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Kokkola Opera Presents Kurt Weill's Der Silbersee

Jul. 07, 2014

Kokkola Opera Presents Kurt Weill's <em>Der Silbersee</em>

On July 24, Kokkola Opera opens a production of Kurt Weill and Georg Kaiser’s Der Silbersee (The Silver Lake), conducted by Sakari Oramo and directed by Anu Komsi. Weill’s third collaboration with the playwright Georg Kaiser (following Der Protagonist, 1924-1925, and Der Zar lässt sich photographieren, 1927), Der Silbersee premiered on February 18, 1933, less than five weeks before Weill was forced to flee Germany because of Nazi persecution. Kokkola Opera's production runs through July 27 in Kokkola, Finland.

The deeply allegorical story, set against a backdrop of hunger and class conflict, centers on the struggle between two men—one poor and one rich—whose fates become inextricably bound. Der Silbersee is a genre-defying work that lies somewhere between a play and an opera – as Weill put it, “a play with well-integrated musical numbers, somewhat along the lines of a Singspiel.” Weill’s score includes solo songs, duets, choruses, melodramas, and instrumental interludes that oscillate between popular and serious music.

The late Maestro Julius Rudel and director Harold Prince championed Der Silbersee by presenting an adaptation (“Silverlake”) at New York City Opera in 1980. A recording of the production was later released by Nonesuch.

Details on the production can be found at www.kokkolaopera.com.

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

Kurt Weill
Der Silbersee (The Silver Lake) (1932-1933)
A Winter’s Tale in three acts
book and lyrics (Ger) by Georg Kaiser
for three sopranos, mezzo-soprano, three tenors, three baritones, two basses and SATB chorus
2.1.2.1-0.2.2.0-timp.perc-hp.pno-str
70’

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