Gramophone Awards 2025
Winner - Orchestral

Katharine Mehrling, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Joana Mallwitz

Joana Mallwitz places the music of Kurt Weill at the center of her Deutsche Grammophon debut album. As the first female chief conductor of a major Berlin orchestra, it is very important to her to dedicate this recording to a composer whose name is synonymous with the city of Berlin.

"The Kurt Weill Album" presents three works that the conductor recorded together with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin: Symphony No. 1 "Berliner Symphonie", Symphony No. 2 "Fantaisie symphonique" and "Die Sieben Todsünden". The latter, based on texts by Bertolt Brecht, was premiered in Paris in June 1933. As Mallwitz notes, this satirical ballet with song in seven scenes with a prologue and epilogue tells the story of a young woman whose personality has been broken in two by her greedy, abusive family. Katharine Mehrling sings Anna I & II, the other roles are sung by tenors Michael Porter and Simon Bode, baritone Michael Nagl and bass-baritone Oliver Zwarg.