As Joana Mallwitz prepares to begin her second season as chief conductor and artistic director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, she’s embracing the history of her adopted city. In addition to her new role, Mallwitz, originally from Hildesheim and previously general music director at Staatstheater Nürnberg, signed with Deutsche Grammophon last year. She’s now using that platform to explore Kurt Weill’s work from a century earlier.
“I just discovered Weill’s music,” Mallwitz says. “I knew the big masterpieces, but a few years ago I had no idea, for example, of the two symphonies he had written so early in his life. When I discovered that music, I was just fascinated. I immersed myself in everything Weill wrote and listened to a lot of his works. At the same time, I started planning my first season here in Berlin with the Konzerthausorchester. It was wonderful to see all these connections, and I felt there was no better moment or place to celebrate these early works of Kurt Weill than here in Berlin in my first season with the Konzerthausorchester.”
The Kurt Weill Album, set for release on 2nd August, features both of those symphonies, performed with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, along with his acclaimed “sung ballet” The Seven Deadly Sins.
“The two symphonies are not often heard in concerts,” Mallwitz says. “We don’t really see Weill as a symphonic composer. It’s not on our radar in the concert world. I joke about these symphonies, especially the Second Symphony—everyone loves it, but nobody knows it. Orchestras enjoy playing it, and audiences appreciate hearing it. However, the First Symphony is so rarely performed that it’s virtually unknown. Weill himself never heard it live; he never conducted it because he was just a young student at the time.
“The score ended up in Italy, hidden by nuns in a convent to protect it from the public. The first page was even torn off to conceal the name of this Jewish composer. During that period in Germany, Weill was among those whose works were being burned due to his Jewish heritage, forcing him into exile. The symphony was only recovered years after Weill’s death when his widow, Lotte Lenya, placed a request in the Berlin Tagespiegel for any remaining works of her late husband. The score was eventually returned and performed, but the premiere took place long after Weill’s passing.”
“Walter tried to persuade Weill to change the name,” she continues. “He suggested, ‘People will only understand it if you give this piece a more programmatic name’. In France, it was referred to as Fantaisie Symphonique. For the American premiere, he even proposed naming it Three Night Scenes. But Weill was adamant, saying, ‘No, it’s a symphony’.”
It’s significant that Bruno Walter took Weill’s music to so many countries, as Weill himself went on to live in various parts of Europe and ultimately in the United States, adapting to the musical influences of each place. “He’s a citizen of the world,” Mallwitz says. “He moved from Dessau to Berlin, then to Paris, and finally to New York, composing in all these different styles—whether Broadway, stage works, or symphonies. He truly absorbed all these experiences and infused them into his music.
“He came to Berlin as a young man to study with Busoni, eager to learn the old techniques and counterpoint, and to study the old masters. That’s why he started with a symphony. Sometimes I wonder what might have happened if Weill had not had to leave Germany—perhaps his artistic direction would have been entirely different. Maybe he would have composed many more symphonies in this style, as he was pursuing the depth of classical tradition.”
The first and second symphonies were separated by 13 years. By 1934, when Weill composed the Second Symphony, he had recently completed the satirical Seven Deadly Sins. The story, featuring two sisters—one portrayed by a singer, the other by a dancer—suggests they may be two aspects of the same woman. They journey across the United States in search of fortune but find only sin in each city they visit. This would be Weill’s final major collaboration with the renowned poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht.
“Seven Deadly Sins is a masterpiece,” Mallwitz says. “I wanted to showcase not only the composer of these two lesser-known symphonies but also the side of Weill known for his stage works. The second symphony and The Seven Deadly Sins were composed around the same time, and some of the motifs are quite similar. I thought it would be interesting to present these three works in context.”
The upcoming season will see Mallwitz’s debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, along with guest appearances in Madrid and Rotterdam. She also hopes to bring the Weill symphonies to audiences in concert soon.
“The most important thing for him, I think, was to write music for people, to bring music to people,” she says. “It was about the message of the music, to convey something to people and make them care about it. Perhaps that’s why later in life he wrote more stage and popular works, without losing the depth and complexity of symphonic music. His later Broadway works seem like an extension of his early symphonies.
“In his first symphony, I believe he was interested in the pure idea of humanity, of people seeking peace,” she continues. “He had a message he wanted to communicate. Despite its unusual angles and complexities, the symphony has a direct emotional impact on the listener. It feels incredibly honest and raw, without any showiness. He truly cared about this message, which makes it very powerful.
“We don’t have a letter from Weill explaining the meaning of the First Symphony, but we know it has a close programmatic connection to a play by Johannes R. Becher,” she adds. “However, I strongly feel that, following Becher’s play, what Weill cared most about was the idea of humanity and peace. It’s about a people searching for peace—a goal that feels almost unattainable but is persistently believed in. This belief, this hope, is evident in the last chord of the symphony.”
Now available on STAGE+
Watch Joana Mallwitz and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin perform Kurt Weill’s First Symphony on STAGE+, the streaming service for classical music by Deutsche Grammophon.
See upcoming performances by Joana Mallwitz.
This article was sponsored by Deutsche Grammophon.
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