US premiere for Kurt Weill’s kiddies’ panto
NewsFrom South Florida Classical Review:
The U.S. premiere of Kleine Zaubernachtmusik (A Little Magic Night Music) by Kurt Weill, which opened the concert, was an utter delight. Originally conceived as the score for a children’s pantomime in 1922 and considered lost, the instrumental parts were discovered in a safe at Yale University in 2005. Musicologist John Baxindine arranged the eight-movement, 22-minute instrumental suite. The fable paints a scenario in which toys come to life at midnight but return to stillness at dawn as children awake. The score is miles removed from Weill’s early neo-classical works and his Weimar-era theatrical collaborations with Berthold Brecht.
From the atmospheric flute solo as the bells toll in the opening “Midnight” section to the final signaling of “Dawn,” the music is both sophisticated and charming…
Read on here.
Sounds like a delightful discovery!
Nice. I wish I had been there!
As the piece was performed in the states in 1925 and again in 2018, the performance headlined was not the US premiere.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/arts/dance/kurt-weill-zaubernacht-jody-oberfelder.html?referringSource=articleShare
This was not Zaubernacht itself, but a suite drawn from the original score. Hence, fwiw, it was indeeed a US premiere. I do feel, however, that NL’s deprecating headline does Weill’s fine score no justice. “Kiddies’ panto”?! Oh please! “Early masterpiece” more like.
And here it is.. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_npZBxQzWYyB8nZmt80ISiQpP100clNoOw
Well, not quite. Your link leads to the late Meirion Bowen’s admirable reconstruction, first performed in 2000. Since the the original score was found at Yale in 2006 (not 2005, as reported above by NL), Bowen’s version has become superfluous. Unusual situation! The original score was published by the Kurt Weill Foundation and recorded in 1912 for CPO (cpo 777 767-2). Here’s a trailer from a stage production in Dessau (Weill’s home town):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbgNGTlTcmk