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Opera in concert The Seven Deadly Sins (Die sieben Todsünden) Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht<div> Sung ballet in a prologue and seven scenes for voice and orchestra (1933)</div><div><br></div><div> Nina Stemme | soprano</div><div> Jennifer France | soprano</div><div> Swedish Chamber Orchestra</div><div> HK Gruber | management</div><div><br></div><div> In the first part of the program</div><div> Weill Der neue</div><div> Orpheus Symphony No. 2</div><div><br></div><div> Like The Rite of Spring, Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins is intimately linked to the history of the Théâtre de la Ville. This sung ballet premiered there on June 7, 1933, with singer Lotte Lenya performing in a choreography by Balanchine. The work had been commissioned by a wealthy young Englishman to be presented by the newly founded Ballets 33 company, founded by George Balanchine and Boris Kochno. Cocteau was at one time considered for the libretto, which was ultimately written by Brecht (who later disowned his text). The score is infused with various popular genres (waltz, foxtrot, etc.) within a symphonic structure reminiscent of the grand cantata tradition. Nina Stemme, the greatest Isolde of her generation, is also an exceptional recitalist, equally at ease with Mahler's visionary modernism and Weill's ironic detachment.</div><div><br></div><div> Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Production</div><div><br></div><div> Sung in German, with French/English surtitles</div>