Edinburgh International Festival 8th-31st August 2008

Synopsis

Composer Stefan Wolpe was one of the leading voices in the stand against facism in Germany during the Weimar Republic.  Alongside his contemporaries such as Ernst Krenek, Vladimir Vogel and Kurt Weill he dedicated himself creating agit prop songs and music for workers' choruses. As with Hanns Eisler's Wolpe songs became some of the most popular of the time.  He was forced to flee Berlin in 1933, eventually settling in New York after a time in Israel.

Using texts, songs and piano music the performers of Muziektheater Transparant concentrate on the composer's work from 1929 to 1945.  His music is not easily pigeon-holed with styles ranging from jazz, folk and ethnic influences to sprechgesang and complex composition; fascinating and highly evocative of a very particular place and time in history.

This is music as theatre, a staged concert which illustrates the physicality of Wolpe's music.