In the Weill-festival of the Opéra de Lyon I saw the performance of Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins)and Der Lindenberghflug (The Lindenbergh Flight). This double bill is a new production of the National Opera of Lyon, directed by François Girard and conducted by Roberto Minczuk. The other similarities between the two works are that Bertold Brecht wrote the words and that they are American tales, but written in German while Weill still lived in Europe.
I didn’t know The Lindenbergh Flight before I went to the opera last week. So in the operahouse I bought the libretto and start to read like a mad woman. I found out that there was a story teller in the play and I hoped his words wouldn’t be sung, so I would understand the story better. The story teller (Damien Bigourdan) didn’t sing, but his part was translated into French, without German subtitles, so the net effect was that I still didn’t understand it. It’s weird to make and opera about a guy in an airplane crossing the ocean. There’s isn’t much action in it, but there’s a lot of emotion in it. In the 35 minutes it took Linderbergh (Kurt Streit) to cross the stage form left to right, we saw him invincible, tired, cold, desperate, relieved and celebrated. The part of the choir and the music where nice, but not memorable. What I remember most about is the fuga for first violins and violas, but more more as a novelty then because of the music itself. I loved the way the production was designed: both the physical design and the way the singers fit in this decor.
Pictures of The Lindenbergh Flight.
In The Seven Deadly Sins Anna and her sister travel through the United States to earn money to build a house for the family in Louisiana. The first Anna (Gun-Brit Barkmin) tells us the story and her sister, the second Anna, is the dancer. In the original production there was one singing Anna and one dancing Anna, in this production there are seven Anna II’s: one for every sin. Next to the seven Anna’s there are seven male dancers. In the group are both classical trained dancers and Streetdancers, who normally practice on the square in front of the Lyon opera house. This mix lead to an interesting combination in techniques.
I was extremely impressed with the voice of Gun-Brit Barkmin. She managed to find a way of singing Anna not as polished and nice as for example Anne Sophie von Otter, but wasn’t as raw and awfull as Lotte Lenya. She has a perfect technique and a beautiful voice, but isn’t afraid to use her voice in a different way. This way she manages to get the emotions up till the fourth balcony.
Anna’s family is sitting in the back of the stage on a platform behind a map of the United States. On the map you can see where Anna is in her travel. Mother (Dario Süss), Father (Urban Malmberg) and the two brothers (Jeroen de Vaal and Andreas Jaeggi) keep their place on the back of the stage but in their quartets, solo and a capella parts, they manage to get their comments on Anna’s behaviour really in your face.
Pictures of The Seven Deadly Sins.

If you have the chance you can still see this programme on the 4th of July in the opera of Lyon and in August during the Edinburgh International Festival.