Monday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 80th anniversary honoring the millions of lives lost and those who survived the Holocaust.

This weekend, the Louisville Orchestra presents Dakar's of Atlantis, an opera composed in a concentration camp during World War Two.

Our Kelcey Starks explains.

It's Louisville connection.

Hey there.

Kaiser Von Atlantis is a piece of art that survived the Holocaust.

It's a very dark parody on Hitler or any kind of person in power, a dictator type.

And there is a Kaiser and there is there's actually a character of death.

And in the story, there's so much killing.

There's been war for years and years and years.

And death decides to go on strike.

He decides he's not going to he's tired.

He's not going to kill anybody anymore.

And this creates a real issue for the Kaiser, because he doesn't have that power without death.

Who is he.

Should.

Rule a lot from?

Opera singer Emily Aubrey plays Boubacar off in the performance part of a love story in the setting of a concentration camp.

The whole piece is a real testament to the power of art and to the power of speaking out against atrocities, speaking up for what is right.

The opera was written and composed by Victor Ollman, an Austrian composer, conductor and pianist who wrote the opera while he was being held in that there in state concentration camp during World War Two.

One of the original performers was a 14 year old violin prodigy.

There is a really distinct Louisville connection to this opera because Victor Ullmann wrote this opera integration, which was a kind of concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

And in that camp was a 14 year old violin prodigy from Czechoslovakia named Paul Kling.

So Paul met Victor as Victor was writing this opera, and Paul was kind of part of the earliest rehearsals of the opera before the Nazi Guards integration shut it down.

So Paul calling Victor Ullmann and the librettist of the opera were all sent to Auschwitz together, where unfortunately, Victor and librettist died.

But Paul Kling managed to escape, and when he escaped, he eventually found his way to Louisville, where he was the concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra in the 1950s.

His escape from Auschwitz when he was finally transferred there is apparently they were walking out in the snow, ostensibly to their deaths, and he managed to kind of break away from the group and fall into the snow to disguise himself as a dead body.

And so he waited for some time while everyone passed in the snow, laying perfectly still.

And then he managed to make his way out into the out into Czechoslovakia and back to his hometown and eventually made his way to the United States.

In addition to being concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra, Paul Kling was also a violin professor and conducted the Louisville Youth Orchestra.

In fact, many of his students are still performing today, including Charles Bristol, a violinist with the Louisville Orchestra for the past 49 years.

He was a wonderful person, a terrific teacher and a terrific musician.

And I am so happy that I got to to work with them both.

If I had not met him, I probably would not have done it while I was at this profession.

It's a connection to Louisville and a connection to history.

And it's told in this case with staging that includes images projected from a graphic novel of the story that's called Death strikes.

The opera's been done before it was premiered in the 1970s, but it, to my knowledge, has never been done here.

So having this very special connection to Louisville through this opera is something that's really special and really touching here to our community.

Because Paul Kling left such a musical legacy while he was here, you know, not just as the violinist of the orchestra, the concertmaster of the orchestra, but as a teacher and as a mentor to so many young music students and so many young violinists.

So he left his mark here in Louisville.

And this opera survives in large part due to him.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Kelsey Starks.

Thank you, Kelsey.

The Louisville Orchestra's music director, Teddy Abrams, conductor Kaiser Von Atlantis.

This Saturday at the Kentucky Center's Whitney Hall.

Tickets are still available.