Mahagonny: New productions in Tel Aviv and Vienna

Israeli Opera and Vienna State Opera

There is no other work that characterises economic and personal crises just like the Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Everything depends on money. Everything is for sale, even the courts. Brecht and Weill, with their typically ironic world view, created an opera that through abstraction and distance allows a deeper reflection on the central themes of the story.

Although one of the most important operas of the 20th century, it has curiously had to wait until now to be performed at the Vienna State Opera (première: 24 Jan). Before then, a new production by Omri Nitzan opens at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv (première: 12 Jan).

Kurt Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Israel Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, cond. David Stern
Tara Venditti, Leokadja Begbick; Alan Woodrow, Fatty;
Julien Tovey, Dreieinigkeitsmoses; Noemi Nadelmann,
Jenny Hill; John Uhlenhopp, Jimmy Mahoney
Stage direction: Omri Nitzan, Stage design: Michael Kremenko
12–29.01.2012 Tel Aviv, Israeli Opera

Vienna State Opera Orchestra, cond. Ingo Metzmacher
Elisabeth Kulman, Leokadja Begbick; Tomasz Konieczny,
Dreieinigkeitsmoses; Angelika Kirchschlager, Jenny Hill;
Christopher Ventris, Jim Mahoney
Stage direction: Jérôme Deschamps, Stage design: Olivia Fersioni
24.01–05.02.2012 Vienna State Opera