Weill's musical theater
Subtitle: stages of reform
By: Stephen Hinton
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Berkeley
Language: eng
Number of pages: 569
ISBN-13: 9780520271777; 9780520951839
Subjects: Criticism and interpretation; Musical theater; History
Description: In the first musicological study of Kurt Weill's complete stage works, Stephen Hinton charts the full range of theatrical achievements by one of twentieth-century musical theater's key figures. Hinton shows how Weill's experiments with a range of genres--from one-act operas and plays with music to Broadway musicals and film-opera--became an indispensable part of the reforms he promoted during his brief but intense career. Confronting the divisive notion of "two Weills"--One European, the other American--Hinton adopts a broad and inclusive perspective, establishing criteria that allow aspects of continuity to emerge, particularly in matters of dramaturgy. Tracing his extraordinary journey as a composer, the book shows how Weill's artistic ambitions led to his working with a remarkably heterogeneous collection of authors, such as Georg Kaiser, Bertolt Brecht, Moss Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, and Maxwell Anderson [Publisher description].
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Biographical notes; title: The Busoni connection; title: One-act operas; title: "Songspiel"; title: Plays with music; title: Epic opera; title: Didactic theater ("Lehrstück"); title: Stages of exile; title: Musical plays; title: Stage vs. screen; title: American opera; title: Concept and commitment; title: Coda; title: Appendix : Weill's works for stage or screen.