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Presumed Lost for Over 80 Years, Kurt Weill's Lied vom blinden Mädchen, is Now Available

Oct. 01, 2018

Presumed Lost for Over 80 Years, Kurt Weill's <em>Lied vom blinden Mädchen</em>, is Now Available

Last November, the Kurt Weill Foundation created a stir with its announcement of the discovery of a previously unknown song by Weill,  Lied vom blinden Mädchen. The song is now published and available for purchase, coinciding with the release of two singles of the song, one in the original German, and one in English translation by Michael Feingold. These world premiere recordings feature soprano Ute Gfrerer and pianist Shane Schag. The published piano/vocal book includes both the German and English lyrics. 

Written in 1931 for a theatrical revue, Lied vom blinden Mädchen (Song of the Blind Girl) poked fun at the faith healer (and church founder) Joseph Weißenberg, whose signature healing method involved the application of pot cheese followed by prayer (hence the song’s original title: Song of the White Cheese). Weill’s wife, singer and actress Lotte Lenya, was a member of the cast and performed the song at least twice in November of that year. Soon after the revue closed, Weill’s manuscript, the only known copy of the song, went missing and was presumed lost for 86 years, until it was found in the archives of the Free University in Berlin in 2017.

The singles are available to purchase from CDBaby.com: German & English (also available on all digital download and streaming platforms); and the sheet music is available through Hal Leonard. Read about the amazing discovery in the feature from the New York Times and the Kurt Weill Newsletter.

In addition, a number of exciting performances of Kurt Weill's music are upcoming:

Virginia Opera’s production of Street Scene continues this month with performances October 2-14 in Norfolk, Fairfax, and Richmond. The University of Maryland School of Music kicks off its year-long Kurt Weill Festival with The Road of Promise on October 7. On October 17, the American Symphony Orchestra presents the New York premiere of Four Walt Whitman Songs at Carnegie Hall, with Leon Botstein conducting and baritone Elliot Madore as soloist. Conductor Cristian Macelaru leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Die sieben Todsünden, with Wende Snijders as Anna I, October 18 and 19. Finally, on October 21, Arte Ensemble gives the world premiere of Kleine Zaubernachtmusik, a concert suite from Zaubernacht, in Hannover. For more events coming up this month, visit the performance calendar on KWF.org.


(Die sieben Todsünden/Kurt Weill/London Symphony Orchestra/Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor)

For more information about Kurt Weill, please visit schott-music.com and kwf.org.


Kurt Weill
Four Walt Whitman Songs (1942-47)
for high or low voice and piano
text (Eng) by Walt Whitman
18’

Kleine Zaubernachtmusik
suite for chamber ensemble from Zaubernacht
fl, bsn, pno, perc., timp; string quintet(2vn, va, vc, cb)
21'

The Road of Promise (Die Verheißung) (2012)
Oratorio adapted from The Eternal Road, by Ed Harsh
Original German text by Franz Werfel; English lyrics by Ludwig Lewisohn, William A. Drake, 
and Charles Alan
2(2pic).1.3.2-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-hp.pno.synth.gtr-str
105'

Die sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins) (1933)
ballet chanté in nine scenes
lyrics (Ger) by Bertolt Brecht


for soprano, 2 tenors, baritone, bass, dancer and corps de ballet
2(2pic).1.2.1-2.2.1.1-timp.perc-hp.pno.bnj(gtr)-str


35'  

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  



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