Jonny spielt auf
| Jonny spielt auf | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Ernst Krenek | |
Title page of the 1926 vocal score (1st edition)
|
|
| Translation | Jonny Plays |
| Librettist | Krenek |
| Language | German |
| Premiere | 10 February 1927 Stadttheater Leipzig |
Jonny spielt auf (Jonny Plays) is a German-language opera with words and music by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. The work typified the cultural freedom of the 'golden era' of the Weimar Republic.
It was premiered at the Stadttheater, Leipzig on 10 February 1927. A tremendous success in Germany where it was performed 421 times on various stages during its first season alone, it provided Krenek with the financial security to be able to devote all his time to composing. It was staged in 42 different opera houses, including eventually New York City on 19 January 1929 where it was given under Arthur Bodansky with Florence Easton, Fleischer, Kirchoff, Michael Bohnen and Friedrich Schorr. The libretto was translated into 14 languages. It was the first opera performed by Swiss tenor Hugues Cuenod.
Nevertheless, with the rise of the Nazi movement, the opera encountered hostility in Vienna in 1927-1928 from Nazi sympathisers, and the same protests occurred several years later in Munich. After the National Socialists attained power in Germany, they banned the opera. Indeed, at the 1938 Entartete Musik exhibition in Düsseldorf, organiser Hans Severus Ziegler condemned the opera as the very archetype of Weimar decadence.
Notes
Sources
Other sources
...
Wikipedia