The Eternal Road
Encyclopedia
The Eternal Road is an opera
-oratorio
with spoken dialogue in four acts by Kurt Weill
with a libretto
(originally in German: Der Weg der Verheissung – The Way of the Covenant
), by Austrian novelist and playwright Franz Werfel
and translated into English by Ludwig Lewisohn
.
The Eternal Road premiered at the Manhattan Opera House on January 7, 1937, given a lavish and spectacular production involving 245 actors, and ran for 153 performances. Although it received good reviews, it was not revived for 63 years.
The piece was conceived by Zionist
activist Meyer Weisgal to alert the then-ignorant public to Hitler
's persecution of the Jews in 1937 Germany. Weisgal enlisted the help of director Max Reinhardt
, who found Weill to compose the music and Werfel to write the libretto. Set in a synagogue where Jews hide all night as a pogrom
rages outside, the story combines Biblical and pre-World War II
Jewish history. The rabbi reads from the Torah
, leading, in each act, to the exploration and re-enactment of a different Biblical theme. At the conclusion, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
and the deportation of those hiding become one, while the despair of a scattered people is balanced by a messianic
voice that speaks of hope for deliverance of the Jews in Zion – (although by 1937 Jews were unable to emigrate from Germany to most countries and were barred from Palestine). The music evokes cantorial
lament
ations, classical fugue
s and showtunes
, among other styles.
, Germany, and then at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in New York City during the 1999/2000 season (the 100th anniversary of Weill's birth and the 50th of his death). This was partly because of the six hour running time, even after substantial cuts had been made.
In 1998 David Drew
devised a concert adaptation from the fourth act of The Eternal Road, titled Propheten (Prophets); Drew used German text by Franz Werfel and Bible passages. Supplemental orchestration
was provided by Noam Sheriff
. It was first performed on May 28, 1998, in Vienna with the Österreichische Rundfunkorchester, Dennis Russell Davies
conducting. It was subsequently performed at the BBC Proms
, who had commissioned
the work, in the Royal Albert Hall
in July 1998 with Matthias Bamert
conducting.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
-oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
with spoken dialogue in four acts by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
with a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
(originally in German: Der Weg der Verheissung – The Way of the Covenant
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
), by Austrian novelist and playwright Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel
Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
and translated into English by Ludwig Lewisohn
Ludwig Lewisohn
Ludwig Lewisohn was an outspoken critic of American Jewish assimilation, novelist and translator, known for his novel The Island Within. He wrote several autobiographies, translated German literature and wrote the preface to the first English language edition of Otto Rank's seminal work Art and...
.
The Eternal Road premiered at the Manhattan Opera House on January 7, 1937, given a lavish and spectacular production involving 245 actors, and ran for 153 performances. Although it received good reviews, it was not revived for 63 years.
The piece was conceived by Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
activist Meyer Weisgal to alert the then-ignorant public to Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's persecution of the Jews in 1937 Germany. Weisgal enlisted the help of director Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
, who found Weill to compose the music and Werfel to write the libretto. Set in a synagogue where Jews hide all night as a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
rages outside, the story combines Biblical and pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Jewish history. The rabbi reads from the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, leading, in each act, to the exploration and re-enactment of a different Biblical theme. At the conclusion, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
and the deportation of those hiding become one, while the despair of a scattered people is balanced by a messianic
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
voice that speaks of hope for deliverance of the Jews in Zion – (although by 1937 Jews were unable to emigrate from Germany to most countries and were barred from Palestine). The music evokes cantorial
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
lament
Lament
A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...
ations, classical fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
s and showtunes
Showtune (musical)
Showtune is an internationally popular Off Broadway musical revue celebrating the words and music of Broadway composer Jerry Herman. Its title was inspired by Herman's autobiography of the same name....
, among other styles.
Performance history
After its initial performances, the first revival took place in ChemnitzChemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
, Germany, and then at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in New York City during the 1999/2000 season (the 100th anniversary of Weill's birth and the 50th of his death). This was partly because of the six hour running time, even after substantial cuts had been made.
In 1998 David Drew
David Drew (writer)
David Drew was a British journalist on music, particularly known for his work on Kurt Weill. He published the authoritative catalogue of Weill's music, Kurt Weill: A Handbook and, in German, edited and annotated a collection of Weill's writings, Kurt Weill: Ausgewählte Schriften, and a symposium...
devised a concert adaptation from the fourth act of The Eternal Road, titled Propheten (Prophets); Drew used German text by Franz Werfel and Bible passages. Supplemental orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
was provided by Noam Sheriff
Noam Sheriff
Noam Sheriff is an Israeli composer, conductor and arranger. Sheriff is one of Israel’s most versatile and world renowned musicians. Currently, he is the music director of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra.- Early life :...
. It was first performed on May 28, 1998, in Vienna with the Österreichische Rundfunkorchester, Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies is an American conductor and pianist. He studied piano and conducting at the Juilliard School where he received his doctorate...
conducting. It was subsequently performed at the BBC Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
, who had commissioned
Commission (art)
In art, a commission is the hiring and payment for the creation of a piece, often on behalf of another.In classical music, ensembles often commission pieces from composers, where the ensemble secures the composer's payment from private or public organizations or donors.- Commissions for public art...
the work, in the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in July 1998 with Matthias Bamert
Matthias Bamert
Matthias Bamert is a Swiss composer and conductor.Matthias Bamert studied music in his native Switzerland as well as in Paris and Darmstadt, falling in with the likes of Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen; these associations can be detected in his own compositions from the 1970's...
conducting.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast, 7 January 1937 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Isaac Van Grove) |
|---|---|---|
| Rabbi | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Myron Taylor |
| Eliezer | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
|
| White Angel | tenor | |
| 2 Dark Angels | tenor, baritone | |
| Abraham | baritone | |
| Jacob | tenor | |
| Rachel | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
|
| Joseph | baritone | Earl Weatherford |
| Moses | baritone | Samuel Goldenberg |
| Miriam | soprano | Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya was an Austrian singer, diseuse, and actress. In the German-speaking and classical music world she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language film she is remembered for her Academy Award-nominated role in The Roman Spring of Mrs... |
| Voice of God | baritone | |
| Angel of Death | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Joseph Macauley |
| Ruth | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Katherine Carrington |
| Boaz | baritone | |
| Isaac | treble | Dick Van Patten Dick Van Patten Richard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager... |
| Reaper | baritone | |
| Saul | baritone | |
| David | tenor | |
| The Adversary | speaking role | Sam Jaffe Sam Jaffe (actor) Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still... |
| Chananjah | baritone | |
| Bath-Sheba | mezzo-soprano | Rosamond Pinchot |
| Estranged One's Son | tenor | Sidney Lumet Sidney Lumet Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict... |
| Voice of the Angel of the End of Days; Sarah; Isaac; Joseph's Brothers; double chorus Choir A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus... , SATB SATB In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work... . |
||
| Speaking roles: Pious Men, President, Elders, Women, and Boys of the Congregation, The Estranged One and his son, The Adversary, The Timid Soul, The Rich Man, The Watchman, The Youth, The Strange Girl, The Witch of Endor, Bath-Sheba, Uriah, Zedekiah, Pashur |
||
Recordings
- Constance Haumann (soprano), Barbara Rearick (mezzo-soprano), Hanna Wollschlaeger (mezzo-soprano), Ian DeNolfo (tenor), Karl Dent (tenor), Val Rideout (tenor), Ted Christopher (baritone), James MaddalenaJames MaddalenaJames Maddalena is an American baritone who is chiefly associated with contemporary American opera. He gained international recognition in 1987 when he created the role of Richard Nixon at the premiere of Adams's opera Nixon in China at Houston. He has since reprised the role on many occasions,...
(baritone), Ernst Senff Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester BerlinBerlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (East Berlin)The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at theKonzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie...
, Gerard Schwarz (cond.), (excerpts performed in English), Milken Archive/Naxos RecordsNaxos RecordsNaxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
CD 8.559402
Sources
- Amadeus Almanac
- Der Weg der Verheißung (1934-36) at the Kurt Weill Foundation
- Alexander Ringer's "Werfel, Weill, and The Eternal Road" in Driven into Paradise: The Musical Migration from Nazi Germany to the United States ed. Brinkmann & Wolff (UC Press 1999)
- Rogoff, Gordon, "Endless Moan: The Eternal Road at the Brooklyn Academy of Music" in Theater, Volume 30, Number 3, Fall 2000, pp. 119–23, Duke University PressDuke University PressDuke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...