RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY
Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Bertolt Brecht, assisted by Elisabeth Hauptmann, Caspar Neher and Kurt Weill
First performed the 9th of March 1930 at the Neues Theater of Leipzig
New production of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
With the support of the Kurt Weill Foundation for music
A coproduction with Dutch National Opera (Amsterdam), The Metropolitan Opera, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen (Antwerp / Ghent), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg
With the support of Fondation Meyer pour le développement culturel et artistique
Publisher and theatrical agent: L'Arche.
It is an allegory about life today. The principle character is the city. It comes to life starting from man’s needs and mans needs are responsible for its grandeur and its decadence.
Kurt Weill: Remarks regarding my opera Mahagonny, 1930Fight, drink, fuck: everything is allowed in Mahagonny. Everybody can purchase his part of happiness in this artificial paradise founded right in the middle of the desert by three crooks on the run. But beware of liberal minded thinkers who would like to shatter this illusion… With Mahagonny, Brecht paints a vitriolic picture of a capitalist world built on crime and debauchery, whereas Weill opens the opera with the glistening sounds of jazz and cabaret songs. A resolutely iconoclastic work of which the political and social significance remains contemporary is particularly fitting for the stage director Ivo van Hove for his first highly awaited collaboration with the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen.
- NEW YORK TIMES
Ivo van Hove's new staging of "Mahagonny" [...] is quite simply, enjoyable. [...] Much of the joy of this "Mahagonny" comes from witnessing two masters at work: Mr. van Hove, whose concept is both true to his style and in tune with Brecht's intentions, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, whose conducting of Weill's score may be the finest I've heard, especially as played by the reliably impressive Philharmonia Orchestra. - EL PAIS
From the very first scene, the Belgian director proves that he understands this work. [...] With very few elements, Ivo van Hove shapes a storyline that is continuously transforming, and places each of the independent scenes in its ouwn context. - TOUTE LA CULTURE.COM
[Ivo van Hove’s] version of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s opera is timeless and compelling.
Prices: 290€, 200€, 160€, 120€, 80€, 55€, 30€
Young person's tariff: 9€
Family Opera tariffs
Performance available with ticket packages and Premium or Prestige offer
2 hours and 40 minutes with one interval
Sung in German with French and English surtitles
