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Press Releases
Boston joins the international celebration of Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler
Boston joins the international celebration of the 125th birthdays of both writer Bertolt Brecht and composer Hanns Eisler.
On October 24 at 6 pm the Goethe-Institute Boston will present
Karyn Levitt in the show
“Will There Still Be Singing? A Hanns Eisler Cabaret”
followed by the film screening of
“Honoring Eric Bentley – A Centennial Tribute Concert”
the foremost translator of Brecht’s words into English
on October 25 at 7:30 pm at Somerville Theater.
Dealing with Brecht and Eisler in the English-speaking world today means you inevitably come across two artist names who are responsible for us reading and listening to their words and music – translator Eric Bentley and singer Karyn Levitt.
Karyn Levitt created and performs the show “Will There Still Be Singing? A Hanns Eisler Cabaret” with Bentley’s translated songs from the famous Brecht-Eisler Song Book and is also the producer of and singer in the film “Honoring Eric Bentley - A Centennial Tribute Concert” which is an homage to one of the most respected theater critics, playwrights, editors and translators of our time. In it she performs the world premiere of Songs for Mother Courage in an adaptation of Eric Bentley and French composer Darius Milhaud with the original chamber orchestration.
While the Brecht and Eisler celebration is going on around the world, soprano Karyn Levitt is very happy to contribute to it with these two events in her former hometown and with the acclaimed pianist from Boston Eric Ostling.
Her close working relationship with Eric Bentley, who died in 2020, gave her the opportunity of a lifetime to consult with the source of these acclaimed translations to excite the next generation with Hanns Eisler’s music and Bertolt Brecht’s lyrics.
Featuring Bentley's English versions of the songs of Eisler and Brecht, one of the 20th Century's great song-writing teams, the program takes you on a journey through the composer's life and times.
The film, however, takes you through the life and times of Eric Bentley who met Bertolt Brecht in California where he fled to, like so many other artists, from Nazi Germany. He also wrote numerous books on the theater and taught at Harvard and Columbia Universities. In 1998, he was included into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Goethe Institute Boston (reservation required)
Somerville Theatre (tickets)
https://www.somervilletheatre.com/production/honoring-eric-bentley-a-centennial-tribute-concert/
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