Soprano Jennifer Lindshield (Carnegie Hall) and Elise Kermanac’h (Le chant de la rive) present “Kurt Weill: Destination Music”.
Son of a cantor in Dessau, Kurt Weill produced works with sharp social satire for the vibrant Weimar culture in 1920’s Berlin. He fled the Nazi regime to Paris and became a figure of the artistic and musical scene, in particular through his links with Charles and Marie Laure de Noailles. He then continued his journey with Lotte Lenya to New York where he went on to write memorable music for Broadway and Hollywood working with the great librettists Maxwell Anderson, Ira Gershwin, and Langston Hughes. Throughout Weill’s journey, he incorporated the different musical genres of each new city into his compositions.
Kurt Weill: Destination Music takes the listener on an intimate journey celebrating the life and music of this exiled Twentieth-Century musical master. The program features his repertoire in German, French, and English (including Seeräuber Jenny, Youkali and Speak Low) and is woven together with dialogue in French. The repertoire is performed using the classically trained voice as was the preference of Lotte Lenya, Weill’s wife and muse.
