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Ernst Krenek's Schwergewicht at Juilliard Opera Center

Nov. 01, 2008

This month Maestro James Conlon and the Juilliard Opera Center present three performances of Ernst Krenek's one-act satirical operetta Schwergewicht as part of the Juilliard Opera Center Trilogy: Three One-Act Portraits of Marriage on November 12, 14 and 16. Composed in 1927, Schwergewicht was dubbed a "burlesque operetta" by the composer and explores the notion of power through the actions of its three trivial characters. Using as its inspiration a quote from the German ambassador to the US of the time that great German athletes had done more to earn world respect of the German people than artists and scholars, the opera tells the events in which a cunning dancing master (an artist of sorts) outsmarts the powerful boxer (the pride of the nation) in an effort to steal away the latter's wife. Though the score follows closely the popular music of the day, Krenek utilizes comical characterizations and other satirical techniques in the music, invoking the wit of Satie.

In other Krenek news, Phoenix Editions recently released the album Ernst Krenek: Five Piano Pieces featuring pianist Mikhail Korshev. The album received a five star review in the web magazine Audiophile Auditions.

Go to www.juilliard.edu to learn more on the Juilliard Opera Center series Three One-Act Portraits of Marriage.

To purchase Ernst Krenek: Five Piano Pieces, go to www.phoenixedition.com.

Read the full review in Audiophile Auditions at www.audaud.com.

More information can be found on the life and work of Ernst Krenek at www.universaledition.com and www.baerenreiter.com.

Ernst Krenek
Schwergewicht (Heavyweight) op. 55 (1927)
operetta in one act
libretto (Ger) by Ernst Krenek
Translation by Richard Austin
for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, bassbuffo and orchestra
2222-0220-timp.perc-pno-str
25'

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