Work of the Week - Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Der Ring des Polykrates

There is a true rarity in the programme of the southern Italian Festival della Valle d'Itria this year: on 24 July Der Ring des Polykrates ("The Ring of Polycrates") by Erich Wolfgang Korngold will be staged at the Palazzo Ducale of Martina Franca. The pre-World War I one-act-opera will be directed by Franco Ripa di Meana.

When Korngold was working on Der Ring des Polykrates, he was no older than 16. The humorous, one-hour opera is considered a journeyman's piece for the young composer. In the story, the reading of Friedrich Schiller´s ballad 'Der Ring des Polykrates' creates drama between several couples and only after Schiller's book is thrown out of a window and a love rival is thrown out of town things return to normallity. After the successful world premiere, dozens of librettists offered their works to Korngold and only a couple of years later, he celebrated high profile successes with Violanta and Die tote Stadt.

The work is co-produced by Festival della Valle d'Itria and the German Theater Lübeck where its first night is scheduled for 2 March 2012. 

• Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Profile
• Festival della Valle d'Itria
• Theater Lübeck