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New Oratorio from The Eternal Road at 2013 Kurt Weill Fest

Feb. 01, 2013

New Oratorio from<em> The Eternal Road</em>&nbsp;at 2013 Kurt Weill Fest

The Kurt Weill Fest in Dessau, Germany, marks its twentieth anniversary in 2013 with the theme, “New York, New York!” Focusing on Weill’s American works, the Fest will include the world premiere of a new oratorio derived from The Eternal Road, as well as performances of Weill’s Four Walt Whitman Songs, the folk-opera Down in the Valley, Five Songs fromHuckleberry Finn, and many of his songs written for Broadway. The Fest runs from February 22 through March 10, 2013, with a variety of staged performances, concerts, films, exhibitions, and other attractions.

Der Weg der Verheißung (The Eternal Road), Weill’s largest stage work, premiered in New York in January 1937. A new oratorio version of the work, Die Verheißung, conceived and edited by Ed Harsh, will have its first performance February 28, with cast and orchestra of the Anhaltisches Theater conducted by Antony Hermus. Performance materials for this concert version of Weill’s magnificent score for five to six vocal soloists, two speaking roles, large chorus, and orchestra are available from European American Music Corporation.

Tenor James Benjamin Rodgers will join conductor Lan Shui and the MDR Sinfonieorchester to perform Weill’s FourWalt Whitman Songs in Dessau on February 23 and again in Leipzig on February 24. The song cycle, which includes “Beat! Beat! Drums!”, “Oh Captain! My Captain!”, “Come up from the Fields, Father”, and “Dirge for Two Veterans,” is now available from European American Music Corporation in separate editions for tenor and baritone, making it easier for all four songs to be sung by one performer.

The Fest opens with a gala concert entitled “New York, New York,” starring five past winners of the Lotte Lenya Competition (Richard Todd Adams, Maria Failla, Analisa Leaming, Michael McKinsey and Jacob Keith Watson) performing songs by Weill and other Broadway composers with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz.  Artist-in-Residence James Holmes conducts. James Rodgers joins Analisa Leaming and Jacob Lewis Smith on March 8 -9 to perform Down in the Valley and Five Songs fromHuckleberry Finn with the International Ensemble Modern Akademie, conducted by Holmes.

For detailed information on the Kurt Weill Fest, visit www.kurt-weill.de.

Visit www.kwf.org to learn more on the life and music of Kurt Weill.

Kurt Weill
The Road of Promise
Oratorio adapted from The Eternal Road, by Ed Harsh
Original German text by Franz Werfel; English lyrics by Ludwig Lewisohn, William A. Drake,
and Charles Alan
2.1.3.2-4.3.3.1-perc.timp-hp.pno.synth.gtr-str
105'

Four Walt Whitman Songs (1942 and 1947; new edition 2012)
for tenor or baritone and orchestra
based on texts (En.) by Walt Whitman
2.1.2.bass cl.1; 2.2.2.0; harp, timp, perc; strings
18'

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