(Photos Brescia – Amisano © Teatro alla Scala)

What began as a creative solution during the pandemic– a small-scale stage production, with no audience, zero budget, and streamed online– returns in 2025 to Teatro alla Scala in all its theatrical splendor. “The Weill Triptych,” staged by Irina Brook and musically directed by Riccardo Chailly, now comes back in an expanded version featuring three key works from the collaboration between Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht: “Die sieben Todsünden” (The Seven Deadly Sins), “Mahagonny Songspiel,” and a selection of songs from the musical “Happy End.”

This triptych offers audiences a chance to rediscover an artistic partnership as controversial as it was fruitful, marked by sharp social critique, a blend of musical genres, and an ironic gaze on the human condition. Brecht and Weill, two German geniuses in constant tension, created in just over a decade some of the most provocative works of the 20th century.

The scenic concept by the Anglo-French director, Irina Brook, was born as a poetic protest against waste and in response to today’s environmental emergencies. Brook crafted a series of set elements made entirely from plastic—a material often associated with disposable objects that are rarely properly discarded—repurposing it into theatrical language, thus giving it new symbolic life.
From the podium, Riccardo Chailly conducts the La Scala Orchestra in a reduced formation and placed slightly elevated, almost in view of the audience with a sharp, brilliant, and theatrically vibrant interpretation. The Milanese maestro balances with surgical precision the tension between classical and popular music that defines Weill’s style: tango, jazz, cabaret, blues, and opera intertwine in an unmistakable sonic mosaic. Chailly draws out all the irony, energy, and ambiguity of these scores, creating moments of high theatrical intensity, such as “Surabaya Johnny” and the iconic “Alabama Song.”

Die sieben Todsünden: The Seven Deadly Sins

Composed in 1933 after Weill fled to Paris following the rise of Nazism in Germany due to his Jewish origins, “Die sieben Todsünden” was commissioned by Boris Kochno and George Balanchine. Though Weill had hoped to collaborate with Jean Cocteau, it was Brecht who ended up writing the libretto, reviving a partnership already strained by their work on “Mahagonny.”

The story follows two sisters, both named Anna– one sings, the other dances, though they are actually two halves of the same woman– who travel through seven U.S. cities to earn money to build a home for their family. In each city, they face one of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, anger, gluttony, lust, envy, and sloth. Yet the message is clear: in a capitalist society, ethical behavior often appears to be a “sin.”

Sopranos Alma Sadé (Anna I) and Lauren Michelle (Anna II) dazzle with impeccable stage chemistry. Sadé is bold and expressive, with incisive phrasing and commanding dramatic presence. Michelle enchants with a velvety tone, subtle inflections, and outstanding dancing ability. Together, they embody the tension between reason and desire, between duty and seduction.

Tenors Matthäus Schmidlechner and Michael Smallwood round out the cast effectively: Schmidlechner, with his clear and resonant tenor, shines as Charlie and Vater, while Smallwood’s bright and flexible voice proves convincing in the roles of Billy and Hannibal Jackson (in “Happy End”).

Mahagonny Songspiel

Commissioned by the 1927 Baden-Baden Festival of New Music, this short one-act opera draws inspiration from Brecht’s Hauspostille poems, centered around the fictional city of Mahagonny: a place where everything is allowed and money is all that matters. It begins as a utopia but quickly descends into moral chaos and emptiness. No rules, but not as fun as it sounds.

Its premiere caused a scandal, with a hostile audience reception. And no wonder: “Mahagonny Songspiel” offered direct criticism of wild capitalism, directionless hedonism, and moral hypocrisy. Its hybrid style, bridging high art and popular music, heralded a new kind of musical theatre. Weill and Brecht used it as a precursor to their full opera, “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny,” which ironically marked the end of their collaboration.

Once again, Sadé and Michelle shone in the iconic “Alabama Song,” showcasing refined vocal and stage artistry. Texan baritone Elliott Carlton Hines (Bobby) impressed with his charismatic presence and versatility, switching seamlessly from masculine roles to drag numbers, most memorably the hilarious “Song von Mandalay,” performed in a long gown and wig with precision and elegance.
Andrew Harris, a deep and sonorous bass, stood out as Anna’s eerie “mother”– a role played with unsettling irony and strong vocal presence. His authority, even in smaller parts like Jimmy, was unwavering. Actor Geoffrey Carey, a silent yet essential presence across all three pieces, moves with enigmatic weight through the show, from elderly bartender to all-powerful God, adding symbolic depth and theatrical tension throughout.

The Songs of Happy End

The third part of the triptych presents songs from “Happy End,” a 1930 musical comedy with a libretto by Elisabeth Hauptmann (under the pseudonym Dorothy Lane) and music by Brecht and Weill. Based on a story Hauptmann read in an American magazine, it tells of a Salvation Army girl who falls in love with a gangster and redeems him, ultimately defeating the criminal gang he belongs to. Though tinged with irony and subversion, the work was a complete flop at its premiere and was pulled after just a few performances. Only decades later was it rediscovered, and some of its songs became staples in the Weill canon. At La Scala, “Happy End” is presented more as a concert than a staged drama, focusing on showcasing Weill’s remarkable music in a clear musical theatre context.

Baritone Markus Werba (Bill Cracker) portrays the grotesque gangster with theatrical flair, flexible vocal delivery, and excellent rhythm, though his voice doesn’t always match the strength of his fellow performers, at least in this genre. Hines once again displays his charm and humor in delightfully grotesque numbers, showcasing solid physicality and musical versatility.

Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta commands the lead role of the redeemer Lilian Holiday with agility, vivid tone, and penetrating high notes. Her phrasing is rich, her dramatic intensity captivating, and her stage presence seductive. Her “Surabaya Johnny” is deeply moving and well supported by Brook’s direction. Her versatility wins everyone over: seductive, mournful, or clownish, depending on the score’s demands. Natascha Petrinsky as Die Fliege, despite some vocal inconsistencies, impresses with her dynamic stage energy and expressive presence; blending seamlessly into the show’s ironic and surreal tone.

Brook’s staging amplifies the ecological and political dimension of a planet in collapse. The recurring question “Where shall we go?” echoes as a generational cry. Characters desperately try to escape the horrors of the world they themselves have created. Meanwhile, harrowing Greenpeace footage is projected, natural disasters and the viral video of a starving polar bear searching for a patch of ice, making climate change heartbreakingly tangible. Brook enhances this imagery with a sea of plastic bottles, underscoring how, as she notes in the program, Brecht and Weill foresaw humanity’s self-destructive nature.

The climax of “Happy End” comes with the satirical hymn “Hosanna Rockefeller,” which canonizes American capitalism and global power in a grotesque tribute to selfishness and greed. Such a bitter finale couldn’t be the last word. So, Chailly closes with a candlelit moment of communion, featuring “Youkali”—a song not from “Happy End,” but one that perfectly encapsulates a message of peace, justice, and love. A reminder that there is no Planet B, and that we still have time to change.