In This Issue:

Opera North’s Seven Deadly Sins 

headlines a “Weill – Wagner” April 

on OperaVision



Wallis Giunta as Anna I – photo: Tristram Kenton

In the midst of the second wave of the pandemic, Opera North’s live-streamed production of The Seven Deadly Sins was hailed as “a triumph to pull off in lockdown.” Directed and choreographed by Gary Clarke and conducted by James Holmes, the production presented the UK premiere of the new instrumentation for 15 players prepared by HK Gruber and Christian Muthspiel. Finding virtue in the necessity of being virtual, the production used multiple cameras and ingenious stage design to extend its reach into living rooms throughout the world. Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta and dancer Shelley Eva Haden starred as the two Annas.

Now this remarkable production will come to life again, beginning 8 April on OperaVision. It headlines a month dedicated to “two giants of German opera,” Kurt Weill and Richard Wagner. In addition to the Opera North Seven Deadly Sins, Weill will be represented by Teatro Regio di Parma’s production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, beginning 30 April, directed by Henning Brockhaus and conducted by Christopher Franklin. Parsifal at the Hungarian State Opera and a Nationaltheater Mannheim production of The Flying Dutchman round out the month.

Sir Simon Rattle Leads 
London Symphony
in an All-Weill Program



Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra – photo: Tristram Kenton

The Seven Deadly Sins is the centerpiece of a London Symphony program devoted entirely to Weill’s work, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. In addition to the Sins, the program comprises Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Vom Tod im Wald, “Lonely House” from Street Scene, and two of the Four Walt Whitman Songs, “Beat! Beat! Drums” and “Dirge for Two Veterans.” Rattle has a long and distinguished history with Kurt Weill’s music, extending back at least as far as a 1976 touring production of Die Dreigroschenoper with the English Music Theatre Company. He has returned repeatedly throughout his storied career to works of Weill, and especially the Sins, performing it with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, and Berlin Philharmonic, and recording it on EMI with Elise Ross and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. On the LSO program, Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená is featured as Anna I. The full program is performed 28 April, with the Sins alone in a “Half Six Fix” concert the previous evening. The Sins will likewise anchor a program toured to Köln and Essen. Plans are in the works for a commercial recording.

(This performance is supported by the Kurt Weill Foundation Grants Program.)

Double Bill of Sins and Songspiel

an “Improbably Wondrous”

Night in Sydney



Photo: Robert Catto

Ecstatic reviews for Red Line Productions’ double bill of Mahagonny Songspiel and the fifteen-player version of The Seven Deadly Sins, directed by Constantine Costi and conducted by Brian Castles-Onion:

★★★★ The Sydney Morning Herald

“The sheer scale of the ambition is mind-boggling. Who’d dream of cramming seventeen musicians, six singers, a dancer and a conductor into this little crucible? Director Constantine Costi would, and it’s hard to imagine the works being done much better.”

★★★★ Limelight

“Margaret Trubiano as Anna I is marvelous, the strength and power of her voice hugely affecting, her facial expressiveness and diction giving depth and poignancy to her character. Although she barely says a word, Allie Graham as Anna II is captivating in her movements, presuming a mélange of styles in keeping with the genre soup of these works, part-ballet, part-cabaret, part Josephine Baker.”

Blitzstein and Weill: 

Airborne in Miami



Charles Lindbergh on a visit to Miami sometime after his transatlantic flight – Photo courtesy of HistoryMiami

Part symphony, part oratorio, Marc Blitzstein’s Airborne Symphony had a powerful effect at its 1946 premiere under Leonard Bernstein in New York. Its narrative recounts the history of flight and then reflects thoughtfully on the use of air power during World War II. Weill’s cantata Lindberghflug (later retitled Ozeanflug by his collaborator Brecht) examines more narrowly the heroic journey of a single aviator confronting a daunting challenge. Conductor Elaine Rinaldi, music director of Orchestra Miami, brings the two works together in concert on 9 April. The performance will incorporate visual elements in keeping with Miami’s own history as an aviation center and the original headquarters of Pan American Airways. The venue? A retired Coast Guard aircraft hangar. Tickets are available both for the live performance and for the accompanying livestream.

(This performance is supported by the Kurt Weill Foundation Grants Program.)

Eleven Exceptional Singing Actors 

Selected as Finalists 

in 2022 Lotte Lenya Competition



Clockwise from bottom left: Ruth Acheampong, Tristan Tournaud, Francesca Mehrotra, Ronald Wilbur, Katrina Galka, Eric Botto, Amanda Sheriff, Jeremy Weiss, Cierra Byrd, Ian Williams, Lauren Senden.

FINAL ROUND FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

FRIDAY, 6 MAY @ MERKIN HALL IN NEW YORK CITY

Beginning with more than two hundred and fifty applicants hailing from thirty-nine US states and twenty-one countries, the twenty-fourth edition of the Lotte Lenya Competition has yielded a diverse group of eleven remarkable finalists. Twenty-eight semifinalists auditioned either in-person or remotely and received immediate feedback and coaching. Tony Award winner Victoria Clark and Drama Desk Award winner Lauren Worsham served as coach-judges. The judges’ panel for the final round boasts Jeanine Tesori, Phillip Boykin, and Robin Guarino. This year’s contest promises to be among the most competitive ever. Tickets for this free event are available HERE.

Selected Upcoming Events

8 April – Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra
La Verdi Orchestra Sinfonica in Milan (Maxime Pascal, conductor; Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin). Also 10 April.

8 April – Die Dreigroschenoper
Berliner Ensemble (Barrie Kosky, director; Adam Benzwi, conductor). Ongoing performances, including 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18 April and 11, 12, 25, 26 May.

9 April – Lindberghflug; Airborne Symphony (Blitzstein)
Orchestra Miami (Elaine Rinaldi, conductor).

9 April – Die Dreigroschenoper
Teatrul Regina Maria in Oradea, Romania (Ovidiu Iloc, conductor; Victor Ioan Frunză, director; Victoria Bucun, choreography).

14 April – Die sieben Todsünden
City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra (Chris Gayford, conductor; Clover Kayne, mezzo-soprano; Alice O’Brien, Bianca Mikahil, choreography).

23 April – Street Scene
Staatsschauspiel Dresden (Barbara Beyer, director). Ongoing performances, including 25 April and 1, 8, 13, 19, 25, 29 May.

23 April – Die Dreigroschenoper
Kammerspiele der Josefstadt in Vienna (Torsten Fischer, director; Christian Frank, conductor). Ongoing performances, including 24, 26, April, 6, 18, 19, 20 May.

23 April – Die Dreigroschenoper 
Staatstheater Kassel (Martin G. Berger, director; Peter Schedding, musical director). Ongoing performances, including 24 April, 1, 15 May, 5, 16, 24 June.

26 April – Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny
Teatro Regio Parma (Christopher Franklin, conductor; Henning Brockhaus, director; Valentina Escobar, choreography). Also 28 and 30 April.

27 April – Die sieben Todsünden
London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Simon Rattle, conductor; Magdalena Kožená, Anna I).

28 April – All-Weill Program; includes Die sieben Todsünden, Whitman Songs, etc.
London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Simon Rattle, conductor; Magdalena Kožená, Anna I).

29 April – Weill Songs
Seattle Opera (Lawrence Brownlee, vocals; Shelby Rhoades, piano).

30 April – Die sieben Todsünden
London Symphony Orchestra in Köln (Sir Simon Rattle, conductor; Magdalena Kožená, Anna I). Also 2 May in Essen.

1 May –  Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny
Melbourne Opera (Peter Tregear, conductor; Suzanne Chaundy, director). Also 3, 5 May.

5 May – Die Dreigroschenoper
Augustana College in Rock Island, IL (Shelley Cooper, director). Also 5, 6, 7, 8 May.

View the Full Events Calendar

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