Der Silbersee

Der Silbersee was premiered on 18 February 1933 simultaneously at the Altes Theater (Leipzig), the Alte Oper (Erfurt) and the Stadttheater Magdeburg, just three weeks after the Nazi Party's Machtergreifung on 30 January 1933. The Leipzig production was directed by Detlev Sierck, conducted by Gustav Brecher, and designed by Caspar Neher. It was the last production of both Weill and Kaiser in the Weimar Republic before they were forced to emigrate. It was banned on 4 March 1933 by the Nazis after having been performed 16 times.

A complete performance of Der Silbersee runs about three hours, consisting of roughly equal parts of dialogue and music. The long and complex play requires skilled actors, but the vocal demands of Weill's score require trained singers. The difficulty in reconciling these needs makes successful performance of the piece difficult, and modern productions have consisted mostly of abridged concert versions and adaptations.[2]

An abridged version with diminished orchestration was prepared by Boris Blacher and presented as part of the Berlin Festival at the Schlosspark-Theater, in West Berlin, on 19 September 1955.

At the Holland Festival at The Hague on 25 June 1971, a 90-minute concert version was prepared by Jozef Heinzelmann and David Drew. It included the entire score in its original orchestration, with narration spoken by Lotte Lenya. The performance was conducted by Gary Bertini.

A 50-minute concert version devised by David Drew for five soloists, chorus and orchestra with no narration or dialogue was presented on 10 September 1975 in West Berlin. Performers included Anja Silja (soprano) and Günther Reich (baritone), conducted by Gary Bertini.

On 20 March 1980 in the New York State Theater in New York City, the New York City Opera[3] presented a free adaptation entitled Silverlake with an English libretto by Hugh Wheeler and a musically continuous score devised by Lys Symonette who also adapted the lyrics.[4] The score incorporated incidental music Weill had composed for the Berlin stage as well as music written for a 1927 production of August Strindberg's Gustav III, and interpolated the "Muschel von Margate" ("Petroleum Song") (written for Léo Lania's 1928 play Konjunktur) with new lyrics by Wheeler to create a duet for Olim and Severin in act 3. This version also adds Olim to the Lottery Agent's Tango, making it a duet, transfers the "Ballad of Caesar's Death" from the ingénue Fennimore to the villainess Frau von Luber, and adds a role for a dancer representing Hunger. The cast included Joel Grey (Olim), William Neill (Severin), Elizabeth Hynes (Fennimore), Elaine Bonazzi (Frau von Luber), and Gary Chryst (Hunger). The production was directed by Harold Prince, conducted by Julius Rudel, and designed by Manuel Lutgenhorst. In 2014 it was produced at Kokkola Opera Summer in Kokkola, Finland.[5]

Overture (Allegro assai) – orchestra

Act 1

1 'Gräbst du?' – Two gravediggers

2 Alla marche funebre: 'Wir tragen den Toten zu Grabe' – Two gravediggers, two young men

3 'Der Bäkker bäckt ums Morgenrot' – Severin, two gravediggers, two young men

4 Song der beiden Verkäuferinnen: 'Wir sind Mädchen, die an jedermann verkaufen' – Two shopgirls

4a Walzer – orchestra

5 Choruses

Sostenuto – orchestra

'Olim! Tut es dir nicht leid?' – chorus

'Jetzt bist du auf dem Wege' – chorus

'Wenn die nicht schiltst' – chorus

'Immer weiter dringen' – chorus

'Noch hast du das Geld nicht' – chorus

6 Song von der Krone des Gewinns: 'Was zahlen Sie für einen Rat?' – Lottery agent

6a Choruses

'Olim! was willst du tun?' – chorus

'Olim! Willst du Vergessen? – chorus

'Du hast dich zum Aufbruch entschlossen' – chorus

Nachspiel – orchestra

[7a] Melodrama – Severin

7 'Was soll ich essen in der Morgenfrühe?' – Severin, Olim

Act 2

[8a] Moderato assai – orchestra

8 Fennimores Lied: 'Ich bin eine arme Verwandte' – Fennimore

9 Ballade von Cäsars Tod: 'Rom hiess eine Stadt' – Fennimore

10 Allegro moderato – orchestra [Fennimore's dance]

11 Rache-Arie: 'Erst trifft dich die Kugel' – Severin

12 Silbersee-Duett: 'Auf jener Strasse' – Severin, Fennimore

12a Choral reprise of 11

Act 3

13 Allegro assai – orchestra (shortened reprise of 1a)

14 Odysseus-Arie: 'Wie Odysseus an den Mast des Schiffes' – Severin

15 Totentanz - orchestra

15a Schlaraffenland-Song: 'Es wächst uns in den Mund der Wein' – Frau von Luber, Baron Laur

16 Finale

Andantino – orchestra

'Ihr sollt den Weg nicht finden' – chorus

Allegretto – orchestra

'Alles, was ist, ist Beginnen' – Fennimore's voice, chorus[9]

The theatrical form of Der Silbersee is difficult to classify and most closely resembles a singspiel, though with greater dramatic demands placed on the acting.

As in his other works, Weill uses a broad variety of forms (songs, arias, duets, quartets, choruses), musical styles (tango, funeral march, waltz, polka, foxtrot, march) and conventions (revenge aria, moritat, Totentanz, and dialogue spoken over elaborate musical accompaniment, i.e., melodrama). The orchestration requires a string section plus 13 other instruments.[10]

The finale, depicting Severin and Olim's journey to the Silbersee through a stormy snowscape that transforms into spring, runs approximately 15 minutes and consists of melodrama, dialogue, instrumental passages, choruses, and an offstage solo.

As a result of the work's questioning of genre limitations, the Nazis labelled it Entartete Musik and placed a ban on the piece on 4 March 1933. The next day, Kaiser was expelled from the Prussian Academy of Arts, of which he was a member.

On 21 March, Silbersee designer and longtime Weill collaborator Caspar Neher and his wife Erika drove Weill across the border in their car and together they headed for Paris.[11]

On 10 May the work with illustrations by Neher was burned on the Opera Plaza. In spite of the extreme censorship put on it at the time, the work has survived more or less intact. There have been complete recordings and performances made of it most since 1945.

• Silverlake. A Winter's Tale, New York City Opera. Conductor: Julius Rudel. Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch, 1980 (102 minutes)
• Der Silbersee. Ein Wintermärchen – Kurt Weill Edition, vol. 1, Capriccio, 1990 (107 minutes)
• Weill: Der Silbersee, Markus Stenz (conductor), London Sinfonietta Orchestra and Chorus, RCA, Red Seal Label, 1999 (85 minutes)

Notes

Sources

• Drew, David (1987). Kurt Weill: A Handbook. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520058392.

• Hinton, Stephen (1992), "Der Silbersee" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7

• Work details, including introduction by David Drew, audio samples, score examples; Universal Edition