ROME (AP) ó Music written by Czech-German composer Viktor Ullman in a Nazi concentration camp and performed by the Juilliard Orchestra will open the latest summer Festival of Two Worlds in the hill town of Spoleto.
"One of the most exciting and moving performances is Der Kaiser von Atlantis," Francis Menotti, son of arts festival founder Gian Carlo Menotti, said of the opera at a news conference by both men Monday to present the 47th edition. "It is an extraordinary piece." Ullman perished at Auschwitz in 1944. He composed the opera at TerezÌn [Theresienstadt] concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.
Menotti stepped in to help his father, who is 92, in 1994. The festival traditionally offers a rich menu of the arts. This summer's program features dance performances ranging from modern ballet fused with Latin dance by the Hispanic Ballet, a company based in Harlem, New York City, and acrobatic-style dance combining aspects of martial arts, performed by Dance Brazil. Film, drama, and visual arts will also be featured. The festival runs July 2 to July 18 in the Umbrian town, 130 kilometers (78 miles) north of Rome.
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