European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

Kurt Weill's Zaubernacht Orchestration Rediscovered and Now Available in New Critical Edition; Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Receives Grammy Nominations in the Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording Categories

Dec. 02, 2008

After the spectacular rediscovery of Weill's orchestration for Zaubernacht, lost for 80 years, the work is now available as a full orchestral score accompanied by a critical report. Weill composed Zaubernacht, his first stage work, in 1922 while he was still studying under Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin. Based on a scenario by Wladimir Boritsch, the farcical children's tale experienced a run of performances at Berlin's Theater am Kurfürstendamn in 1922 and at New York's Garrick Theatre in 1925. Weill left the full score behind when he fled Nazi Germany. Luckily, the original set of parts had remained in the care of Boritsch, whose widow donated them to Yale University in 1959; unluckily, the materials were not properly accessioned and vanished in the library's basement for over 45 years.

In 2006, librarians unearthed the nine complete instrumental parts and a copyist's manuscript of Weill's piano score. The discovered parts contained corrections and edits in Weill's hand, a proof that these parts were used also in the Berlin production of Zaubernacht over 80 years ago. Now, two years after this amazing discovery, the Kurt Weill Edition is pleased to announce the publication of Zaubernacht, a rare treasure that will surely be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

We are very proud to announce that the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny has been nominated for two Grammys: Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording. The lauded performance features James Conlon leading the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and Chorus and a star studded cast including Anthony Dean Griffey, Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald.

Visit www.kwf.org to learn more on the life and music of Kurt Weill.

To order the new critical edition of Zaubernacht, please contact schottsales@comcast.net

To order the DVD of the Los Angeles Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, go to www.naxos.com.

Kurt Weill
Zaubernacht (1922)
children's pantomime for solo soprano and chamber orchestra
fl(pic).bsn.perc.pno.str-qnt(vn.1-2,vla.,vc.,db.)
60'


Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1927/29)
text by Bertolt Brecht
S, Mz, 3T, 2Bar, B; chorus and orchestra
2(2pic)1.1.ssax.asax.tsax.2(cbn)-2321-perc.timp-pno.harm ad lib.banjo. bass gtr.bandoneon-str
Stage orchestra: 2(2pic)2.3sax(ssax, asax, tsax)2- 2221-perc-pno.zither or xyl.banjo.bandoneon-3 vn
full evening

News