DOCSLIB.ORG

Wide World of Weill Brief Reports on People, Performances, Recordings, and Events

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wide World of Weill Brief Reports on People, Performances, Recordings, and Events NEWS Wide World of Weill Brief Reports on People, Performances, Recordings, and Events Die Drei gro schenoper to End Jeffrey Kahane Mahagonny in Buenos Aires Long Run at the Berliner and Around the World Ensemble Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires will pres- After ten successful years and scores ent Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Ma- of performances, including tours to hagonny 22–27 August 2017. Marcelo the U.S., Israel, Hong Kong, Turkey, Lom bardero directs this co-production Australia, and all over Europe, an era with the Municipal de Santiago (see re- will end next spring at the Berliner view on p. 14). Ensemble. Robert Wilson’s produc- Other productions coming up tion of Die Dreigroschenoper, which this year: Graham Vick’s staging at the opened 27 September 2007, will bow Royal Danish Theatre, in repertory 20 for the last time. Vintage Wilson, November through 5 March; Oper Halle, the staging, along with the cast, has directed by Michael von zur Mühlen, drawn numerous critical plaudits. in repertory 21 January through 19 Performance dates for 2017 have May; Salzburger Landestheater with not yet been announced, but clos- the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, ing night will surely be an event Ber- directed by Jacopo Spirei, in repertory lin theatergoers will regret having 4 May through 14 June; Theater und missed, in the manner of aficionados Philharmonie Thüringen in Gera, in 1928 who skipped the world pre- Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Presents Germany, in repertory 3 March through miere and later claimed to have been “Lift Every Voice” 7 June; and at the Staatstheater Cottbus, in attendance. in repertory 11 March through 31 May. The closing marks a changing of The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performsLost the guard at the Berliner Ensemble, in the Stars as part of a three week-long festival, “Lift as the current artistic administration Every Voice,” inspired by the lives of civil rights cham- “Kurt Weill’s America” at will leave in July 2017. How fitting pions Kurt Weill, Rabbi Joachim Prinz and Dr. Martin DePauw University and the that one of their greatest successes Luther King, Jr. The festival runs 14–29 January 2017 Brevard Festival will go out with them. Die Dreigro- at various venues around Los Angeles, in collabora- schenoper ensures that their term tion with several area institutions including the Inner Last spring, the Newsletter reported that will end on a high note. City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, the Salastina the National Endowment for the Hu- Music Society and Villa Aurora, USC, and UCLA. manities has awarded a $300,000 grant The festival, curated by LACO Music Director for a curated concert series of Kurt Jeffrey Kahane, includes performances of The Seven Weill’s music, “Kurt Weill’s America,” Deadly Sins with Storm Large and Hudson Shad, and conceived and hosted by musicologist the U.S. premiere of the Song-Suite for Violin and Or- Joseph Horowitz. chestra arranged by Paul Bateman and performed by DePauw University in Greencastle, violinist Daniel Hope. Past Lenya Competition win- IN, will be the first institution to present ners Lauren Michelle and Justin Hopkins will take the series, beginning this fall and extend- leading roles in Lost in the Stars. Ancillary events ing into next spring. The series of inter- include a symposium, with presentations by Weill disciplinary events includes a scholarly scholars Kim H. Kowalke, Stephen Hinton, and Ta- symposium entitled “Kurt Weill and the mara Levitz, and a chamber concert featuring stu- Search for the Great American Opera,” dents of USC’s Thornton School of Music. vocal master classes with Lisa Vroman Kahane’s interest in the music of Kurt Weill and William Sharp, an all-Weill cabaret, stems from a personal connection: Weill was a dis- and a fully staged production of Street tant cousin of Kahane’s grandmother, who also fled Scene, 9–12 February. Germany in the 1930s to escape the rise of fascism. In In the summer of 2017, the Brevard Stefan Kurt (Macheath) addition to his work as an internationally acclaimed Festival will follow with a summer-long and Angela Winkler conductor and concert pianist, Kahane is a champion exploration of the music of Weill. Works (Polly) of Weill’s music both at home and in his guest ap- on the bill include Street Scene, Seven pearances. In 2014, he led the New York Philharmon- Deadly Sins, and other chamber and ic in four performances of Weill’s Symphony No. 2, concert works appearing throughout the first performances of the work by that orchestra their summer-long festival of over 80 PHOTO: LESLEY LESLIE-SPINKS PHOTO: since its American premiere in 1934. concerts. Volume 34, Number 2 Kurt Weill Newsletter 19 NEWS John Adams’s New Opera Inspired by Mahagonny Jim Palmer on “September Song” American composer John Adams is hard at work on a new opera. Girls of the Golden West is set In a recent contribution to to premiere at San Francisco Opera in November the Wall Street Journal’s 2017. “Playlist” feature, Baseball In a recent interview with journalist Rebec- Hall of Fame pitcher Jim ca Schmid, Adams pointed to Aufstieg und Fall Palmer gave an alternate der Stadt Mahagonny as a key influence on this interpretation of Weill new work. “I think it will come out sounding very and Anderson’s “Septem- much like Weill,” he told Schmid. ber Song.” Weill’s influence on Adams’s career has deep Palmer recollects roots. In his 2008 memoir, Hallelujah Junction, hearing Frank Sinatra’s Adams credits his first experience conducting recording of the song dur- Weill (Mahagonny Songspiel with St. Paul Cham- ing his rookie season in ber Orchestra in 1993), as sparking his interest 1965 and the powerful ef- in writing dramatic musical works. He viewed fect the song had on him: the Weill/Brecht collaborations as a model of “Baseball, like a relation- the musical theater he hoped to create, and soon ship, is about longevity they served as inspiration for I Was Looking at and endurance. You have the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky. John Adams to be as good in Septem- ber as you were in May.” Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature PHOTO: DEBORAH O’GRADY Bob Dylan made history this year as the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy honored Dylan for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Dylan has acknowledged the formative power of Weill’s score for The Threepenny Opera, which left him feeling “like I hadn’t slept or tasted food for about thirty hours, I was so into it.” In particular, he was struck by “Pirate Jenny” and became obsessed with it—the story takes up four full pages in his memoir, Chronicles! Here’s a taste: “This heavy song was a new stimulant for my senses, indeed very much like a folk song but a folk song from a different gallon jug in a different backyard. I felt like I wanted to snatch up a bunch of keys and go see about that place, see what else was there. I took the song apart and unzipped it—it was the form, the free verse association, the structure and disregard for the known certainty of melodic patterns to make it seriously matter, give it its cutting edge. It also had the ideal chorus for the lyrics. I wanted to figure out how to manipulate and control this particular structure and form which I knew was the key that gave ‘Pirate Jenny’ its Barry Humphries resilience and outrageous power.” SEGARRA ESTER PHOTO: Barry Humphries Takes His Weimar Cabaret on Tour Australian comedian Barry Humphries (who won audiences for years with his alter ego, Dame Edna), has long been an ardent admirer of the music of Kurt Weill and his Weimar contemporaries. Growing up in Melbourne, Humphries haunted local bookstores, and one day he came across a stack of scores published by Universal Music in Vienna. He knew nothing of the music or the composers, but he bought the lot. The collection included music by Ernst Krenek, Erich Korngold, Franz Schreker, and Weill. Humphries never forgot his early find, and it has influenced his musical explorations ever since. He has parlayed this lifelong interest in the music of the Weimar Republic into Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret, a curated evening of song and storytelling. Featured among the many favorites and rarities are Weill’s “Surabaya-Johnny,” “Pirate-Jenny,” and “Youkali.” In 2013, Humphries, together with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and performance artist Meow Meow, toured the cabaret for the first time in Australia. Last summer, the troupe made their first venture outside of Australia, performing in front of sold- out audiences in London, Edinburgh, and at Tanglewood. With international success under his belt, Humphries has enlarged his scope, envisioning a tour to Berlin, Vienna, Tel Aviv, and New York. 20 Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 34, Number 2 NEWS Eric Owens Named Musical America Vocalist ad ians of Greek descent or Philhellenes who have of the Year made an outstanding contribution to Canadian society and to [the] Greek-Canadian community.” Musical America has named bass-baritone The awards ceremony was held on 17 November at Eric Owens Vocalist of the Year for 2017 in the Palais Royale in Toronto. their annual awards. Owens, known for a rich, powerful sound and a wide range of roles, Yannick Nézet-Séguin to Receive 2017 Opera wowed opera lovers as Stephen Kumalo in Lost News Award in the Stars at Glimmerglass in 2012 and at Washington National Opera in 2016, bringing Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is among the the work to a whole new set of audiences.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Threepenny Opera (Rec
    Volume 27 Kurt Weill Number 2 Newsletter Fall 2009 David Drew 1930–2009 In this issue Volume 27 Kurt Weill Number 2 Newsletter Note from the Editor 3 Fall 2009 Letters 3 Tribute to David Drew ISSN 0899-6407 David Drew: An Obituary 4 © 2009 Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Alexander Goehr 7 East 20th Street New York, NY 10003-1106 Letter from Drew to Lenya, 1956 5 tel. (212) 505-5240 Struggling for Supremacy: fax (212) 353-9663 The Libretto of Mahagonny 6 David Drew Published twice a year, the Kurt Weill Newsletter features articles Letter from Drew to Lys Symonette, 1970 9 and reviews (books, performances, recordings) that center on Kurt Weill but take a broader look at issues of twentieth-century music David Drew: Für Weill! 10 and theater. With a print run of 5,000 copies, the Newsletter is dis- Kim H. Kowalke tributed worldwide. Subscriptions are free. The editor welcomes the submission of articles, reviews, and news items for inclusion in Recordings future issues. Street Scene (rec. 1949) on Naxos 12 A variety of opinions are expressed in the Newsletter; they do not John Mauceri necessarily represent the publisher's official viewpoint. Letters to the editor are welcome. The Threepenny Opera (rec. 1976) on Sony 13 Foster Hirsch Staff Books Elmar Juchem, Editor Carolyn Weber, Associate Editor Dave Stein, Associate Editor Brady Sansone, Production The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations 14 by Steven Suskin Kurt Weill Foundation Trustees Mark N. Grant Kim Kowalke, President Joanne Hubbard Cossa Performances Guy Stern, Secretary Paul Epstein Philip Getter, Treasurer Susan Feder Johnny Johnson, Lost in the Stars, Die Dreigroschenoperin London 16 Walter Hinderer Patrick O’Connor Welz Kauffman Mahagonny Songspiel / Die sieben Todsünden Teresa Stratas, Honorary Trustee at Ravinia Festival, Chicago 18 John von Rhein Milton Coleman, Harold Prince, Julius Rudel, Trustees Emeriti Die sieben Todsünden in Cincinnati 20 Internet Resources bruce d.
    [Show full text]
  • AN ANALYSIS of the MUSICAL INTERPRETATIONS of NINA SIMONE by JESSIE L. FREYERMUTH B.M., Kansas State University, 2008 a THESIS S
    AN ANALYSIS OF THE MUSICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF NINA SIMONE by JESSIE L. FREYERMUTH B.M., Kansas State University, 2008 A THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MUSIC Department of Music College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2010 Approved by: Major Professor Dale Ganz Copyright JESSIE L. FREYERMUTH 2010 Abstract Nina Simone was a prominent jazz musician of the late 1950s and 60s. Beyond her fame as a jazz musician, Nina Simone reached even greater status as a civil rights activist. Her music spoke to the hearts of hundreds of thousands in the black community who were struggling to rise above their status as a second-class citizen. Simone’s powerful anthems were a reminder that change was going to come. Nina Simone’s musical interpretation and approach was very unique because of her background as a classical pianist. Nina’s untrained vocal chops were a perfect blend of rough growl and smooth straight-tone, which provided an unquestionable feeling of heartache to the songs in her repertoire. Simone also had a knack for word painting, and the emotional climax in her songs is absolutely stunning. Nina Simone did not have a typical jazz style. Critics often described her as a “jazz-and-something-else-singer.” She moved effortlessly through genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, folk, classical, and even European classical. Probably her biggest mark, however, was on the genre of protest songs. Simone was one of the most outspoken and influential musicians throughout the civil rights movement. Her music spoke to the hundreds of thousands of African American men and women fighting for their rights during the 1960s.
    [Show full text]
  • Topical Weill: News and Events
    Volume 27 Number 1 topical Weill Spring 2009 A supplement to the Kurt Weill Newsletter news & news events Summertime Treats Londoners will have the rare opportunity to see and hear three Weill stage works within a two-week period in June. The festivities start off at the Barbican on 13 June, when Die Dreigroschenoper will be per- formed in concert by Klangforum Wien with HK Gruber conducting. The starry cast includes Ian Bostridge (Macheath), Dorothea Röschmann (Polly), and Angelika Kirchschlager (Jenny). On 14 June, the Lost Musicals Trust begins a six-performance run of Johnny Johnson at Sadler’s Wells; Ian Marshall Fisher directs, Chris Walker conducts, with Max Gold as Johnny. And the Southbank Centre pre- sents Lost in the Stars on 23 and 24 June with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Charles Hazlewood conducts and Jude Kelly directs. It won’t be necessary to travel to London for Klangforum Wien’s Dreigroschenoper: other European performances are scheduled in Hamburg (Laeiszhalle, 11 June), Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, 14 June), and back in the Klangforum’s hometown, Vienna (Konzerthaus, 16 June). Another performing group traveling to for- eign parts is the Berliner Ensemble, which brings its Robert Wilson production of Die Dreigroschenoper to the Bergen Festival in Norway (30 May and 1 June). And New Yorkers will have their own rare opportunity when the York Theater’s “Musicals in Mufti” presents Knickerbocker Holiday (26–28 June). Notable summer performances of Die sieben Todsünden will take place at Cincinnati May Festival, with James Conlon, conductor, and Patti LuPone, Anna I (22 May); at the Arts Festival of Northern Norway, Harstad, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra led by HK Gruber and Ute Gfrerer as Anna I (20 June); and in Metz, with the Orchestre National de Lorraine, Jacques Mercier, conductor, and Helen Schneider, Anna I (26 June).
    [Show full text]
  • Topical Weill
    Volume 20 Number 2 topical Weill Fall 2002 A supplement to the Kurt Weill Newsletter news &news events The Threepenny Opera Thrives Seventy-four years after its Berlin premiere, Die Dreigroschenoper remains contem- porary to audiences all around the world, as attested by recent performances in Bucharest, Ankara, Ljubljana, Izmir, and Rio de Janeiro. In Germany, new produc- tions open this fall in Wiesbaden (28 September) and Augsburg (23 November), among others; and on 21 December Landestheater Linz revives its lauded 2001–2002 season production (see review, p. 3a). HK Gruber continues his concert performances of the work with Ensemble Modern, begun in Weill’s centenary year, at the Cologne Philharmonie (6 November), the Frankfurt Alte Oper (7 November), the Dortmund Konzerthaus (8 November), and the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus (9 November). Pittsburgh Opera Center will showcase its young artists in The Threepenny Opera 27 February–2 March 2003. The Royal National Theatre’s education department will tour a new production throughout the UK from October 2002–February 2003, after which it will have a limited run in the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre in London. In Scotland, the Dundee Firebrand on Broadway, 1945 Repertory Theatre will present the work 7 April–31 May 2003, in Dundee and on tour. Weill in Concert The Firebrand of Florence Notable upcoming Weill concert offerings include the New Year’s Eve concert of is Published the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and including Walt Whitman songs and excerpts from Street Scene. Thomas Hampson, Kim Criswell, European American Music Audra McDonald, and Brent Barrett will be among the concert soloists.
    [Show full text]
  • Playing with Our Emotions: Genre, Realism and Reflexivity in the Films
    Playing With Our Emotions: Genre, Realism and Reflexivity in the Films of Lars von Trier by Tamar Ditzian A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of English, Film and Theatre University of Manitoba Winnipeg Table of Contents Acknowledgements...............................................................................................................i Abstract................................................................................................................................ii Introduction........................................................................................................................1 Chapter I: Mixed Feelings About Dancer in the Dark..................................................13 Chapter II: Dogville as Brechtian Melodrama?............................................................57 Conclusion......................................................................................................................108 Works Cited.....................................................................................................................113 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I wish to extend my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Brenda Austin-Smith, for her patience and infinite optimism, particularly in the face of those embarrassing early drafts. Her critical questioning and challenging of my ideas and of their expression, from which (thankfully) I had no respite
    [Show full text]
  • A Performer's Guide to the American Theater Songs of Kurt Weill
    A Performer's Guide to the American Musical Theater Songs of Kurt Weill (1900-1950) Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Morales, Robin Lee Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 16:09:05 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194115 A PERFORMER’S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATER SONGS OF KURT WEILL (1900-1950) by Robin Lee Morales ________________________________ A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF MUSIC In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 8 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As member of the Document Committee, we certify that we have read document prepared by Robin Lee Morales entitled A Performer’s Guide to the American Musical Theater Songs of Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. Faye L. Robinson_________________________ Date: May 5, 2008 Edmund V. Grayson Hirst__________________ Date: May 5, 2008 John T. Brobeck _________________________ Date: May 5, 2008 Final approval and acceptance of this document is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the document to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this document prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement.
    [Show full text]
  • Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-42646-6 — Bertolt Brecht in Context Edited by Stephen Brockmann Index More Information
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-42646-6 — Bertolt Brecht in Context Edited by Stephen Brockmann Index More Information Index Academy of the Arts, xvii, xx, 34, 98, 99, 100, Augsburg, xiii, xviii, 11, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 101, 102 25, 27, 36, 41, 42, 43, 45, 50, 51, 52, 55, 65, 66, Adams, John, works by 131, 151, 183, 191, 202, 327, 328 Dr. Atomic, 218 Austria, xix, xxviii, 89, 156, 218, 340 Adorno, Theodor W., 76–77, 127, 128, 196, 283, 304 Babylon Berlin, 42, 193 African National Congress, 208 Bach, Johann Sebastian, 53, 196 Agami, Danielle, 220 Bach, Johann Sebastian, works by agitprop, 40, 60, 160, 161, 164, 196, St. Matthew Passion, 53 209, 263 Bachmann, Ingeborg, 156 AIDS, 215 Bacon, Francis, works by A-I-Z, 135, 138 The New Organon, 27 Akiho, Andy, 219 Baden-Baden, 193, 197 Alberts, Jürgen, works by Baden-Baden Music Festival, xviii, 54, 159, 195 Hitler in Hollywood: Looking for the Ideal Badiou, Alain, works by Script, 275 Five Lessons on Wagner, 194 Allert de Lange (publishing house), 94 Bai Juyi, 184, 185 Allfree, Claire, 318 Banholzer, Paula, xviii, 22, 23 Altefrohne, Silke, 286 Bänkelsang, 22 Althusser, Louis, 128 Bantu People’s Theatre, 210 Amette, Jacques-Pierre, works by Barnett, David, 220, 293 Brecht’s Mistress, 276 Barthes, Roland, 128, 129, 331 Amin, Idi, 207 Baum, Kurt, 210 Amsterdam, 89 Bausch, Pina, xvi, 163 andcompany&Co., 288 Bautzen Festival, 307 André, Naomi, 221, 222 Bavaria, xviii, 22, 24, 275 anti-fascism, 10, 44, 45, 91, 92, 151, 160, 204, 228, Baxter Theatre, 215 242, 259 Bayreuth Festival, 53, 54, 218, 219 anti-Semitism, 71 BBC, 206 Archer, Robyn, xxvi Beaton, Alistair, 323 Arendt, Hannah, 278 Bebel, August, 203 Aristotle, 8, 28, 152, 270 Becher, Johannes R., 63, 71, 92, 102, 197 Armstrong, Louis, 6 Becher, Johannes R., works by Arons, Wendy, xxvii Winter Battle, 63, 83 Arribas, Sonia, 167 Beckett, Samuel, 163, 228 Artaud, Antonin, xxv, 163, 228, 253 Beckmann, Max, 34 Ashcroft, Peggy, 205, 206 Bel, Jérôme, 286 Auden, W.
    [Show full text]
  • Nina Simone's Triple-Play
    Access Provided by Harvard University at 03/21/11 8:44PM GMT NINA SIMONE’S TRIPLE PLAY by Daphne A. Brooks Listen to the opening notes of Nina Simone’s remarkable 1957 debut album Little Girl Blue and one hears a performer asserting her intentions, throwing down the glove: the exuberant “motor running-running” (Dobie 232) trademark vocals, the playfully virtuosic dance of a pianist’s velocity that turns the tempo of a Duke Ellington classic inside out and breaks open the melody to mine the ironically pulsating energy, the propulsive beat of non-stop “indigo” heartbreak. As jazz critic Scott Yanow states in the liner notes to the album, Simone’s take on Ellington was one of many “unexpected” and “memorable” twists that introduced the artist to the world. “[R]ather than begin the [recording] with one of her more accessible vocals,” says Yanow, “Simone starts out with a surprisingly up tempo and abstract piano exploration of ‘Mood Indigo’ before her vocal makes the song a ELWPRUHUHFRJQL]DEOHµ <DQRZ ,WUHPDLQVWKHÀUVW SXEOLF UHFRUG LQJ RI1LQD6LPRQH·V FRXQWHULQWXLWLYHEULOOLDQFHDVDQDUWLVWZKRGHÀHGWKHFHQWHUUDQFLUFOHVLQWKHPDUJLQVDQG wove together “highbrow” and “lowbrow” forms to create an off-beat repertoire that was, some might argue, “emo” before “emo,” Afropunk, folk eclectic, jazz torch song magic.1 1RRQHFULWLFDODSSDUDWXVFDQVXVWDLQDVXIÀFLHQWUHDGLQJRI1LQD6LPRQHDQDUWLVWFHO- ebrated in part for having stylized a heterogeneous musical repertory of songs for nearly four decades. A classically-trained pianist who shifted into jazz, pop, cabaret, and folk performing in the mid 1950s as a way to support her education and subsequently to shore XSKHULQFRPH6LPRQHJDLQHGQRWRULHW\IRUKDYLQJPRYHGÁXLGO\IURPSOD\LQJWKHPXVLF hall chanteuse by covering Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy” (inspired by Billie Holiday’s interpretation) and the Norwegian folk lilt of “Black is the Color of My True Lover’s Hair” to “Duke Ellington compositions, Israeli folk songs, and songs by the Bee Gees” (Bernstein B6).
    [Show full text]
  • The Three Penny Opera
    Kurt Weill Born on the 2nd of March, 1900 in Dessau, Germany, the son of a cantor, Weill displayed THE THREE musical talent early on. By the time he was twelve, he was composing and mounting concerts and dramatic works in the hall above his family's quarters in the Gemeindehaus. After studying theory and composition, Weill enrolled PENNY OPERA at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, but found the conservative training and the infrequent lessons with Engelbert Humperdinck too stifling. After a season as conductor of the newly formed municipal theater in Lüdenscheid, he returned to Berlin and was accepted into Ferruccio Busoni's master class in composition. By 1925, a series of performances in Berlin and at international music festivals established Weill as one of the leading composers of his generation. A commission from the Baden-Baden Music Festival in 1927 led to the creation of Mahagonny (Ein Songspiel) , Weill's first collaboration with Brecht. The succès de scandale of Mahagonny encouraged Weill and Brecht to continue work on a full-length opera. Exploiting their aggressive popular song-style, Weill and Brecht also wrote several works for singing actors in the commercial theater, including Die Dreigroschenoper and Happy End . The music Music is very strongly present in The Threepenny Opera . The play's By Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht score is strongly influenced by jazz. “The Ballad of Mackie Messer,” later translated into “Mack the Knife,” became the play's most well known song. It was written at the last minute because the actor playing I was aroused straightaway by the raw intensity of the Macheath threatened to quit if his character did not receive a proper songs ..
    [Show full text]
  • THE THREEPENNY OPERA Text by Raimondo Cortese Lyrics by Jeremy Sams
    Education Resources Pre‐Production Sydney Theatre Company and Asteron present a Malthouse Melbourne and Victorian Opera production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s THE THREEPENNY OPERA Text by Raimondo Cortese Lyrics by Jeremy Sams PRE‐PRODUCTION RESOURCES PRE‐PRODUCTION EXERCISES About Sydney Theatre Company 2 Call To Action 9‐11 About STCEd 2 Singing Politics 12‐14 Creative Team and Cast 2 Love, Crime & Melbourne 15‐17 Themes 2 Synopsis 3‐5 Historical and social background 6‐7 Additional Resources 8 Education Resource written by Kerreen Ely‐Harper and compiled by Education Coordinator Toni Murphy KEY AIM of exercise or section Extension Exercises Download and watch + Drama Exercises English Exercises Play online THE THREEPENNY OPERA Sydney Theatre Company Education Resources 2011 © Copyright protects this Education Resource. Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited. However, limited photocopying for classroom use only is permitted by educational institutions. PRE‐PRODUCTION RESOURCES ABOUT SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY www.sydneytheatre.com.au/about ABOUT STCED “ MR PEACHUM www.sydneytheatre.com.au/stced/about Awake you poor sinners awake CREATIVE TEAM Conductor – Richard Gill Act 1, Scene Director – Michael Kantor The Threepenny Opera ” Set Designer – Peter Corrigan Costume Designer – Anna Cordingley Lighting Designer – Paul Jackson Coreographer – Kate Denborough Music performed live by Ensemble Weill CAST Macheath – Eddie Perfect Jenny/Arch Bishop Kimball – Paul Capsis Mr Peachum
    [Show full text]
  • LARS VON TRIERS on DOGVILLE and MANDERLAY
    LARS VON TRIERS ON DOGVILLE and MANDERLAY Used with permission of The Writing Studio www.writingstudio.co.za "Dogville" is, above all, a film and as a film, I'm satisfied with the form and the content and the acting. I know it's not hip-hop, but I'm quite proud that I'm not, in my mind, as old as I feel. The inspiration Two things inspired me to write "Dogville". First of all, I went to Cannes with "Dancer in the Dark" and I was criticized by some American journalists for making a film about the USA without ever having been there. This provoked me because, as far as I can recall, they never went to Casablanca when they made "Casablanca". I thought that was unfair so I decided then and there that I would make more films that take place in America. That was one thing. Then I was listening to "Pirate Jenny", the song by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill from "The Threepenny Opera". It's a very powerful song and it has a revenge theme that I liked very much. The film needed to be set in an isolated place because "Pirate Jenny" takes place in an isolated town. I decided that Dogville would be in the Rocky Mountains because if you have never been there, that sounds fantastic. What mountains aren't rocky? Does that mean these ones are particularly rocky? It sounds like a name you might invent for a fairytale. And I decided that it would take place during the Depression because I thought that would provide the right atmosphere.
    [Show full text]
  • News and Events
    Volume 23 Number 1 topical Weill Spring 2005 A supplement to the Kurt Weill Newsletter Weill/Brecht Works Take the Stage. &news events A bevy of productions of Weill’s collaborations with Bertolt Brecht are in the works, partially inspired by the upcoming 50th anniversary of the death of Brecht in 2006. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny is currently playing in Nuremberg, Darmstadt, and Pforzheim, and Harry Kupfer’s new staging of the work opens at the Dresden Semperoper on 6 May 2005 (Sebastian Weigle, conductor). In the autumn, addition- al Mahagonnys premiere at Theater Basel (Marko Letonja, conductor) on 14 September; on 12 November at Saarländisches Staatstheater, Saarbrücken (Leonid Grin, conductor), in a co-production with Stadttheater Ulm; and in Madrid at Teatro Español on 1 December. Two Berlin productions are planned: a revival of the 1999 Günter Krämer production at Deutsche Oper Berlin beginning 30 October 2005, and a new one at the Komische Oper opening in September 2006. Mahagonny will also Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, ca. 1928 highlight the 2006 Kurt Weill Fest in Dessau. Spring 2005 and the 2005/2006 season are filled with productions of Die Dreigroschenoper worldwide. The work is ubiquitous in Germany, and U.S. outings are led by a Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera scheduled by the Roundabout Theatre Company for early 2006. Directed by Scott Elliott, the Roundabout production will feature a new translation by Wallace Shawn. An increasing number of North American opera companies are choosing the work: after recent productions at Opera Omaha and Vancouver Opera, future venues include Long Beach Opera (11–15 June 2005), Arizona Opera (premiere 11 November 2005), and Opera Columbus (13–15 January 2006).
    [Show full text]