So we get this surrealist story: Paul is depressed as he lost his wife Marie; however, he ran into another woman, Marietta, in the streets of Bruges (the dead city the title refers to) who is an exact look-alike for his wife. Yeah, it's like Vertigo all right, or Orpheus: you too can get your dead wife back. Anyhow, Paul passes out and Korngold hits us with The. Dream. Sequence. Opera storylines don't care much for a semblant of realism. But this one really gets off the the road, in a good way! Marietta comes back, all clad in white, with a bunch of Pierrots, and Paul and her have this seduction thing going on, and then Paul kills her. Oh noes!

Pictures courtesy of SF Opera/Terrence McCarthy; Tortsen Kerl above (with his double Ben Bongers), and Emily Magee below. Group scene: Andrew Bidlack, Daniela Mack, Bryan Ketron, Lucas Meachem, Alek Schrader, Ji Young Yang.