Ravinia Festival Presents American Premiere of Kurt Weill's MAGICAL NIGHT, 7/19

On July 19, one of the highlights of James Conlon's 2012 season at Ravinia will be the American premiere of Kurt Weill's first completed stage work, MAGICAL NIGHT. The pantomime will be staged by T. Daniel Productions (TDP) and is based on a scenario by Russian writer Wladimir Boritsch. Soprano Janai Brugger will perform in her Ravinia debut. Schreker's THE WIND will also be performed on this concert.

The opera received its world premiere in Berlin in 1922, but by the time it made its only other appearance, in New York in 1925, portions of the original score were already missing and the gaps filled in by music from other composers. After that performance the orchestrations disappeared for 80 years, until an original set of instrumental parts was discovered in 2005 at Yale University, where they had been stored in the wrong safe after being deposited there by Boritsch's widow. This set was used to create the Kurt Weill critical edition that received its world premiere at Covent Garden in London last December.

Unlike the Covent Garden performance in London which featured dance, the new pantomime production for the Ravinia Festival of Weill's Magical Night is being written and directed by artistic directors and mime masters, T. Daniel and Laurie Willets. This musical story will explore the imagination of children and adults and will be based upon the original concept of 'toys coming alive'. In this way, T. Daniel Productions lends a visual element to the wonderful array of musical moods and rhythms in the score created by Weill. There will be a minimal set to allow the audience to see the pantomime and feel the aura of the live music.

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