The Seven Deadly Sins
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For other uses, see seven deadly sins (disambiguation).
The Seven Deadly Sins (German: Die sieben Todsünden[1]) is a satirical ballet chanté ("sung ballet") in nine scenes composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was translated into English by W.H. Auden & Chester Kallman.
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[edit] Performance history
The Seven Deadly Sins were first performed in the Théatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on 7 June 1933, with choreography by George Balanchine. The lead roles were played by Lotte Lenya (Anna I) and Tilly Losch (Anna II).[2] Nils Grosch writes that it "was met with bewilderment by the French audience (not just because the work was sung entirely in German). German émigrés living in Paris, however, were enthusiastic and considered it 'a grand evening.'"[3] The production went to London opening at the Savoy Theatre under the title Anna-Anna, on 28 June of the same year. It was revived by Lotte Lenya – Kurt Weill's widow – in the 1950s, however with the main singing part in version transposed to a fourth below its original pitch level which matched Lenya's new lower voice but didn't correspond to Weill's intentions.[4] Another transposed version, down by a full octave, was used by Marianne Faithfull in her recording from 1997.[4] The original higher version has been recorded by, among others, Elise Ross, Anne Sofie von Otter, Teresa Stratas and Anja Silja.
Major productions, with premiere dates; in German unless otherwise noted:
- June 7, 1933, Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, George Balanchine, choreographer, Maurice Abravanel, conductor.
- December 4, 1958, New York, New York City Ballet, George Balanchine, choreographer, Robert Irving, conductor. (in English)
- June 15, 1976, Wuppertal, Wuppertaler Tanzwoche, Pina Bausch, choreographer, Frank Meiswinkel, conductor.
- December 23, 1987, Lyon, Lyon Opéra-Ballet, Maguy Marin, choreographer, Kent Nagano, conductor.
- March 15, 1997, New York City Opera, Ann Bogart, director, Derrick Inouye, conductor.
Source: [5]
[edit] Synopsis
The Seven Deadly Sins tells the story of two sisters, Anna I and Anna II. Anna I, the singer, is the main singing voice. Her sister Anna II, the dancer, is heard only infrequently and the lyrics hint at the possibility that they are the same person: "To convey the ambivalence inherent in the 'sinner', Brecht splits the personality of Anna into Anna I, the cynical impresario with a practical sense and conscience, and Anna II, the emotional, impulsive, artistic beauty, the salable product with an all too human heart."[6] "The Family", a male quartet, acts as the Greek chorus. Both sisters set out from the banks of the Mississippi in Louisiana to find their fortune in the big cities, and to send enough money back to their family to build a little house on the river. After the prologue, in which Anna I introduces the sisters and their plans, seven scenes are devoted to the seven deadly sins, each encountered in a different American city:
- Prologue
- Faulheit / Sloth (city not mentioned)
- Stolz / Pride (Memphis)
- Zorn / Wrath (Los Angeles)
- Vollerei / Gluttony (Philadelphia)
- Unzucht / Lust (Boston)
- Habsucht / Greed (Tennessee, in posthumous versions Baltimore)
- Neid / Envy (San Francisco)
- Epilogue (home, in the new little house)
After arriving back home after seven years, the sisters ostensibly succeed in securing the means to buy the little house, but in the process Anna II envies all those who can engage in the sins she has been deprived of, and the epilogue ends in a sober mood, with Anna II's resigned response to her sister, "Yes, Anna."
[edit] External links
- Die sieben Todsünden (1933), Kurt Weill Foundation
- The Seven Deadly Sins on the site of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Sometimes listed as Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger ("The Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie").
- ^ Jurgen Schebera: Kurt Weill: An Illustrated Life; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1997 (ISBN 0300072848).
- ^ Nils Grosch, album notes, Weill, The Seven Deadly Sins, Marianne Faithfull / Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (BMG Classics 2004 CD 82876060872-2, reissue of 1997 recording)
- ^ a b Nils Grosch, Joachim Lucchesi, Jürgen Schebera: Kurt Weill-Studien; Stuttgart: M & P Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 1996 (ISBN 3476451666).
- ^ Die sieben Todsünden (1933), Kurt Weill Foundation. Accessed 15 November 2006.
- ^ Steven Paul Scher, Walter Bernhart, Werner Wolf: Essays on Literature and Music (1967-2004), Rodopi, 2004. (ISBN 904201752X)
