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> 24/25 Revivals
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> Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg
> International Opera Studio
> Children's Opera Choir
Man is bad, but life is beautiful (or vice versa)
History does not repeat itself. Nevertheless, our present day is often compared with the 1920s: economic uncertainty, wars over borders, societal disorientation and, above all, radicalisation are sadly familiar to us. There is no one left who consciously witnessed or shaped those years, yet our collective memory has a much different recollection of the joyful period of the Weimar Republic that began around 100 years ago – specifically, as a time when the arts flourished. Theatre, dance and music almost never enjoyed such esteem, premieres and debuts were celebrated and maligned, and any commitment to art was a confession to liberty that would soon come to a gruesome end.
Perhaps the most spectacular premiere in the 1920s was The Threepenny Opera by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, now known as the Berliner Ensemble. The audience expected a disaster and celebrated a triumph. Brecht’s script and Weill’s music have so strongly survived the test of time because they are defined by a brazen and gleeful pessimism that we are still able to delight in – man is bad, but life is beautiful. Perhaps we can at least learn this from history: Even in times graver than our own, we did not lose our courage or our humour.
I wish you a pleasant 2024/25 season with The Threepenny Opera and all the other exciting projects we have in store!
Your Jens-Daniel Herzog
Artistic Director of Staatstheater Nürnberg and Director of Opera
