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Opera North's Performances of Kurt Weill's Street Scene Hailed “Best of 2020”

Jan. 01, 2021

Opera North’s dazzling, pre-Covid production of Kurt Weill's Street Scene received rave reviews in January 2020 when The Economist called the production “a near-definitive interpretation” of Weill’s Broadway opera. Directed by Matthew Eberhardt and conducted by James Holmes, the production received a brief UK tour in February before being cancelled due to the pandemic. The Observer’s classical music critic Fiona Maddocks listed the production in her 10 best of 2020 list. 

A stirring cry against isolation, “Lonely House” gave new meaning to “how lonesome you can be” during the pandemic. The Weill-Hughes classic, plucked from the Tony Award-winning opera, landed on PBS NewsHour’s list of 101 songs you turned to in 2020, alongside performances by Prince, Judy Garland, Pink Floyd, and Beyoncé. One PBS reader reacted to “Lonely House” with an astute reflection: "If the pandemic needed an anthem, this would be at the top of the list."


(Alex Banfield performs “Lonely House” from Street Scene at Opera North)

In other news, we are pleased to note that new performance material for Kurt Weill's Symphony No. 1 "Berliner Sinfonie", based on the Kurt Weill Edition edited by James Holmes, is now available from Schott. 

Kurt Weill composed his First Symphony at the age of twenty-one during his studies in Ferrucio Busoni’s master class in Berlin. This early work already reveals the composer’s originality: in contrast to the 'young classicism' taught by Busoni, Weill’s early tonal language displays traces of influences ranging from Mahler and Schoenberg to Strauss which are blended by the composer into a thoroughly distinct idiom. The sparse instrumentation of this work in three sections produces a transparent tone, at times reminiscent of chamber music. The composer himself remarked that he was inspired to write this symphony after reading a work by the poet J. R. Becher.

Click here to view a perusal score.


(Symphony No. 1 "Berliner Sinfonie"/Kurt Weill/Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop, conductor)

Established in 1992, the Kurt Weill Edition is a long-term publishing project with the goal of presenting all of Weill’s completed musical works in authoritative editions, including introductory essays and critical reports documenting all editorial decisions. Twelve volumes have already been published, ranging from Die Dreigroschenoper to Lady in the Dark to Happy End. The volumes are intended for use both by performers seeking accurate editions and scholars seeking authoritative texts. Subscriptions to the Kurt Weill Edition provide substantial discounts for each volume.

                                              


To learn more about Kurt Weill, visit kwf.org or schott-music.com 

Kurt Weill
Street Scene (1946)
an American opera in two acts
book (En) by Elmer Rice; lyrics (En) 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 

Symphony No. 1 "Berliner Sinfonie" (1921)
in one movement
for orchestra
from the critical edition edited by James Holmes
(Kurt Weill Edition, Series II, Volume 3)
2(2.pic).1.2(2.bcl).2-2.1.1.0-timp.3perc-str
25'

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