Company: Virginia Opera
Conductor: Adam Turner
Director: Keturah Stickann
Event page

Weill and Brecht’s last full-length collaboration, Die sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins), is at home both in the concert hall and opera house, even though it was originally composed as a ballet. Virginia Opera opens its 2016-17 season with a double bill of the Sins and Pagliacci in an exciting new production. Ute Gfrerer (photo top right) will play Anna I, continuing an impressive string of Weill performances all over the U.S. and Europe with the likes of HK Gruber and James Holmes. She has made a particular specialty of Die sieben Todsünden, so Virginia audiences are assured of seeing and hearing an expert rendering of the role. Principal Conductor of the company, Adam Turner (photo bottom right), recently had the opportunity to improve his Weill chops as the inaugural Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellow, which gave him the opportunity to work with Maestro John DeMain on the Washington National Opera production of Lost in the Stars in February 2016.

Turner and Gfrerer have gotten a head start on the production, teaming up for two cabaret-style performances in Norfolk and Richmond during the past week. The “evocative evening of cabaret fare reminiscent of the smoky, sultry performance style of Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf” has already given audiences a taste of the duo’s chemistry and artistry; whoever saw them working together on the small stage has extra incentive to see the full-blown operatic production.

Virginia Opera will perform the Sins seven times, appropriately enough, in three different cities: Norfolk (30 September, 2 and 4 October), Fairfax (8-9 October), and Richmond (14 and 16 October). The venues are Harrison Opera House, Center for the Arts at George Mason University, and Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Arts Center, respectively.

Features

Ute Gfrerer on the Sins (video)

Adam Turner on the Sins (video)

Keturah Stickann on the Sins (video)

Learn more about Die sieben Todsünden