Bertolt Brecht, Die Dreigroschenoper [The Threepenny Opera]

Piet Defraeye (University of Alberta)
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DieDreigroschenoper

(usually translated as

The Threepenny Opera

) is one of Bertolt Brecht’s best known works, likely the most performed, and certainly the one play that provided Brecht with much-needed cash throughout his adult life. It is the outcome of a successful collaboration between three gifted artists: Bertolt Brecht, German composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950), and the German-American scholar and writer Elizabeth Hauptmann (1897-1973), whose stake in the project has historically been undervalued. Most commonly, she is credited as a contributing translator, as for instance avows on its website devoted exclusively to the

Threepenny

chronicle. Both Hauptmann and Weill had collaborated with Brecht on previous occasions. The Weill-Brecht alliance started in 1927 with work on the

4715 words

Citation: Defraeye, Piet. "Die Dreigroschenoper". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 November 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12223, accessed 19 March 2024.]

12223 Die Dreigroschenoper 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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