German soprano Katharine Mehrling will perform at Hồ Gươm Theatre on Friday. Photo rsb-online.de

HÀ NỘI — A repertoire of songs by German composer Kurt Weill will be performed by world recognised soprano Katharine Merhling at the Hồ Gươm Theatre on Friday.

The concert, Berlin im Licht - Berlin In The Light, will feature beautiful melodies including the theme song, which lends itself to the concert title.

In 1928, the composition, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, was specially crafted for the Berlin festival of September 1928, Berlin im Licht. The city staged a huge festival to accompany the music, with extraordinary lighting supplied by the gas and electricity companies, truly bringing the city into the light.

Weill, the son of a Jewish cantor, was educated as a student of Ferruccio Busoni, and had his big break through his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht.

His other compositions, which will be staged at the theatre, will include Seeräuber Jenny, Bilbao Song, Salomon Song and Speak Low.

Merhling has become one of the most important Kurt Weill interpreters of recent years along with being a world renowned artist performing across the globe. She has won the Golden Curtain audience award six times as the Berlin’s most popular actress, for performances in productions including Arizona Lady, Ball and My Fair Lady.

She studied acting and musical theatre at the London Studio Centre and at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York.

The singer made her stage debut in London’s West End, at the Old Vic Theatre as Chrissy in Hair. She created the role of Tippi Hedren in the musical The Birds of Alfred Hitchcock, which was written by William Ward Murta, especially for her.

She also appeared in the Hollywood movie Valkyrie. Since their collaboration on Paul Abraham’s jazz operetta Ball at the Savoy, Mehrling and Barrie Kosky have enjoyed a special artistic friendship.

At the Edinburgh International Festival 2021, the two performed two concerts with their Weill repertoire which received five-star reviews in the British press.

In 2022 Katharine Mehrling represented the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau as Artist in Residence.

The concert will also highlight Vietnamese song Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi (Drifting Ferns, Floating Clouds) with Vietnamese soprano Đào Tố Loan, under the baton of conductor Tetsuji Honna.

"It will be great to meet you in Hà Nội and HCM City," Mehrling said on a video clip posted on the fanpage of the Goethe Institute Hanoi.

The artists will be accompanied by pianist Ferdinand von Seebach and Việt Nam National Symphony Orchestra.

The concert is being hosted in collaboration with the German Embassy in Việt Nam, the Goethe-Institut Hanoi and AHK in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Việt Nam - Germany diplomatic relations in 2025. — VNS