. When he completed it at age 23, it quickly became one of the biggest operatic successes of the era, laying the groundwork for Korngold’s later success as a legendary Hollywood film composer. The opera’s theme of struggling with the memory of a lost loved one undoubtedly resonated with audiences still traumatized by the recent catastrophe of World War I.

Andris Nelsons, conductor
Christine Goerke, soprano (Marietta/Marie)
Amber Monroe, soprano (Lucienne)
Elisa Sunshine, soprano (Juliette)
Karen Cargill, mezzo-soprano (Brigitte)
David Butt Philip, tenor (Paul)
Joshua Sanders, tenor (Victorin)
Neal Ferreira, tenor (Gaston)
Terrence Chin-Loy, tenor (Graf Albert) 
Elliot Madore, baritone (Frank/Fritz)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
 James Burton, conductor
Boston Lyric Opera Chorus
  Brett Hodgdon, conductor

Erich KORNGOLD Die tote Stadt

Presented in collaboration with Boston Lyric Opera

To hear a preview with soprano Christine Goerke and the BSO's Anthony Fogg on GBH's The Culture Show with Jared Bowen, use the player below.

BSO broadcast interview from The Culture Show - Christine Goerke and Anthony Fogg - Feb. 1, 2025

To see a libretto with both the sung German text and a side-by-side English translation, visit Orpheus Ireland.