In his collaborations with playwrights Georg Kaiser and Bertolt Brecht, Weill creates a compelling musical style and devotes himself to composing for the theater. He becomes a leading cultural figure in Weimar Germany, and The Threepenny Opera assures him fame and fortune.
Read Text-Only Chronology1926
27 March
Dresden, Staatsoper: libretto by Georg Kaiser; directed by Josef Gielen; conducted by Fritz Busch. The work and production are widely hailed in the press; Weill’s musical stature in Germany increases sharply.
The Protagonist (Kurt Taucher) and his Sister (Elisa Stünzner) in the Dresden premiere
Handbill from the Dresden premiere
Left: Young Man (Paul Schöffler) and Sister (Elisa Stünzner). Right: Set of the pantomime scenes, the "play within the opera" that leads to the climax.
8 April
June - July
After they return home, Weill wrote to Lenya: “I love the sound of your voice like a very force of nature . . . When I envelop myself in your voice, then you are with me in every way.”
1 September
1927
2 March
Berlin, Staatsoper: libretto by Yvan Goll; directed by Franz-Ludwig Hörth; conducted by Erich Kleiber. Weill’s first opera premiere in Berlin takes place on his 27th birthday. The opera is unsuccessful, produced only once during Weill’s lifetime after the initial run.
Late March
Weill has just published a favorable review of a radio performance of Brecht’s play Mann ist Mann.
April
Late May
17 July
Baden-Baden, German Chamber Music Festival: libretto by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann; directed by Brecht and Walther Brügmann; conducted by Ernst Mehlich. “Songspiel,” a pun on the German word “Singspiel,” incorporates the English word “song” to create a new genre.
Rehearsal of the finale of Mahagonny Songspiel, where the singers wield placards. Singers, left to right: Karl Giebel, Georg Ripperger, Irene Eden, Gerhard Pechner, Erik Wirl, and Lotte Lenya. Weill and Brügmann are at the left; Brecht at the right; Lenya's placard reads, "Für Weill!"
Program from the Baden-Baden premiere
Group photo taken during rehearsals; Lenya is front left, Brecht behind her, Brügmann to Lenya's left, Weill top left
Autograph score of "Alabama Song"
November
23 November
1928
18 February
The opera incorporates Weill’s “Tango-Angèle,” pre-recorded and played on a gramophone to accompany the principal characters as they sing and dance. Leipzig, Neues Theater: libretto by Georg Kaiser; directed by Walther Brügmann; conducted by Gustav Brecher. It is produced in over 35 opera houses over the next two years, Weill’s most-performed work to date.
Scene from the premiere in Leipzig, with the male chorus standing in the orchestra pit
Recording of Weill's dance arrangement played by Marek Weber and his orchestra, issued by Electrola
Stadttheater Düsseldorf mounted the second production on 27 March 1928; Weill attended the performance (seated center)
8 April
May
31 August
Berlin, Theater am Schiffbauerdamm: text by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann; directed by Erich Engel; conducted by Theo Mackeben. A disastrous rehearsal period culminates in the greatest theatrical success of the Weimar Republic. Berlin is seized by “Dreigroschen-fever” and the work is soon performed all over the world.
Macheath (Harald Paulsen) in prison, with Mrs. Peachum (Rosa Valletti) and Polly (Roma Bahn)
Sung by Bertolt Brecht, probably early 1929
Footage of Weill and Brecht during rehearsals for Die Dreigroschenoper, with a cameo by Lenya. Also includes a short clip of Weill and Brecht from 1927.
First page of Weill's manuscript score of "Moritat von Mackie Messer"
October
15 October
The festival celebrates widespread gas and electric lighting throughout the city.
1929
7 February
22 May
Frankfurter Sender: conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg. Weill’s settings of a group of poems by Brecht intended as a protest against war and violence.
2 September
Berlin, Theater am Schiffbauerdamm: book by Elisabeth Hauptmann; songs by Weill and Brecht; directed by Erich Engel; conducted by Theo Mackeben. Intended to recapture the magic of Die Dreigroschenoper, the work flops and is never revived during Weill’s lifetime, despite general praise for the songs.
Final tableau from original production; the stained-glass windows depict Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and John D. Rockefeller, from left to right
Sung by Lotte Lenya, 1930
Draft in Weill's hand of "Surabaya-Johnny"
Scene from the original production: members of Bill Cracker's gang attend a Salvation Army meeting
5 December
Cantata celebrating Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight; text by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann. Sometimes known as Der Ozeanflug.
1930
9 March
Leipzig, Neues Theater: libretto by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann; directed by Walther Brügmann; conducted by Gustav Brecher. The first performance is disrupted by Nazi demonstrators and ends in a near-riot. It receives several productions in Germany before 1933, but many opera houses avoid it because of the growing power of the Nazi party.
Scene from Act I shows the singers wearing white masks
Drawing made by Caspar Neher of the trial scene
Program from the Leipzig premiere
Drawing of the final scene at the Leipzig premiere
28 March
23 June
The work is first heard as a radio broadcast, with the stage premiere the following day in Berlin at the Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht: libretto by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann; conducted by Kurt Drabek. The opera, designed to be performed by secondary-school students, is given in over 300 German schools before March 1933.
Weill consults the score with director Heinrich Martens (left), conductor Kurt Drabek (right), and members of the cast
Footage from rehearsal for performance by German students, Paris, December 1932
Scene from the original radio production that appeared in the German magazine Die Funk-Stunde
August 1930
Weill and Neher met through Brecht in 1927 and developed an independent friendship. By 1930, political, esthetic, and personal differences have placed a strain on Weill and Brecht’s relations.
17 October
Weill claims that Nero-Tobis has violated a contractual obligation to give him control over the music in the film. The court rules in his favor; he is awarded damages and signs a new contract.
December
1931
19 February
A parallel French version is created at the same time.
The program for the German version of the film shows the creative team and photos of the principal cast members
Footage from the German film version with Ernst Busch as the Street Singer
Lotte Lenya as Jenny
4 April
Summer
17 November
Performed by Lenya, the song forms part of a left-wing revue at the Volksbühne in Berlin. The manuscript then disappears for nearly 80 years before it is rediscovered in a Berlin library in 2017.
21 December
Weill and Brecht break up definitively during rehearsals.
1932
10 March
Berlin, Städtische Oper: libretto by Caspar Neher; directed by Carl Ebert; conducted by Fritz Stiedry. Die Bürgschaft marks Weill’s liberation from Brechtian constraints, and he composes a powerful, full-bodied opera score. Musically, it combines echoes of Verdi and Baroque music with Weill’s innovations of the last few years.
Rehearsal in Berlin: director Carl Ebert, conductor Fritz Stiedry, and Weill
Wilhelm Rode (Orth) and Hans Reinmar (Mattes) rehearse the final scene
March
26 April
11 December
1933
January
9 January
He pursues the opportunity, but it is withdrawn for fear of Nazi pressure.
18 February
Leipzig, Altes Theater: text by Georg Kaiser; directed by Detlef Sierck; conducted by Gustav Brecher. The work opens on the same day in Magdeburg and Erfurt. The ascendant Nazi government forces the play to close on all three stages within three weeks.
Olim's castle in the Leipzig production; Fennimore (Gretl Berndt) is on the main floor to the left and Severin (Alexander Golling) is to the right; Olim (Erhard Siedel) and Frau von Luber (Lina Carstens) are on the landing
Sung by Ernst Busch, 1933
Ernst Busch (standing) played Severin in the Magdeburg production
Sung by Ernst Busch, 1933
21 March
Weill is alerted by someone with knowledge of Nazi plans that he is in danger of arrest. Caspar and Erika Neher drive him through Luxembourg to Paris, where they arrive on 23 March. Weill would never set foot in Germany again.
Weill's passport shows his entry into France at Longlaville (bottom, right-hand side)