In the artistically fruitful years of the Weimar Republic, the creative duo Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht revolutionized theater, particularly musical theater. To the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) current-which dealt with topical issues and subjects with a political and social background-Weill approached it from his debut in musical theater, which took place in 1926 with Der Protagonist. A ‘Literaturoper,’ that is, a work whose verbal text coincides, totally or nearly, with the corresponding literary source: in this case Georg Kaiser’s play of the same name published in 1920. Under the direction of Markus Stenz, a longtime Fenice collaborator and specialist in avant-garde repertoire, Der Protagonist will be performed at Teatro Malibran from May 2 to 15.
