Tomáš Hanzlík : Dream of the Empire of Beauty

Premiere: La Fabrika – Foundry, May 11, 2009

I was inspired by a play by the decadent poet Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic and composed an opera fragment to it. There is a mythical land where the emperor’s throne is awarded to the most beautiful. At the moment an emperor is superseded by the beauty of another, he is dethroned, thrown in prison, and sentenced to death. My fragment depicts a nighttime encounter between the aging emperor and his successor, a beautiful fisherman. The fisherman wants to grant the emperor his life and has given the order to release him. But a faithful servant to the emperor has already served the fisherman a chalice of poisoned wine.

PLEASE NOTE: you are listening to a live recording from the premiere

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