The general themes of Der Kaiser von Atlantis, as well as Petr Kien’s libretto, contain a number of allusions to literary works. Here is a summary of some of these prominent literary references, citing the Source of the reference, its Usage in the opera, and the Significance of its presence.

Reference: The city of Atlantis

Source: Ancient Greek mythology

Usage: Setting for the opera

Significance: The legendary city of Atlantis was a utopia gone wrong. Wealth and power spoiled the population—their fall from an honorable, peaceful society to a prideful, avaricious one resulted in punishment from the gods. Shaken by vengeful earthquakes, Atlantis sank beneath the sea. For the opera to be titled The Emperor of Atlantis, one sees the corruption of the Atlanteans reflected in the Uberall’s behavior. Death’s abdication could be compared to the punishment of the gods and the threat of destruction of the society. Unlike Atlantis, however, Uberall’s kingdom evades ultimate destruction. Though there will be deaths, they are merciful ones, and those who survive are granted a new chance at utopia, free from the tyranny of Emperor Uberall’s self-serving reign.

Theme: “The war of all against all”

Source: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

Usage: In the Drummer’s announcement of the Emperor’s mandate of war, she declares “Each against the other, no survivors!”

Significance: Hobbes believed “the war of all against all” to be the natural state of mankind. The opera suggests the truth of such a theory, though the argument could be made that this “natural state” occurs only through the tyrannical influence of those in power, and thus in that sense is not “natural” at all. Yet as long as there are people like Uberall perpetually gaining power and manipulating the masses into war, then indeed it becomes a “natural state.” Only until all of society is entirely freed from the quest for supremacy can the natural state of mankind shift in new directions. The death of Uberall is a start in such a direction, but there are no guarantees he is the last of the power mongers. Here is further proof of the opera’s timelessness beyond the political situation of WWII. While allusions can easily be made specifically to Hitler and the Nazis, the situation of war is a sad constant in one place or another throughout world history. Ullmann and Kien provide the audiences of all historical eras an apt allegory to the futility of war.

Detail from the vocal score published by Schott

Reference: Adolf Hitler

Source: Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf (My Life), published in 1924

Usage: In this same speech, the Drummer proclaims the war mandate to be “decreed in the 15^th year of our beneficent reign.”

Significance: Unlike the last example, this one does specifically reference the rule of Adolf Hitler. His influence spread with the publication of Mein Kampf, and fifteen years later marks the breakout of WWII in 1939. A subtle detail that an historically savvy audience would appreciate, this timespan parallels Uberall’s reign prior to declaring the greatest war in the history of Atlantis.

Another detail from the vocal score published by Schott

Quotation: “O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

Source: The Holy Bible, 1 Corinthians 15:55

Usage: In the Emperor’s aria to close Scene II, he wails “Death, where is thy sting? Where is thy victory, Hell?”

Significance: According to some interpretations of the Bible, death will not forever be a part of life. This passage from Corinthians discusses the arrival of Christ to resurrect all souls after the enemies of mankind have been destroyed. Death will be the final such enemy to fall, and then the resurrected ones will join voices in the almost taunting chorus quoted above. In the opera, however, the Emperor’s lament is anything but taunting. The irony of the opera’s theme is that Death is genuinely desired by two different factions. The Emperor craves Death to carry forth his war and protect his power. The suffering population twists this fatalistic perspective—Death is craved as a release, a far cry from the Bible’s view of entrapment. While the quote echoed in both the opera and the Bible deals with the theme of eradicating of Death, the sentiments behind the concept are radically different—from joyful, to frustrated, to desperate. It is upsetting to consider the latter standpoint, that of the tortured living dead, for it is their plight that represents the situation of those oppressed by the Nazis. As evidenced by the high number of Jewish suicides throughout WWII, in some cases the wait for Death simply couldn’t be borne. Death was the only imaginable freedom.

Miscellaneous references:

The characters, including a jester and a tyrant, are derived from the stereotyped characters of commedia dell’arte, a theatrical tradition dating back to the Italian renaissance of the 16^th century.

The theme of Death abdicating was also not new to this opera—several other plays and novels entertain this concept, including plays by Georg Kaiser, 1918’s “Gas,” and Karel Capek, 1937’s “The White Illness.”