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HK Gruber and Nina Stemme in a Stunning All-Weill Program with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Dec. 21, 2022

Composer-conductor HK Gruber has long been one of the finest interpreters of Kurt Weill’s music. One institution that in recent years has been a close partner in his Weill-related work has been the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. That partnership moved to the next level in December with the premiere of a new Weill project featuring international opera star Nina Stemme, an all-Weill program featuring Der neue Orpheus and The Seven Deadly Sins in staged fashion, with Fantaisie symphonique (Symphony No.2) un-staged in between. The theatrical environment created by British director Sam Brown brought a wealth of stark but striking visual imagery as a context for Stemme’s and Gruber’s powerful performances. Charlotta Öfverholm contributed choreography as well as dancing the part of Anna II in the Sins. Both vocal works were sung in English, with a new translation of Der neue Orpheus by David Pountney. The Fantaisie symphonique performance used the new critical edition to be published soon as part of the Kurt Weill Edition. Gruber’s recording of both of Weill’s symphonies is forthcoming in 2023 on the BIS label. 


(HK Gruber performing Weill’s Fantaisie Symphonique (Symphony #2) with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in 2018.)

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