''The Eternal Road'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

with spoken dialogue in four acts by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

with a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

(originally in German: ' – ''The Way of the Covenant''), by Austrian novelist and playwright

Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...

and translated into English by

Ludwig Lewisohn Ludwig Lewisohn (May 30, 1882 – December 31, 1955) was a novelist, literary critic, the drama critic for ''The Nation'' and then its associate editor. He was the editor of the New Palestine (magazine), New Palestine, an American Zionist jour ...

. ''The Eternal Road'' premiered at the Manhattan Opera House on January 7, 1937, given a lavish and spectacular production involving 245 actors, and ran for 153 performances. Although it received good reviews, it was not revived for 63 years. The piece was conceived by

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

activist Meyer Weisgal to alert the then-ignorant public to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's persecution of the Jews in 1937 Germany. Weisgal enlisted the help of director

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pr ...

, who found Weill to compose the music and Werfel to write the libretto. Set in a synagogue where Jews hide all night as a

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

rages outside, the story combines Biblical and pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Jewish history. The rabbi reads from the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, leading, in each act, to the exploration and re-enactment of a different Biblical theme. At the conclusion, the destruction of the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

and the deportation of those hiding become one, while the despair of a scattered people is balanced by a messianic voice that speaks of hope for deliverance of the Jews in Zion – (although by 1937 Jews were unable to emigrate from Germany to most countries and were barred from Palestine). The music evokes cantorial

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somet ...

ations, classical

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the co ...

s and

showtunes A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

, among other styles.

Performance history

After its initial performances, the first revival took place at the Chemnitz Opera, Germany, and then at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

in New York City during the 1999/2000 season (the 100th anniversary of Weill's birth and the 50th of his death). The 62-year gap was partly due to the six-hour running time, even after substantial cuts had been made. The European premiere took place on June 13, 1999, at the Chemnitz Opera, Germany, as part of the centennial celebrations of the composer's birth. Directed by the German Michael Heinecke, designed by Israeli David Sharir and conducted by the American John Mauceri, the score was performed complete and in its original German for the first time. Despite the immense challenges of mounting this epic work in its entirety "Mauceri succeeded in achieving balance among the large performing forces—symphony orchestra, choruses (some offstage), vocal ensembles, soloists and actors—in a work of vast scale and varied stylistic idiom." In order to present the work as a complete whole " usicologist Edward Harshand John Mauceri orchestrated some recitatives and passages otherwise not extant. Part of act 4, left unorchestrated by Weill, had been previously realized by Noam Sheriff ... Thus, the audience at Chemnitz heard Weill's score performed by full orchestra for the first time in the work's history." In 1998 David Drew devised a concert adaptation from the fourth act of ''The Eternal Road'', titled ' (''Prophets''); Drew used German text by Franz Werfel and Bible passages. Supplemental

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

was provided by

Noam Sheriff Princewill Paroskey (born 7 April 1994 – ) he was a fiber optic engineer, at IPNX Nigeria limited. Princewill was one of Nigerian most versatile fiber optic engineer. He was two times fiber Director of Nigeria (2021-2022); Fiber Director of th ...

. It was first performed on May 28, 1998, in Vienna with the Österreichische Rundfunkorchester, Dennis Russell Davies conducting. It was subsequently performed at the BBC Proms, who had commissioned the work, in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in July 1998 with Matthias Bamert conducting. A co-production of the Chemnitz Opera, the New Israeli Opera, the

Kraków Opera The Opera Krakowska (also known as the Kraków Opera) is an opera house located in Kraków, Poland. It was founded in 1954 in postwar Kraków, although the tradition of opera in the city dates back to 1628 when the first ever full libretto in Po ...

, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, ' received its Israeli premiere on April 20, 2000, at the

Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center (TAPAC, he, המשכן לאומנויות הבמה, links=no) or The Golda Center for Performing Arts ( he, מרכז גולדה לאומנויות הבמה, links=no) is a performing arts center at King Saul B ...

and returned to New York for performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music between February 10 and March 5, 2000, again conducted by John Mauceri.

Roles

Reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' of January 8, 1937, Brooks Atkinson noted:

After an eternity of postponements ''The Eternal Road'' has finally arrived at the Manhattan Opera House, where it opened last evening. Let it be said at once that the ten postponements are understood and forgiven. Out of the heroic stories of old Jewish history Max Reinhardt and his many assistants have evoked a glorious pageant of great power and beauty.

Recordings

*2003: Constance Haumann (soprano), Barbara Rearick (mezzo-soprano), Hanna Wollschlaeger (mezzo-soprano), Ian DeNolfo (tenor), Karl Dent (tenor), Val Rideout (tenor), Ted Christopher (baritone),

James Maddalena James Maddalena (born 1954) is an American baritone who is chiefly associated with contemporary American opera. He gained international recognition in 1987 when he originated the role of Richard Nixon at the premiere of John Adams's opera ''Nixon i ...

(baritone), Ernst Senff Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Gerard Schwarz (cond.), (excerpts performed in English), Milken Archive/

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

CD 8.559402''The Eternal Road''
review of the recording, by Steve Schwartz, 2008 * 2016: ''The Road of Promise'' – World premiere recording of the concert adaptation of ''The Eternal Road''. Recorded live at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

, New York City (May 6 & 7, 2015): Anthony Dean Griffey (the Rabbi), Mark Delavan (Abraham/Moses), Ron Rifkin (the Adversary), Eli Tokash (the Thirteen-Year-Old Boy), AJ Glueckert (Jacob/Boaz/David/Isaiah/Hananiah), Laure Michele (Rachel/Soul of Moses/Naomi), Megan Marino (Miriam/Ruth), Justin Hopkins (the Dark Angel), Philip Cutlip (Joseph/Solomon/Jeremiah), Michael Slattery (the Voice), Sean Fallen (Angel #1), Jose Pietri-Coimbre (Angel #2). MasterVoices and Orchestra of St. Luke's,

Ted Sperling Ted Sperling is a musical director, conductor, orchestrator, arranger, stage director and musician, primarily for the stage and concerts. He won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Orchestrations, for his w ...

(conductor). Ed Harsh (concert adaptation), Noam Sheriff (additional orchestrations). Ludwig Lewisohn, William A. Drake, Charles Alan, Kelley Rourke (English translations). Navona Records, NV 6059 – 2 CDs (CD-1: 61:58, CD-2: 53:39).

References

External links