Berlin Premiere Revives Blitzstein’s 1929 ‘Parabola and Circula’ as Bauhaus Opera

Overview

• Musikfest Berlin presented the concert premiere of Marc Blitzstein’s 1929 piece at the Berliner Philharmonie as part of its Bauhaus Music program.
• President Frank-Walter Steinmeier used his greeting at the event to defend artistic freedom as integral to democracy, drawing notable applause.
• Critics describe the work as cubist music theater linked to Bauhaus aesthetics, reflecting Weimar-era experimentation.
• The performance featured the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Karl-Heinz Steffens, with the evening also including Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 with pianist Tzimon Barto.
• The programming traced transatlantic ties with works by Blitzstein and George Antheil, set against the history of the Bauhaus school’s suppression by the Nazi regime in 1933.