FULL Der Jasager (Weill) Chapel Hill NC 2019 UNC Opera
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Der Jasager
- Composer: Weill Kurt
- Libretto: Bertolt Brecht (after Elisabeth Hauptmann's translation from Arthur Waley's English version of the Japanese Nō drama Taniko) Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Moeser Auditorium Department of Music, UNC-Chapel Hill
- Recorded: March 30, 2019
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Hannah Lawrence, Patrick Dow, Madeline Lillich, Lila Dunn, Kennedy Miller, Caroline Collins
- Conductor: Evan Feldman
- Orchestra: UNC Opera Orchestra
- Stage Director: Marc Callahan
- Costume Designer:
- Lighting Designer: Aimee Comancini
Information about the Recording
- Published by: UNC Department of Music
- Date Published: 2019
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Programme
Umekawa Ichinosuke
& Kurt Weill’s “One Who Says Yes” (Der Jasager)
Synopsis
Act I
The chorus announces the theme of the work: “It is important to know when to be in agreement”. When you agree to a course of action, you must understand it fully, as you are complicit in the outcome. The teacher, who keeps a school in the city, enters. He hopes to bid farewell to one of his students before he goes off on a trip over the mountains. At the house, he asks the boy why he has not been to school recently, and the boy replies that his mother has been ill. The teacher describes his trip to the mother, who asks if he wants to bring the boy along. The boy asks to make the trip. The teacher forbids him–the journey is too long and difficult and he should stay home. But the boy reminds him that he is visiting a great physician, who might be able to help his mother. His mother reluctantly allows the boy to make the trip. The chorus reinforces the decision.
Act II
The chorus explains that the teacher, the boy, and three older students are on the way back, and the boy is exhausted. As they approach their shelter, the boy confesses that he is not well. The teacher tells him it is forbidden to say such things on the journey, but the three students have overheard and demand to speak to the teacher. He admits that the boy is ill, and the students remind him of the strict old custom that whoever falls ill during the journey over the mountains must be hurled into the valley. The teacher reminds them that the sick person may also demand that the entire party turn back. Then he goes to the boy and offers him the choice. The boy decides that he knew the risks and should not impede the expedition. He asks only that the three students fill his jar with medicine and take it to his mother, and they agree. Then the three students bear him gently to the cliff and throw him over. The chorus reiterates the theme of the opera, reminding us that we are all responsible for collective outcomes in our society.
