Biography
Kurt Weill was born in 1900 in Dessau and created a unique synthesis of art music and popular entertainment. His collaboration with Bertolt Brecht produced milestones like The Threepenny Opera and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, which revolutionised music theatre. The Ballad of Mack the Knife became a world-famous evergreen and is probably the most famous melody of the twentieth century. After the Nazi seizure of power, Weill fled via Paris to the USA, where he began a second career as a Broadway composer. Works like Lady in the Dark and Street Scene proved his ability to assert himself in the American musical world without abandoning his artistic integrity. Weill's music combines cabaret sharpness with lyrical beauty and socially critical claim. He died in 1950 in New York, only fifty years old.
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