Live
Only on
Certain chapters are not available.
Thank you for your understanding.

Kurt Weill, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

I, 1 - How the city of Mahagonny was founded : "We will set up a town"

I, 2 - The city grew quickly in the weeks that followed : Alabama Song "Oh, show us the way to the next whisky bar"

I, 3 - Reports of a new paradise reached the big cities : "We live in giant cities"

I, 4 - In the next few years the discontented of all the continents headed for Mahagonny : "Off to Mahagonny"

I, 5 - Among the many who came th Mahagonny at that time was Jimmy McIntyre : "When you are a stranger in the city"

I, 6 - Instructions : "I've learned my trade"

I, 7 - All great enterprises have their crises : "Fatty, and Moses !"

I, 8 - Seek truth and ye shall be disappointed : "Think of how the sky turns beautiful at twilight"

I, 9 - "That's what I call eternal art", "Deep in Alaska's snow-covered woodland"

I, 10 - A typhoon ! : "A frightful disaster"

I, 11 - On this night of horrors a simple lumberjack named Jimmy McIntyre discovered the laws of human happiness : "Stand bravely, Brothers !"

II, 1 - Hurricane approaching Atsena at 120 miles per hour : "Oh glory, what a rescue !"

II, 2 - From then on the model of Mahagonny was "Do it" : "First, don't forget to stuff your faces"

II, 3 - "Second comes the loving match"

II, 4 - "Here is the place, gents, for the match of the week"

II, 5 - "Bottoms up, friends ! Time we all get drunk"

"Gents, when I was young my mother painted my future completely black"

III, 1 - "When the sky turns brighter"

III, 2 - The courts in Mahagonny were no worse than anywhere else : "Everyone step up and buy your tickets"

At that time in Mahagonny there were already those who yeamed for a better city : "There is no money in this land"

III, 3 - Execution and death of Jimmy McIntyre : "Dearest Jenny"

III, 4 - "One morning when the sky was gray"

"Still we only built this Mahagonny"

Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Alex Ollé, Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus (stage direction), Pablo Heras-Casado (conductor) — With Jane Henschel (Leocadia Begbick), Measha Brueggergosman (Jenny Smith), Michael König (Jim Maclntyre)...

Opera
Subscribers

Cast

Àlex Ollé — Stage director

Carlus Padrissa — Stage director

Alfons Flores — Stage design

Lluc Castells — Costume designer

Urs Schönebaum — Lighting designer

Jane Henschel — Leocadia Begbick

Donald Kaasch — Fatty

Program notes

Grandeur et décadence de la ville de Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) is the last artistic collaboration between author Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill. Composed in 1930, this satirical opera is often seen as a critique of American capitalism or the excesses of the Weimar Republic. It was banned by the Nazi regime and was only resurrected in the 1950s.

In around twenty scenes, the two authors tell the story of Mahagonny—an imaginary, forgotten city in the middle of the desert. The place is governed by three criminals and food, sex, gambling, and violence are rampant. In this striking production at the Teatro Real in Madrid by Alex Ollé and Carlius Padrissa of the subversive Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus, Brecht’s acerbic text—enhanced by Weil’s lyricism—is masterfully brought to life by exceptional performers, including Measha Brueggergosman, Michael König, Jane Henschel, and Willard White. Music director and conductor Pablo Heras-Casado leads the resident ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra of Madrid, in a remarkable performance brimming with intensity.

Photo © Javier del Real

This is just one of hundreds of stunning operas available on medici.tv, the web's leading classical music streaming platform!

medici.tv - Back to medici.tv

The world’s premier resource for classical music programming: stunning live events from the world’s most prestigious halls, plus thousands of concerts, operas, ballets, and more in our VOD catalogue!

Our programs

Learn more

Useful links

  • Cookie Settings

Follow us

© MUSEEC SAS 2025 . With the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union and the CNC.

Europe media CNC