Klaus Schulze: Totentag (1994)

Klaus Schulze - Totentag

KS Canon 39

Track Listing (CD 1):

1.	Apotheke "Zum Weißen Engel"	17:32
2.	Liebesszene	13:46
3.	Im Bordell	14:02
4.	Das Leere Theater	13:53

Track Listing (CD 2):

1.	In Venedig	12:10
2.	Grodek	07:31
3.	Der Freitod	24:47

Notes:
(1) Peter Christoph Runge (baritone) as Georg Trakl
(2) Dennis Lakey (countertenor) as a philosopher
(3) Wilhelmina van der Helm (mezzo-soprano) as a nurse
(4) Roelof Oostwoud (tenor) as a doctor
(5) Harry Peeters (bass) as a doctor

Rating: 5 Stars

This is the 29th solo album recorded by Klaus Schulze. It's unique among his albums as his only opera, sung by five opera singers.

The opera is about the last day of Georg Trakl's life, 3rd November 1914. Trakl is admitted to hospital suffering from paranoia. He's given medication, but he mixes it with cocaine. In his delirium he's visited by a philosopher in different guises. He also falls in love with his nurse, who he mistakes for his sister. Later in the night he commits suicide.

Even though the album is like nothing else Klaus Schulze has ever recorded, it has an overwhelming power that makes it one of his best albums. I've listened to it more often than any of his other post-analogue albums. I admit that it might be inaccessible to most of his fans, because the texts are in German, and no translation is offered in the inlay booklet. However, the booklet contains a synopsis of the opera's seven scenes, written in German but with an English translation.

The CD has never been re-released because KDM claims that it would not sell enough copies to be profitable. As in the case of "Klaus Schulze Goes Classic" I consider this assumption to be untrue, as proved by the fact that all the copies of the original release have sold out. It's just an excuse for KDM himself not liking the album.

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These are photocopies of the pages of the inlay which give a synopsis of the contents of the opera. My original intention was to transcribe the synopsis, but I've noticed a few inaccuracies in the translation, so I want to include a modified translation of my own at a future date.