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25th Annual Kurt Weill Fest Opens in Dessau

Feb. 01, 2017

25th Annual Kurt Weill Fest Opens in Dessau

The Kurt Weill Fest celebrates its 25th season this year and opens on February 24 with a performance of Die sieben Todsünden with Angelika Kirschlager as Anna I, the MDR Sinfonieorchester, and conductor Kristjan Järvi. Other highlights from the first week of the Fest include Oper Halle’s production of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (February 26), and Die Seeräuber-Jenny, a new one-woman play about Lenya (February 25).

The festival continues into March, with festival favorites Ute Gfrerer, Ensemble Modern, and James Holmes returning for the Gala Concert on March 4 and Jarvi leading the MDR in a performance of Die Verheißung (The Road of Promise), featuring past Lotte Lenya Competition winners, on March 5. Additional highlights include two new suites: selections from Der Kuhhandel, devised and conducted by James Holmes, and Chansons des Quais/Songs of the Quays, from Marie Galante, performed by Gfrerer, Ensemble Modern, and conducted by HK Gruber. Complete information can be found on the Kurt Weill Fest website.

This month also offers back to back productions of Street Scene at DePauw University (February 9-12) and Biola University (February 10-19). DePauw’s production caps a year-long campus-wide festival, “Cultural Connections: Weill and Brecht,” initiated through the university’s involvement with the Music Unwound consortium, which is currently presenting “Kurt Weill’s America”, a curated concert series with various ensembles and universities around the country.

For more information on Kurt Weill, visit kwf.org.

Kurt Weill
Die sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins) (1933)
ballet chanté in nine scenes
lyrics (Ger) by Bertolt Brecht


for soprano, 2 tenors, baritone, bass, dancer and corps de ballet
2(2pic).1.2.1-2.2.1.1-timp.perc-hp.pno.bnj(gtr)-str


35'  

​Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1927/29)
opera in three acts
text (Ger) by Bertolt Brecht
English translation by Jeremy Sams
S, Mz, 3T, 2Bar, B; chorus and orchestra
2(2pic)1.1.ssax.asax.tsax.2(cbsn)-2.3.2.1-perc.timp-pno.harm ad lib.banjo.bass gtr.bandoneon-str
Stage orchestra: 2(2pic).2.3sax(ssax, asax, tsax).2-2.2.2.1-perc-pno.zither or xyl.banjo.bandoneon-3 vn
full evening

The Road of Promise (Die Verheißung) (2012)
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(2pic).1.3.2-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-hp.pno.synth.gtr-str
105'

Der Kuhhandel (1978)
(A Kingdom for a Cow)
operetta in two acts
Text (Ger) by Robert Vambery
Compiled and edited by Lys Symonette
English text version of Jeremy Sams
for 2 sopranos, 2 mezzo-sopranos, boy soprano, 12 tenors, 9 baritones, bass baritone, speaking roles, girl's choir and SATB chorus
2(2pic).1.2(1.asax, 2.tsax).1-1.2.2.1-timp.4perc-gtr(banjo, bgtr).hp.org or harm(acc)-str
120'

Marie Galante (1934)
play with music in two acts
lyrics by Jacques Deval
for soprano, 2 mezzo-soprano, tenor, high baritone, baritone and chorus
asax(fl, cl)asax(cl)tsax(asax)-2tp.1tbn. piano.acc. gtr(bnj)-perc-2vn.va.db
full evening, 35 minutes of music

Street Scene (1946)
an American opera in two acts
book (Eng) by Elmer Rice; lyrics (Eng) by Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice
based on the play "Street Scene" by Elmer Rice
6S, A, 4Mz, 4T, 3Bar, B-Bar, B, boy soprano, speakers, dancers and orchestra
1(pic).1.2.bcl(cl).1-2.2.2.0-timp.perc-hp.pno(cel)-str
full evening  

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