The Nazis conceived of the Theresienstadt concentration camp as a kind of cultural fantasy land, a propaganda program to show the humane treatment and intellectual life of its prisoners. At great personal risk, Austrian Jewish composer Viktor Ullmann set out to write the one-act opera “Der Kaiser von Atlantis,” commissioned by the Nazis in 1943 while he was in the camp. It punctured the fantasy.

“Ullmann wrote this tale as an allegory to Nazism. He was writing about this dictatorial figure who wanted to dominate the world and take joy out of everything,” Graham Parker, the executive director of the Louisville, Ky., Orchestra, told eJewishPhilanthropy.

On Jan. 25, to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day, the Louisville Orchestra — which has a direct and emotional tie to Theresienstadt — will perform “Der Kaiser,” Ullmann’s anti-Nazi, anti-fascist statement that features a character named Death, personified as an overworked soldier who resents a power-hungry dictator, The Emperor. 

As the opera was being rehearsed and staged in Theresienstadt, the Nazis realized it was an allegory for Adolf Hitler and the performances were shut down. Ullmann was sent to Auschwitz soon after, where he was killed in the gas chambers.

“It has these essential themes of the idea of dictatorship and power, and how unchecked power can go out of control and ruin lives,” Parker said. “We feel it’s a very powerful story for today.”

The opera’s relevance today is not the only reason the Louisville Orchestra was interested in performing it, however. Rather, the orchestra has a “direct link” to the opera, Parker said. 

That link is Paul Kling, a then-14-year-old Czech violinist who was one of the only ensemble members in Theresienstadt to survive the Holocaust. Afterward, he went on to become the concertmaster at the Louisville Orchestra for two decades, from 1957 to 1977, before moving to Canada and continuing his career as a professor at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. He died in 2005 at 75. 

“He still has students who play in the orchestra — there is an absolute, direct link,” said Parker. Teddy Abrams, the music director of the Louisville Orchestra, “knew about this and always had an ambition that we would present this opera,” he added. 

Both Abrams and Parker are Jewish. “As a Jewish guy, to understand these stories about the Holocaust and learn about these people and their survival stories and their personal destruction — specifically with how this story links to Louisville — is a real privilege and a huge responsibility,” Parker said.

So 80 years after Kling rehearsed the opera as a child, it will now be performed in the American city where his professional life first flourished. Though the opera has been performed sporadically around the world since the 1970s, this is the first time the Louisville Orchestra will perform it.

The concert was made possible partly due to an ongoing relationship that the Louisville Orchestra has fostered with the Jewish Heritage Fund, a grantmaking nonprofit in Louisville that primarily supports medical research and community health initiatives, but which also include cultivating “a diverse and thriving Jewish community in Louisville and throughout Kentucky, where folks can feel safe and valued and supported,” said Jeff Polson, the president and CEO of the Jewish Heritage Fund. 

“A big part of that is fostering goodwill and acceptance of the Jewish community by building these alliances with other faiths and cultural groups. When we think about bringing Jewish arts and culture into the broader community, it’s through these sort of experiential and educational opportunities that we hope ultimately inspire understanding and connection,” Polson added. 

“It’s certainly a part of the programs that JHF oversees, to take these works, whether by a Jewish writer, or about a Jewish theme, or about themes that resonate with the Jewish community and think of ways that these works have life beyond the concert hall,” Parker said. “They’re building bridges out into the community and using the piece of music as the bridge builder, making alliances and creating dialogue, which, from my experience as an arts leader, it is unusual and wonderful to see a Jewish organization encouraging that level of non-Jewish partnership.”

In addition to the performance, JHF and the Louisville Orchestra are hosting a series of events and talks in Louisville, including a moderated talk on Jan. 21 at the Filson Historical Society, which will explore the origins and legacy of the opera. 

The Louisville Orchestra has a long history with the Jewish community of Louisville, which numbers around 14,000 people. The orchestra was founded in 1937 in the wake of a catastrophic flood, with city leaders investing in a new arts scene to help rebuild the city. The best orchestra at the time, according to Parker, was the amateur Jewish orchestra at the YMHA — and many became members of the newly formed Louisville Orchestra. In recent years, the orchestra has performed several times at the Conservative synagogue Adath Jeshurun. 

“The other thing the orchestra has been known for in its 80 years, is extraordinary creativity and the commission of new work,” Parker said.

Accordingly, the performance of “Der Kaiser” will be paired with a new piece by Brittany Green, one of the orchestra’s composers-in-residence. “Thread and Pull” by Green, “speaks to many of the same issues regarding the kind of dominant, forceful culture and regimes that silence voices and the abuse of the Black community,” Parker said, and features an all-Black cast. 

Another innovation the orchestra will bring to “Der Kaiser” is the backdrop, which will feature animated artwork projections from Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis, a graphic novel based on the opera by Dave Maass and Patrick Lay, published in 2024. 

For one performer in particular — second violinist Charles Brestel — who is in his 49th year performing with the Louisville Orchestra, the concert is also a tribute to his old teacher. Kling taught him at the University of Louisville as a teenager, and encouraged his path as a musician. “Teaching was very important to Mr. Kling. Teaching came before playing perhaps,” he recalled. Though Brestel described Kling as “rather formal,” he said he remembers that there was “no emphasis on competition,” and Kling motivated the strings section to “work as a team.”

When Brestel first heard the orchestra was putting on “Der Kaiser,” “I went to Teddy [Abrams] and to Graham [Parker] and thanked them for this recognition for Mr. Kling,” he said. “I would not be a violinist today if it had not been for Mr. Kling. He encouraged me. I think if I’d gotten any other teacher, I wouldn’t have stuck with it.”