From the Barbican Centre, London. John Tusa introduces the BBC Symphony Orchestra's annual January weekend devoted to the music of one composer, which this year turns the spotlight on Kurt Weill in his centenary year. Weill's extraordinary life took him from Berlin in the twenties and thirties through exile in Europe to his final success in America, where he made his name on the Broadway stage. His artistic and political views led him to experiment with nearly every musical genre. Berlin to Broadway opens with two one-act operas: Der Protagonists the story of a troupe of Shakesperean actors, and in Royal Palace Janice Watson plays a pampered wife and mistress who is asked to choose between her lovers.
BBCSO, conductor Andrew Davis

7.30 Weill Der Protagonist

8.45 Weill in the Archives Memories of Kurt Weill from the BBC Archives

9.05 Weill Royal Palace

(Brian Kay on Kurt Weill : page 49)