Weill : Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny [VOD]
A hard-hitting production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by the Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus at the Teatro Real de Madrid.
Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.
The production by Alex Ollé and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.
Perfect casting brings together a group of singers – Measha Brueggergosman, Michael König, Jane Henschel and Willard White – who are also marvellous actors.
The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who was actually beginning his career at the Teatro Real.
Weill : Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny [VOD]
Music : Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Libretto Bertolt Brecht
English translation by Michael Feingold
Leocadia Begbick Jane Henschel
Fatty ‘’the Bookkeeper’’ Donald Kaasch
Trinity Moses Willard White
Jenny Smith Measha Brueggergosman
Jim Maclntyre Michael König
Jack O’Brien / Tobby Higgins John Easterlin
Bank-Account Bill Otto Katzameier
Alaska-Wolf Joe Steven Humes
Orchestra & Chorus of th Teatro Real – Madrid
Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid
Coro Intermezzo
Conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado
Stage direction : Alex Ollé, Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus
Scenography : Alfons Flores
Costumes : Lluc Castells
Lighting design : Urs Schönebaum
Chorus master : Andrés Máspero
