graham-vick

Venue: Teatro dell’Opera di Roma
Director: Graham Vick
Conductor: John Axelrod
First performance: 6 October 2015 (6 performances)
Event page

British director Graham Vick first staged Weill and Brecht’s opera in Florence at the Maggio Musicale in 1990. His career has continued to flourish, but he has not mounted the work since 1995. That is about to change, as a co-production of Rome Opera, La Fenice in Venice, and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía di Valencia sees its first performances in Rome in October 2015. This production of Aufstieg is also scheduled for La Fenice in July 2016. Vick promises that his concept has “molto cambiato” (changed quite a bit).

The musical side is likewise promising. The orchestra will be led by John Axelrod, whose Weill background includes stage productions of The Threepenny Opera and an acclaimed recording of Das Berliner Requiem. Two singers from the successful production at Teatro Real Madrid (2010) will take up the same roles in the Eternal City: internationally renowned soprano Measha Brueggergosman (Jenny), and Sir Willard White, who has made the role of Trinity Moses his own. The other leading roles are taken by rising star Brenden Gunnell (Jimmy), Dietmar Kerschbaum (Fatty), and Iris Vermillion (Begbick).

Features

News report with production footage (RAI)

Talk by Graham Vick (in Italian)

Rome Opera Facebook page

Rome Opera photo gallery

Preview article in Tempi (Giuseppe Pennini)

Learn more about Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny