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Kurt Weill in September and a Season Preview

Sep. 01, 2018

Kurt Weill in September and a Season Preview

Following a well-received world premiere at Filmfest München on June 29, Mackie Messer: Brechts Dreigroschenfilm, premiered in Berlin on September 10 and opens in theaters throughout Germany on September 13.

Directed by Joachim Lang, Mackie Messer centers on the true story of the turmoil surrounding Brecht’s hope to adapt Die Dreigroschenoper as a film, and envisions how that film may have existed in Brecht’s imagination. The cast comprises a pantheon of German stars: Lars Eidinger (Brecht), Robert Stadlober (Weill), Tobias Moretti (Macheath), Hannah Herzsprung (Polly Peachum/Carola Neher), Joachim Król (Mr. Peachum), Peri Baumeister (Hauptmann), Max Raabe (Moritat-Singer), Britta Hammelstein (Jenny/Lotte Lenya) and many more. The score, which features a large helping of music from the original stage work, is conducted by HK Gruber, one of the world's most lauded Weill interpreters. 

Watch the trailer.

In addition, there are numerous exciting highlights to look forward to!

Several productions of Kurt Weill's Street Scene take the stage this season. Virginia Opera opens its season with this work directed by Dorothy Danner and conducted by Adam Turner, September 28 through October 14. 


("Lonely House" from Street Scene/Kurt Weill/Original Broadway Cast Recording/
Maurice Abravanel, conductor)

John Fulljames’ production of Street Scene, which originated at the Teatro Real in Madrid, will appear at Oper Köln April 28-May 18. Renowned conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen devotes a lot of attention to Weill this season, first with a concert performance of Seven Deadly Sins starring Audra McDonald as Anna I with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on April 26-28. The program also includes McDonald singing selected Weill songs. Salonen then repeats the Sins with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on June 9. He caps the season by leading a new production of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny directed by Ivo van Hove at the 2019 Aix-en-Provence Festival.

In recognition of the bicentennial of Walt Whitman’s birth, Thomas Hampson sings Four Walt Whitman Songs with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk, conducted by Mariss Jansons, May 16-17 at the Herkulessaal, Munich, and 18 May at the Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg. The Whitman Songs will also be heard at Carnegie Hall on October 17, performed by the American Symphony Orchestra with Elliot Madore as soloist; and by Ian Bostridge with Sir Antonio Pappano, piano, December 5 at the Barbican Center in London and January 7 at the Kölner Philharmonie.

Festivals and a World Premiere!

The University of Maryland at College Park kicks off a year-long Kurt Weill Festival, beginning with The Road of Promise on October 7. Other works to be performed include Zaubernacht, Mahagonny Songspiel, and Street Scene, as well as several ancillary events.

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, in partnership with University at Buffalo, present the next installment of “Music UnWound: Kurt Weill’s America” with a season-long festival. The Philharmonic will perform The Seven Deadly Sins and selections from Weill’s Broadway shows, with Lisa Vroman as soloist and Adam Turner conducting January 17. University at Buffalo presents The Threepenny Opera May 2-5. Additional programming includes “Change the World, It Needs It: A Weill/Blitzstein/Brecht Cabaret” with Vroman, baritone Bill Sharp, and pianist Shane Schag, as well as chamber concerts, a master class, and other related events.

This year’s Kurt Weill Fest, March 1-17, will include performances of Symphony No. 2, Trains Bound for Glory, Silbersee-Suite (arr. Saloman), and a revival of 2018's Die Dreigroschenoper. 

And this year features a premiere as well: Kleine Zaubernachtmusik, a new concert suite from Weill’s first stage work Zaubernacht. Arte Ensemble, which recorded the complete work in 2013, celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with the world premiere performance of the suite on 21 October at the NDR Landesfunkhaus in Hannover.

Finally, we are delighted to announce that a new version of Die sieben Todsünden for chamber ensemble will be available for programming for the 2019/2020 and later seasons. Orchestrated for chamber ensemble by HK Gruber with Christian Muthspiel, the new version pares the instrumental forces of the work to 15 players, making it more accessible for theaters and dance troupes.  The solo soprano part of Anna I and male quartet remain unchanged. The new orchestration will be available in both the original keys (1933) and the arrangement for lower-voiced Anna by Brueckner-Rueggeberg (1955).

The more economical new orchestration will make the work available to chamber ensembles and companies performing in smaller venues, while retaining Weill’s distinctive musical language and the story’s timeless appeal. The new version will be premiered by the Ensemble Modern, conducted by Gruber, in autumn 2019. Subsequent performances are now available for licensing by Schott Music.

To learn more about Kurt Weill, please visit www.kwf.org.

Kurt Weill
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  

Die sieben Todsünden/The Seven Deadly Sins
version for small orchestra, by HK Gruber with Christian Muthspiel
1(pic).0.2.1-1.1.1.0-perc-pno-gtr(bjo)-string quintet 
35'

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