Carnegie Hall's FALL OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC: DANCING ON THE PRECIPICE Festival Continues This Spring

Carnegie Hall's Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice festival continues this spring with concert programs that demonstrate the diverse musical styles of the Weimar era and beyond.

Franz Welser-Möst leads the renowned Vienna Philharmonic in three distinct programs featuring music by Hindemith, R. Strauss, Schoenberg, Ravel, Berg, Bruckner, and Gustav Mahler on Mar. 1, Mar. 2, and Mar. 3 in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Then, on Mar. 9 in Zankel Hall, celebrated jazz pianist Jason Moran presents his acclaimed meditation on the life and legacy of the groundbreaking James Reese Europe, who created the band of WWI's African American 369th infantry regiment (Harlem Hellfighters) and helped popularize jazz throughout Europe. For additional Weimar festival event highlights this spring at the Hall and beyond, please see below.

The citywide Weimar festival—which runs through early June—explores one of the most complex and consequential chapters in modern history: Germany's Weimar Republic of 1919–1933. Through 30 concerts and events at Carnegie Hall and 70+ multidisciplinary offerings at more than 50 leading cultural and academic institutions across New York City, the festival examines the arts and culture that flourished as artists sought bold avenues for creative expression in this increasingly traumatic time.

At Carnegie Hall, festival audiences are invited on an exploration through artistic movements in classical music, jazz, cabaret, art song, and more that reflect the forces that led to the fall of the Weimar Republic—and the many lessons about the fragility of democracy that can be gleaned from its extraordinary collapse.

“With our citywide festivals, we seek to take audiences on curated journeys of discovery, asking questions about some of the most important issues of our day,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. “The Weimar festival explores the fragility of democracy through the lens of the fall of the Weimar Republic and shines a spotlight on the innovative creative expression and powerful artistic movements that emerged during this increasingly dark and tumultuous era. We hope this festival's thought-provoking programming will not only engage audiences but also serve as a jumping-off point to stimulate dialogue. If there is any lesson to learn from the Weimar period, it is the great responsibility for everyone, including the arts and artists, to speak out and raise key questions at these times.”

ADDITIONAL WEIMAR FESTIVAL EVENTS AT Carnegie Hall FROM MARCH THROUGH MAY INCLUDE:

• American Composers Orchestra, under the baton of Rei Hotoda, offers a program titled America in Weimar: On the Margins that explores the US's influence on the Weimar Republic, and, conversely, aspects of the Weimar legacy that resonate in American culture today. The concert includes the world premieres of a new work by Tonia Ko (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall) and a new work by John Glover and librettist Kelley Rourke, featuring mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams and accordionist Felipe Hostins as well as the New York premiere of Clans from Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate's Lowak Shoppala' (Mar. 12, ZH);
• Orchestre de Paris which returns to the Hall after more than 20 years, led by Music Director Klaus Mäkelä, with music from two Stravinsky ballets: The Firebird and The Rite of Spring (Mar. 16, SA/PS);
• Superstar German crooner Max Raabe and his Palast Orchester—known worldwide as one of the leading big bands of music from the Weimar Republic era—will make their anticipated return to Carnegie Hall as part of the festival performing their modern take on hits from 1920s and '30s German cabaret and swing (Mar. 21, SA/PS)
• Postmodern cabaret sensation Meow Meow—who blends performance art, cabaret, comedy, and pop culture—in Sequins and Satire, Divas and Disruptors: The Wild Women of the Weimar Republic (Mar. 23, ZH);
• Ensemble Connect explores Berg's dramatic Lyric Suite, a string quartet that achieved immediate and lasting popularity long before the discovery of its hidden origins and the illicit affair baked right into its score. Also featured are an early (and for decades unheard) string quartet by Gershwin; a string quartet written by Kurt Weill while he was under the tutelage of Busoni; and Schulhoff's stylistically fluid Concertino. (Apr. 9, WRH);
• One of the world's leading authorities on Weill's music, HK Gruber leads Ensemble Modern in a program showcasing the Weimar Republic's urgent blend of desperate defiance and vast artistic possibility in an evening of works by Hindemith, Korngold, Schoenberg, and a new arrangement (by Gruber and Christian Muthspiel) of Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins (text by Bertolt Brecht) featuring mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta (Apr. 12, ZH);
• Irreverent, swinging, early-jazz specialists The Hot Sardines, who will take the stage with special guest Alan Cumming for an evening that invokes 1920s Berlin, where cabarets thrummed with the sound of jazz that represented liberation and modernity to some, and a threat to others (Apr. 19, ZH);
• Bamberg Symphony with Jakub Hrůša in an evening of works by Wagner and Brahms, plus Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto with Hélène Grimaud. (Apr. 24, SA/PS);
• Vocal and piano recitals including baritone Justin Austin and pianist Howard Watkins (Mar. 5, WRH); pianist Igor Levit who will perform Hindemith's Suite “1922” as well as works by Beethoven and Gustav Mahler (Mar. 7, SA/PS); and pianist Emanuel Ax in a recital of works by Schoenberg and Beethoven (Apr. 21, SA/PS);
• Sir Simon Rattle making his first appearance as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra performing music by Hindemith, Zemlinsky, and Gustav Mahler (May 2, SA/PS), which closes out the Weimar festival concerts at Carnegie Hall;
• Two festival-themed exhibitions will be on display through May in Zankel Hall and free and open to all Zankel Hall concertgoers. The Democracy Project, curated by Reynaldo Anderson and The Black Speculative Arts Movement, is a visual exhibition that explores the intellectual, social, and cultural impact of the Weimar Republic on the African diaspora. In addition, the photography exhibition ringl+pit features the work of artist duo Ellen Auerbach and Grete Stern, who met in 1929 in Berlin, when the fragility of freedom was omnipresent.

HIGHLIGHTS OF WEIMAR FESTIVAL PARTNER EVENTS IN SPRING 2024:  

Weimar festival partner programming features a diverse array of events in person and online in multiple genres presented by diverse cultural and academic institutions across New York City and beyond. For a full list of festival partners, please see below.

Among the festival partner highlights in spring 2024 are:  

• Contemporary Music of the Weimar Republic—The Weimar Republic saw an outpouring of energy and activity in concerts and music composition. In 1921, in southwest Germany, the Donaueschingen Music Festival was established, the first European festival devoted to new works by contemporary composers. On July 26, 1925, during the festival's fifth season, two works received their world premieres: Igor Stravinsky's Piano Sonata and Alexander Tcherepnin's Concerto da Camera for flute, violin, and chamber orchestra. Nearly a century later, both works will be performed on the same program, alongside piano compositions by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. (March 6 at The Italian Academy, Columbia University, 1161 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY);

• The classic horror film from 1920, Der Golem, accompanied by a live orchestral performance of an original score composed by students from New York University's Contemporary Music Ensemble led by Jonathan Haas. The film serves as a prescient foretelling of Jewish persecution that led to unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Nazis. (March 6 and 7 at New York University, Iris Cantor Theatre, 181 Mercer St., New York, NY).

• Valerie Coleman's Portraits of Josephine—Valerie Coleman's evocative woodwind quintet, Portraits of Josephine, celebrates the life of African American performer and social justice activist Josephine Baker—an icon of Parisian and Berlin modernity. Playwright and actor Kirya Traber joins Orchestra of St. Luke's to weave together Baker's story with her original narrative. (March 7, 9, 17, 20, and 21, Various Venues);

• The Real Thing: Unpackaging Product Photography—an exhibition that illustrates how commercial camera work contributed to the visual language of modernism, including works by photographers from the Weimar Republic such as August Sander; Ringl and pit (Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach); Adolf Lazi; and Grit Kallin-Fischer. (Beginning March 11 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York, NY);

• Fritz Lang's M—A classic of Weimar cinema, Fritz Lang's M is a haunting tale of paranoia and suspense with harrowing parallels to contemporary society. Starring Peter Lorre, the 1931 film is a masterwork that set the standard for the thriller genre. (March 25 at New York Film Academy, 17 Battery Place, New York, NY);

• Swinging on the Precipice—Fotografiska New York's free, monthly live music series features J. Walter Hawkes's Weill Style. The trio—led by Emmy-winning composer, skilled trombone and ukulele player, and member of the Hot Sardines, J. Walter Hawkes—specializes in music of the hot jazz era of the 1920s and '30s, which was integral to the culture and nightlife of the Weimar Republic. (March 28, April 25, and May 30 at Fotografiska New York, 281 Park Avenue South, New York, NY);

• Tomorrow Belongs to Me: Cabaret–A Screening and Discussion—Sex, high society, and creeping fascism. These are a few of the themes explored in the 1972 Oscar-winning musical Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli. After a special screening, discuss how the film portrays Weimar Germany's split personality—its heady mix of queerness and conformity, joy and nihilism, freedom and fascism. (April 11 at Nitehawk Cinema, 188 Prospect Park West, New York, NY);

• The subversive, underground cabaret event Tiergarten which takes its name from the Tiergarten—“The Garden of Beasts”—a sprawling park around which the Third Reich rose to power. As master of ceremonies, Kim David Smith (called a “male Marlene Dietrich” by The New York Times) hosts an evening of music ranging from Cher to Verdi, Dean Martin to Max Richter, and William Byrd to Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, all performed by The Grand St. Stompers. Audiences will be transported to an immersive 1920s Berlin speakeasy with period-themed food and drinks, vintage dress, dancers, shadow puppets, and actors lurking amidst the audience. (April 17-19 at St. Mary's Church, 440 Grand St., New York, NY);

• Love Thy Neighbor—an effervescent work of celebration and revelry that features up to 16 dancers, inspired by Weimar cabaret and set to recordings by Max Raabe & Palast Orchestra. Originally created for NYU, Love Thy Neighbor has been performed at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Yard in Martha's Vineyard, and the National Theater in Uganda. (April 26-27 at New York University, Frederick Loewe Theater, 35 W. Fourth St., New York, NY);

• Artists of all skill levels are invited to Sketch Night: Golden Twenties Berlin a costumed event that will transport you back to Berlin during the Golden Twenties. Chairs and sketch boards will be provided, but participants should come prepared with their own art materials. Guests are also invited to enjoy their favorite cocktail at the bar. (May 1 at Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd St., New York, NY);

• Yiddish and Hebrew Song in the Weimar Republic—a concert program that explores Yiddish and Hebrew songs of the Weimar Republic, showcasing the rich musical activity of the Weimar Republic that bridged Jewish composers in the East and West, and reflected their linguistically and ideologically diverse aspirations. (May 7 at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 W. 16th St., New York, NY);

• Will There Still Be Singing? A Hanns Eisler Cabaret—Soprano Karyn Levitt performs Eric Bentley's English versions of the songs of Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht, one of the 20th century's great songwriting teams. Levitt's close working relationship with Bentley, the foremost translator of Brecht's lyrics and plays, gave her the opportunity of a lifetime to consult with the source of these acclaimed translations. (May 8 at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th St., New York, NY);

• Jeff Beal's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari—presented by Silver Nitrate—features five-time Emmy© winning composer Jeff Beal (House of Cards) leading the Silver Nitrate Big Band and Fourth Wall Ensemble in the live-to-picture U.S. premiere of his searing score for the Weimar cinema masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, considered one of the most influential silent films in history. Tickets on sale as of March 4. (June 3, SA/PS at Carnegie Hall, West 57th St. and Seventh Ave., New York, NY).

For the most up-to-date information on festival performances and events at Carnegie Hall and partner institutions, visit carnegiehall.org/weimar.

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