KURT WEILL (1900-1950) came to America in 1935 after great successes in Germany, including operas and musical theatre works with leading playwrights and poets: Georg Kaiser, Iwan Goll, Franz Werfel and Bertolt Brecht. Weill fled Germany in 1933 and spent two years in Paris, where he wrote his second symphony and The Seven Deadly Sins for Balanchine’s Les Ballets 1933. He composed his first score for Broadway in 1936 for the Group Theatre’s Johnny Johnson and went on to work with some of America’s leading writers on Knickerbocker Holiday (score nominated for a 1944 Oscar), Lady in the Dark, One Touch of Venus, Street Scene (1947 Tony Award for Composer), Love Life (the first “concept” musical), and Lost in the Stars. After his death, Weill’s wife Lotte Lenya rekindled interest in his German works with a landmark series of performances and recordings that remains classic.
