Rise And Fall of the City Of Mahagonny
A raunchy political-satirical opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, (written in Germany during Hitler's rise to power). About social disintegration, where love is a commodity in a capitalist society built on and run by criminals, and where the greatest crime, punishable by death, is to be poor.
Features the famous “Alabama song” (Whiskey Bar). Kurt Weill uses elements of ragtime, blues, tango and foxtrot with orchestral textures, so the music is a wonderful mix of cabaret, Hollywood and concert hall. Staged by the amazing Fura dels Baus. Starring Measha Brueggergosman and Michael König
The opera's world premiere, on March 9, 1930 at Leipzig's Neues Theater, was disrupted by Hitler’s SA, the Nazi party’s first paramilitary group and their supporters. Lotte Lenya, Kurt Weill’s wife and a famous actor/singer was in the audience on opening night in Leipzig. She recounted the events, which were included in the liner notes of the 1956 Columbia recording of the opera:
"The square around the opera house was filled with Nazi Brown Shirts, carrying placards protesting the 'Mahagonny' performance. The performance was well under way, before I was startled out of my absorption by the electric tension around us, something strange and ugly. As the opera swept toward its close, the demonstrations started, whistles and boos; by the time the last scen was reached, fist fights had broken out in the aisles, the theatre was a screaming mass of people; soon the riot had spread to the stage, panicky spectators were trying to claw their way out, and only the arrival of a large police force, finally, cleared the theatre."
Directed by the amazing Fura dels Baus and starring Measha Brueggergosman and Michael König.
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