The Seven Deadly Sins

Kurt Weill

"The Seven Deadly Sins" ( _de. Die sieben Todsünden, [Sometimes listed as "Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger" ("The Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie").] _fr. Les Sept Péchés Capitaux) is a satirical "ballet chanté" ("sung ballet") in nine scenes composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht in 1933 under a commission from Boris Kochno and Edward James. It was translated into English by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman. This would be the last major collaboration between Weill and Brecht.

Performance history

"The Seven Deadly Sins" was first performed in the "Théatre des Champs-Elysées" in Paris on 7 June 1933. It was produced, directed and choreographed by George Balanchine with "mise en scène" by Caspar Neher. The lead roles were played by Lotte Lenya (Anna I) and Tilly Losch (Anna II). [Jurgen Schebera: "Kurt Weill: An Illustrated Life"; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1997 (ISBN 0-300-07284-8).] Nils Grosch writes that it "was met with bewilderment by the French audience (not just because the work was sung entirely in German). German émigrés living in Paris, however, were enthusiastic and considered it 'a grand evening.'" [Nils Grosch, album notes, Weill, "The Seven Deadly Sins", Marianne Faithfull / Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (BMG Classics 2004 CD 82876060872-2, reissue of 1997 recording)] The production went to London opening at the Savoy Theatre under the title "Anna-Anna", on 28 June of the same year.

It was revived by Weill's widow Lenya in the 1950s; however with the main singing part in version transposed to a fourth below its original pitch level which matched her new lower voice but did not correspond to his intentions.Nils Grosch, Joachim Lucchesi, Jürgen Schebera: "Kurt Weill-Studien"; Stuttgart: M & P Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 1996 (ISBN 3-476-45166-6).] Another transposed version, down by a full octave, was used by Marianne Faithfull in her recording from 1997. The original higher version has been recorded by, among others, Elise Ross, Anne Sofie von Otter, Teresa Stratas and Anja Silja.

Major productions with premiere dates

:"in German unless otherwise noted"

* June 7, 1933, Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; George Balanchine, choreographer; Maurice Abravanel, conductor. [ [http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?id=202 George Balanchine Foundation webpage for "Les Sept Péchés Capitaux", 1933, "per" Boris Kochno] ]

* December 4, 1958, City Center, New York City Ballet; George Balanchine, choreographer; Robert Irving, conductor; Anna I (singer), Lotte Lenya; Anna II (dancer), Allegra Kent (in English). [ [http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?id=393 George Balanchine Foundation webpage for "The Seven Deadly Sins", 1958] ] [ [http://www.nycballet.com/company/rep.html?rep=416 NYCB webpage for "The Seven Deadly Sins", 1933 and 1958] ]

* June 15, 1976, Wuppertal, Wuppertaler Tanzwoche; Pina Bausch, choreographer; Frank Meiswinkel, conductor.

* December 23, 1987, Lyon, Lyon Opéra-Ballet; Maguy Marin, choreographer; Kent Nagano, conductor.

* March 15, 1997, New York State Theatre, City Opera, Anne Bogart, director, Derrick Inouye, conductor. [ [http://www.kwf.org/pages/works/s2main.html Die sieben Todsünden (1933)] , Kurt Weill Foundation. Accessed 15 November 2006.]

* April 26, 2007, London, Royal Ballet; Martha Wainwright, Zenaida Yanowsky, Marianela Núñez; director / choreographer Will Tuckett; Martin Yates conductor.

ynopsis

"The Seven Deadly Sins" tells the story of two sisters, Anna I and Anna II. Anna I, the singer, is the main singing voice. Her sister Anna II, the dancer, is heard only infrequently and the lyrics hint at the possibility that they are the same person: "To convey the ambivalence inherent in the 'sinner', Brecht splits the personality of Anna into Anna I, the cynical impresario with a practical sense and conscience, and Anna II, the emotional, impulsive, artistic beauty, the salable product with an all too human heart."Steven Paul Scher, Walter Bernhart, Werner Wolf: Essays on Literature and Music (1967-2004), Rodopi, 2004. (ISBN 90-420-1752-X)]

"The Family", a male quartet, acts as the Greek chorus. Both sisters set out from the banks of the Mississippi in Louisiana to find their fortune in the big cities, and to send enough money back to their family to build a little house on the river. After the prologue, in which Anna I introduces the sisters and their plans, seven scenes are devoted to the seven deadly sins, each encountered in a different American city:

# Prologue
# "Faulheit / Sloth" (city not mentioned)
# "Stolz / Pride" (Memphis)
# "Zorn / Wrath" (Los Angeles)
# "Völlerei / Gluttony" (Philadelphia)
# "Unzucht / Lust" (Boston)
# "Habsucht / Greed" (Tennessee, in posthumous versions Baltimore)
# "Neid / Envy" (San Francisco)
# Epilogue ("home, in the new little house")

After arriving back home after seven years, the sisters ostensibly succeed in securing the means to buy the little house, but in the process Anna II envies all those who can engage in the sins she has been deprived of, and the epilogue ends in a sober mood, with Anna II's resigned response to her sister, "Yes, Anna."

Satire

The full title is "The seven deadly sins of the Petty Bourgeousie". The libretto is satirical: the important moral point is that Anna II does wrong only when she does "not" commit the sin concerned. Anna II frequently tries to do the "right" thing, but is cured of this "temptation" to "sin" by her hypocritical family and her "prudent" alter ego. For instance, her "pride" consists in not wanting to work in a strip club, her "lust" is wanting to marry the one she loves rather than marrying for money, and her "anger" is righteous anger against ill-treatment of a fellow worker.

External links

* [http://www.laphil.org/resources/piece_detail.cfm?id=439 The Seven Deadly Sins] on the site of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association

Notes and references