Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 13

City. Some recently discovered documents among the Elisabeth Books Hauptmann papers, housed in the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, fill “some central gaps in the text’s history” (p. 633). By scrutiniz- ing, analyzing, and comparing these and additional sources, he Libretto im Progress: Brechts und Weills offers a comprehensive picture of the existing text sources and their interrelations. The analyses reveal hitherto unknown relationships “Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt between text sources, and Nyström offers a new system of defining Mahagonny” aus textgeschichtlicher Sicht various stages and branches, which he fortunately presents in form of a stemma. Furthermore, he provides a diagram to show which quotations Brecht borrowed from his own works. Thus, Nyström Esbjörn Nyström makes a substantial contribution to illuminating the genesis of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. His study is divided into eight chapters. While the first two Bern: Peter Lang, 2005 (Arbeiten zur Editionswissenschaft, 6), 709 pp. chapters discuss the basis for research, provide a brief survey of the ISBN: 3-03910-479-9 inherent problems, and address aspects of methodology and histo- ry, chapters 3–5 provide a description and systematization of the There was a time when the genesis of the Weill/Brecht works could textual material. Chapters 6 and 7 contain analyses and interpreta- be presented rather innocently. Such an account would have read: tions of selected parts of the libretto, followed by a conclusion in In 1927 Mahagonny: Ein Songspiel was created, in 1928 Die chapter 8 that also offers a prospect for future scholarship. Dreigroschenoper, and in 1928–29 the Aufstieg und Fall der Nyström shows how the various kinds of text diverge into sev- Stadt Mahagonny. This chronology also implies a qualitative judg- eral branches of transmission. For instance, he identifies the texts ment of their collaboration. The Songspiel served as a “study in that appear in music scores, making the distinction between A (full style,” a first step towards something bigger, and three years later scores) and B (-vocal scores / chorus parts). The first literary the magnum opus came along in the form of an opera. This notion text is obtained by extracting the text from the full score, resulting of a linear development of text and music in perfect synchrony has in the first printed libretto published by UE. Branch D signals the long been championed by researchers of Brecht and Weill, espe- beginning of a “reliterarization” (p. 634) of the libretto which— cially Brecht scholars. The latest example is the Große kommentierte through several steps—leads to a Lesedrama (“play for reading”) Berliner und Frankfurter Ausgabe of Brecht’s works, completed in that Brecht publishes in his Versuche series at the end of 1930. 2000. While the editorial principles state that the texts, classified by Finally, branch E lists the “Suggestions for Staging” by Caspar genre, are presented “in the order of their genesis” (GBA vol. 1, p. Neher and Weill. [613]), this principle is glaringly violated when Dreigroschenoper In chapter 6 Nyström sets out to analyze “Benares Song.” Here appears before both Songspiel and Aufstieg. And the general policy he is able to establish a hitherto unknown connection between a line of printing “first editions” (if available) is abandoned too: the ver- in the refrain, “Let’s go to Benares,” and Rudyard Kipling’s cele- sion of Aufstieg that appears in GBA vol. 2, taken from Brecht’s brated novel, Kim (1901; German translation, 1908), which Brecht publication of Versuche in December 1930, is not the first printing; supposedly read before 1923. Here we find the line, “Let us go to that honor goes to the Universal Edition libretto published in Benares,” and, three lines later, the sentence “But there is no place November 1929. The editorial guidelines become even more murky to sleep” (p. 449). The “God in Mahagonny” scene presents anoth- when volume editor Jürgen Schebera correctly identifies UE’s 1929 er previously unknown case of intertextuality: the image of Hell on edition as the “first printing” (GBA 2, p. 456), but nevertheless earth. Nyström connects it to Oscar Wilde’s prose poem, “The decides not to publish it. Because of these obvious flaws and House of Judgment,” where a man, threatened by God with Hell, inevitable criticism of such editorial practices, scholars are now call- replies that he is unimpressed as he already lives in Hell (p. 476). ing for two different histories, that of the text and that of the music. These and other insights shed new light on the libretto’s ambigui- Esbjörn Nyström, a Swedish scholar of German literature, has ty and intertextuality. undertaken the project of analyzing and establishing the history of Nyström also devotes attention to the division of labor during the opera’s text in his German-language dissertation at the the creation of the libretto: “Even though David Drew, for instance, University of Göteborg. He focuses strictly on the text, providing lists Weill as a co-author of the libretto, no one has thoroughly an account of the complex evolution of this libretto, which under- investigated who was responsible for which share of the work on the went several revisions. This is the first study to succeed in consid- literary text and how this literary collaboration worked in detail” (p. ering and systematizing all of the opera’s known textual sources. 19). Nyström ascertains that several manuscripts and typescripts Previous studies of the opera had confined themselves to a rela- are excusively in Weill’s hand or contain his emendations and addi- tively small collection of materials held by the tions, so that Weill and Brecht need to be regarded “as equal coau- Archiv in Berlin, presuming that many sources have been lost. thors of the libretto” (p. 155). Nyström, on the other hand, states: “Due to the [work’s] collabora- Nyström’s book is a published dissertation. Since readers will tive nature, a large body of materials, which have been neglected or have to dig through seven hundred pages of prose which is some- almost neglected so far, exists outside the Brecht Archiv. As part of times awkward or redundant, it requires a lot of patience. Thorough a contract between Weill and Universal Edition, all holograph full editing and some passages tightened here and there would have scores of Weill’s works became the property of the publisher, and been beneficial. Nevertheless, this study will be a substantial con- other important text sources besides the full score were in the pos- tribution to the work on a critical edition of the Mahagonny com- session of the publisher early on” (p. 16f.). This refers to materials plex. now held by the Sibley Music Library at the University of Joachim Lucchesi Rochester, N.Y., and the Weill-Lenya Research Center in New York Karlsruhe 14 Volume 24, Number 1 Kurt Weill Newsletter

effect has been turned on its head: now it’s staging, and stuck his tongue down several Performances the aim of producers never to remind audi- throats. Fair enough, perhaps: Macheath is ences that they are not watching an animat- a voracious sexual animal. But we’ve seen ed cartoon. Meanwhile, media-saturated Cumming exult in his polymorphous per- Die Dreigroschenoper Americans are exposed ceaselessly to versity many times before, notably as pornography and to images of violence and Cabaret’s Master of Ceremonies, in this poverty, as well as to outrageous political very theater, but also in television appear- Roundabout Theatre Company views (albeit more frequently from conser- ances, at charitable events, perhaps even at vative talk-radio hosts than from street- the corner deli. Since the Roundabout is a New York City corner Socialists). In this environment, subscriber-driven repertory company, it’s how can Threepenny possibly pack the wal- reasonable to assume that a fair percentage Premiere: 20 April 2006 lop it did in Berlin in 1928, and Off- of its audience had seen him ply this par- Broadway in 1954? ticular shtick already—and they wouldn’t The Roundabout Theatre’s production be shocked by it now. Really it would be When last seen on a Broadway stage, in bravely took up the challenge, with mixed more shocking to see Cumming in a show 1989, in a short-lived production by John results. The venue was Studio 54, the in which he didn’t offer himself to all com- Dexter at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 3 fabled 1970s discotheque latterly converted ers. Penny Opera (as it was called) prompted back into a theater, where the company has The sense of déjà-vu persisted, while earnest soul-searching among theatrical revived two other works indebted to Elliott relentlessly set his cast in hip-grind- types. Was it possible to communicate the Weill/Brecht, Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret ing motion. The entire personnel of Jenny’s subversive messages of Weill and Brecht in and Sondheim’s Assassins. Translating a brothel was united for a five-bed orgy, yet a vast auditorium, before a well-heeled German text, the naughtiest word of which this concept started to get tired shortly audience that paid considerably more than is Sau, Wallace Shawn resorted to the full after Bob Fosse filmed the “Air Otica” three cents for the privilege? lexicon of four-letter words. Stage director sequence in All That Jazz (1981). Lucy Years later, the question has grown Scott Elliott added drug use and graphic Brown was portrayed by a man in drag, thornier. Broadway has turned into a depictions of pansexuality in his attempt to falsetto, but the Broadway revival of tourist trap, where real New Yorkers sel- jolt spectators out of their complacency. Kander and Ebb’s has been playing dom set foot. Interchangeable casts march But, as they say in another famous tourist non-stop since 1996, and though that through multi-million-dollar amusement- trap, etwas fehlt. show’s Mary Sunshine merely rips off his park attractions designed to run like per- Sex is the core of Elliott’s staging, and wig (rather than flashing his penis, as Lucy petual-motion machines: one sees precisely of his downfall. His Macheath, Alan did), the thrill has been exploited pretty the same show the neighbors saw on their Cumming, groped almost every member thoroughly. Elliott also succumbed to the vacation five years ago. Brecht’s alienation (and I do mean member) of the cast in this temptation to depict Tiger Brown as

From left: Mr. Peachum (), Mrs. Peachum (Ana Gasteyer), Macheath (), Polly (Nellie McKay), and Jenny (). Photo: Joan Marcus Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 15

Macheath’s only true love: it’s a distortion of the text, though it’s become quite com- monplace. True, there’s a lot of sex in Dreigroschenoper, but it isn’t the principal target of Brecht’s satire. The case could be made that society is as hypocritical about sex as it is about money, and that we are jammed into rigid hierarchies of sexual class that determine our place in the world; Threepenny might even support such addi- tional interpretations. But Elliott never found the means to draw out these ideas or to tie them to the existing work. Meanwhile, he alternately ignored or paid lip service to the play’s original purpose, with the result that it was never clear he really understood it. Dance could have added sizzle to the sex here, and a choreographer, Aszure Barton, was credited; a New Yorker article Jenny (Cyndi Lauper) sees imminent betrayal in Mac’s (Alan Cumming) palm and the ominous letter “J.” recorded her ostensibly ingenious crafts- Photo: Joan Marcus manship. (One cited example: Macheath points to his crotch when he sings of “the to share that fate. But Merry Widow is by near-universal abundance on the Great happy life.”) But there was no tango in the now a museum piece, and I’m not ready to White Way. In this sense, if the challenges “Tango-Ballade,” and elsewhere in the throw in the towel on Threepenny, especial- of Threepenny can be met, if the piece can show, the cast did little more than the sway- ly on Broadway. Maybe opera singers can’t thrive anywhere at all, then it ought to be ing you see in any bar with a good jukebox. dance, but Broadway actors can. on Broadway. The resources are there, and Threepenny isn’t a dance show as such, yet The hell of it is, Kurt Weill was right. the solutions must be at hand for any direc- dance is as significant to this piece as it is to He sought a venue where his artistic goals tor with imagination and a clear vision. The Merry Widow, which in its once-scan- would know no limits, and he found it not Elliott, despite a handsome résumé, had dalous candor and global popularity was in the opera house but on Broadway, where never directed musical theater before. Dreigroschenoper’s godmother. These days stars and chorines alike sing, dance, and Tellingly, the cast was the strongest it’s rare to see a Merry Widow in which the play comedy or drama with equal skill. component of this production. I attended a Hanna and Danilo can muster a presentable Despite the changes Broadway has seen preview, when several actors were still dis- waltz, and perhaps Threepenny is destined since Weill’s death, these talents endure in covering their characters and struggling with their lines, and I must assume they improved by opening night. But in each performance there was already something to admire. By adding a strut and a snarl to his patented slink and smirk, Cumming made a credible gang leader, and he held the stage with the authority of a genuine star. Ana Gasteyer, a distinguished alumna of television’s , brought wit and full-throated vocal- izing to Mrs. Peachum’s numbers. Jim Dale, a Broadway powerhouse, played Peachum, most of whose music lies too low for him; he gained in assurance as the play continued. Christopher Innvar invested Tiger Brown with dignity, but he hadn’t yet mastered the police chief ’s con- flicted character. Making her stage debut as Jenny was Cyndi Lauper, a sometime rock Polly (Nellie McKay) is about to sing the “Barbara Song,” informing her parents (Ana Gasteyer, Jim Dale) that she has superstar. She’s an excellent musi- married Macheath. Photo: Joan Marcus cian, with a wide vocal range, mas- 16 Volume 24, Number 1 Kurt Weill Newsletter

tery of several pop styles, and genuine feel- on- and offstage on sliding platforms; the Have you heard, friends, that the great ing for character and situation. Though she Messenger’s Mount was a flying neon [shark clearly wasn’t getting the guidance a debu- horse. Music director Kevin Stites rose to Often smiles and shows its teeth? tant actor needs from her director, she lent the challenge of coordinating an orchestra is much less friendly. a husky alto to a couple of stanzas of “Mack ensconced in the audience, in two boxes on Mackie’s blade stays in a sheath. the Knife” and to Jenny’s numbers, offer- opposite sides of the house. Miraculously, ing an especially affecting “Solomon he led a bright, well-knit reading of the Set aside that a shark always shows its Song.” score. teeth. Shawn introduces the idea of friend- Nellie McKay, another pop singer, was The music was in good hands, but the liness, which complicates matters, since a also making a Broadway debut, and her words were another story. Wallace Shawn is less friendly fellow might be expected to Polly was a warbling delight. Though she a valued playwright, screenwriter, and draw his knife out of its sheath. Indeed, didn’t quite navigate the ironic shoals of actor. Hitherto, he’s given scant evidence of Brecht (like several of his translators) tries “,” she mingled sunniness that being a translator or poet, or of possessing to convey that Macheath is just as deadly as looked like innocence with obstinacy that musical gifts. He was an odd choice for this a shark, but stealthier: he draws his knife looked like an armored division. She found assignment, though his brother is a com- quite a lot, though you don’t see it. a worthy adversary in Brian Charles poser, and this season saw their quasi-oper- Moreover, Shawn’s translation begins at Rooney’s lissome Lucy Brown. Rooney atic collaboration, The Music Teacher, off- the beginning, with a direct address to the possesses all the notes his role demands, Broadway. audience, whereas Brecht begins in medias with admirable falsetto agility, and his flab- One often had the feeling that Shawn res (“Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne”), bergasted fury proved very funny. raising the possibility of previous, Elliott and his costume designer, unheard verses in an ongoing song. the couturier Isaac Mizrahi, made few Forget about making sense; Shawn distinctions in character or social sta- struggles just to rhyme. The First tion, dressing most of the cast like Finale offers this: “Dear chickens, club kids out for a night on the town. they will pluck you. / They’re only The gloveless Macheath sported tight out to fuck you.” Call me sheltered, black trousers and shirt, with a cross but I don’t know many people who around his neck; his gang and fuck chickens, even after plucking. Peachum’s beggars wore Goth drag or Mrs. Peachum informs us that “When fetish gear. Jenny and the whores wore great waves come, all sailors hit the similar stuff, but less of it. A sailor decks. / This is the overwhelming blouse embraced Lucy’s feigned power of sex.” Maybe the power of sex demureness, but Tiger’s army uni- is like a great wave, but isn’t Mrs. form contradicted his résumé: he’s Peachum really saying that men dive chief of police now, a career move into it? In “Kanonen-Song,” where that’s hardly irrelevant. Doubling as Brecht makes a simple reference to the Mounted Messenger, Innvar “Beefsteak Tartar,” Shawn gives us a emerged in gold-lamé hot pants that whole recipe: “We kill them, slice flaunted his gym-toned body—but them, eat them—it’s called ‘Natives what did it mean? Tartare.’” Where’s the Cuisinart? Commentary on class was reserved Shawn’s lyrics are seldom singable; for the Peachums, though even here at times, they’re barely speakable. This the message was muddled. Mr. is a problem, because if the words Peachum wore a pale blue polyester can’t be pronounced, they can’t be suit that any used-car salesman would understood and they won’t be remem- shun; he didn’t much resemble the bered. Most of the lyrics of this pro- play’s prosperous manipulator of duction sailed right over my head, and appearances. Mrs. Peachum’s too- I can’t help but wonder what impres- tight faux-Chanel suit worked better, sion they made on listeners who didn’t and it enabled Gasteyer to mine a vein Lucy (Brian Charles Rooney) prepares for her aria. already know Threepenny and to whom of physical humor. Both Polly’s bridal Photo: Joan Marcus Brecht’s satire would be fresh and rev- gown and her widow’s weeds simulta- elatory. neously suggested a Victorian engraving was struggling to hit upon any solution that A famous New York critic used to end and yet another Goth club kid; in these sur- previous translators hadn’t used already. his reviews with the plea, “Bring back roundings, that seemed insightful. Brecht’s pithiness eludes Shawn altogether, Threepenny Opera!” Alas, we’re still wait- Derek McLane’s sparsely decorated set, and his belabored English dialogue leaves ing. lit by Jason Lyons, offered neon signs and a actors unable to elicit what used to be sure- message board to identify scenes and fire laughs. His lyrics are worse. The open- songs—an elegant update of Caspar ing stanza of Shawn’s “Mack the Knife” is William V. Madison Neher’s 1928 Projektionstafeln. Beds, neither faithful to the original nor clever in Paris chairs, and groups of actors were trundled its own right: Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 17

rendition by Mary Plazas as Juanita: use authentic 1930s Cuban-inspired dances Performances “When the wind blows,” part of the great was missed. Duncan Hayler’s sets and cos- build-up in the finale of Act 2. This musi- tumes are colorful and the life-size card- cal sequence (nearly 24 minutes—longer board cow, complete with flies buzzing than the Act 2 finale of Figaro!) brings the around it, made dignified entrances and story to its conclusion, when the weapons exits. I am sorry to have to report that the (Arms and the Cow) that have bankrupted the tiny republic of biggest laughs of the evening came when it Santa Maria are found to be useless, so that defecated over the tax-collector. the hero Juan isn’t executed after all. While The translation and adaptation by Opera North pleading with the corrupt General Jeremy Sams and , some of Alhambra, Bradford Conchas, Juanita sings this “Ballad of which was first heard in the concert version Esteban the Robber.” Plazas, who came to presented at the Barbican in London in Opera North fresh from a triumph in a new 2000, is certainly racy, and peppered with Premiere: 30 March 2006 production of Madama Butterfly in four-letter words. The story becomes London, gave this such gravitas that it obscure in places, and Act 1 could easily be The trouble with Der Kuhhandel, like became for me the highlight of the whole shortened a little. The attempts at making Hamlet, is that one is frequently distracted evening. Next time some chanteuse is topical allusions to the current controver- by all the quotations. In every scene there is putting together an evening of Weill sies surrounding the torture of political a theme or melody that Weill later used for favorites, she should take a hard look at this prisoners seemed to me both half-hearted something else, whether it is the most number; it is just awaiting its moment to and tasteless. Written and composed in famous instance, Juan’s “Seit ich in diese join “Surabaya Johnny,” “” and 1934, neither Weill nor Robert Vambery Stadt gekommen bin” which became the the rest. can have really anticipated the full horror head-motive of “” in Larry Lash wrote at length about David of the regimes they were setting out to , or the waltz tune in Pountney’s production in the Fall 2004 make fun of. the Act 1 finale that was transformed into issue of the Newsletter. Its many Teutonic Leonardo Capalbo made a very con- “She gave him the best years of her life” in references probably seemed much funnier vincing Juan, sincere and youthful. His . It is hard to imagine that in Bregenz than they did in Bradford. Here voice is fairly light, but it blended well with once in the U.S. Weill ever considered the it was merely bewildering that the that of Mary Plazas in their duets. As the possibility of a production of Der Caribbean villagers should be dressed in arms-dealer, Jones, Adrian Clarke was suit- Kuhhandel, which after all he had never Austrian-style Lederhosen, and the cabaret ably sinister, and carried off his exit with completed, or indeed of A Kingdom for a dancers in Madame Odette’s “hotel” in Act aplomb. Borne aloft on a steel rope, he is Cow, the London failure of which had 2, although they performed with enormous air-lifted out to head for another assign- come as such a bitter blow in 1935. No energy, seemed to hail from the ment, shouting “Next stop—Baghdad!” wonder then that he felt ready to recycle so Reeperbahn. Why is it that whenever peo- Beverley Klein brought all her considerable much of the score. There is one fine song, ple, in this case the choreographer Craig experience to the roles of the and though, that he seems to have left intact Revel Horwood, put whores and/or drag Madame Odette—a pity that this character and untouched. It was the revelation of this queens on stage they always give them the doesn’t have a bit more to sing. As the production, in its spirited and beautiful identical steps and squeals? The chance to President, survived having to pretend to be asleep most of the evening, lying on a sofa suspended in mid-air. The outstanding performance came from Donald Maxwell as General Garcia Conchas. Every word was made to tell, and even with grotesque makeup and all the bombastic music, he created a character, frightening and attractive at the same time. James Holmes and the Opera North orchestra dealt efficiently with the many shifts of mood and tempo in this odd score. I just wonder, had Weill chosen to finish it, whether he would have resorted to so many reprises of the big tunes, which amount to Broadway-style “song-plugging”?

Patrick O’Connor London

Juan (Leonardo Capalbo) meets the firing squad in Act 2. Photo: Richard Moran 18 Volume 24, Number 1 Kurt Weill Newsletter

all crimes on this planet”? But the parallel work. A very fine performance by most of Performances arises only by chance, not by intent, since the cast makes the whole thing quite lively. the opera’s production was scheduled Oxana Arkaeva’s Jenny deserves special before the political, and personal, conflicts praise. Dressed as a Playboy Bunny, she Aufstieg und Fall der between the representatives of the state sings “Denn wie man sich bettet” to a legislature and the Intendant—who also group of people who consider her a com- Stadt Mahagonny staged this production. As it turns out, it modity. It’s the evening’s high point: will be his last opera as stage director: after nowhere else does the contradiction of text much ado and many ruffled feathers, and music become so evident, nowhere else Saarländisches Staatstheater Schildknecht announced that he would do we feel a choking, almost physical effect Saarbrücken leave his post in 2006, before the end of his from the performance. Dubravka Mušovic contract. And yet his staging does not make as Begbick offers a big voice and terrific any topical references, either to the politics acting when she directs the city’s fate with Premiere: 12 November 2005 swirling around his house or to ever- cold-blooded business acumen. Equally expanding “cut-throat” capitalism. striking is Stefan Vinke as Jimmy, who con- With a set by Rudolf Rischer and cos- vinces us that “he doesn’t want to be a “Lied to, cheated, and betrayed.” That’s tumes by Renate Schmitzer, he stages the human being.” Kudos also to the choristers how Kurt Josef Schildknecht, the Staats- opera in a thoroughly artificial world, with for their true intonation and believable per- theater’s general manager, felt late in 2004 culinary touches ranging from short-skirt- formance (rehearsed by Andrew Ollivant when state legislators announced—out of ed hookers to strap-on bellies for Jakob and and Pablo Assante). Leonid Grin, the gen- the blue, as it were, and breaking earlier his fellows during the eat-till-you-drop eral music director who is also bidding promises—that the theater’s budget had to scene. These images are familiar, and they farewell to the Staatstheater, tends to be slashed by 25 percent over the next five indicate that Schildknecht has done his indulge in slower tempos (e.g., “Alabama years. Because of the state’s enormous Brecht homework. But he is in danger of Song”), but for the most part he inspires deficits, the house would have to operate becoming “teacher’s pet” when he adheres the orchestra to explore and communicate with a mere 18 million Euros annually too diligently to the libretto’s staging engagingly the musical depth of Weill’s instead of the current 24 million—not an remarks. The script calls for a “desert” and score. easy task for a house which maintains the “a truck in bad shape,” and so we get a In the end it’s nice to see that a small classic triple: an opera, a theater, and a bal- beat-up Jeep of sorts on an empty stage. state on Germany’s periphery can still let company. The announcement caused an And even in one of the key scenes, when come up with a production on such a high uproar in Saarland and reverberated in the- the hurricane approaches Mahagonny, we artistic level. But for how long? Thus I atrical circles throughout the country. Soon see a silly little neon arrow tracking the would have preferred that this staging of there was talk of the “dismantling” of the storm’s path. At least we are spared Aufstieg, both an opera about politics and Saarbrücken theater. unimaginative projections. an opera about opera, were more than just Doesn’t it seem like a bizarre parallel The opera’s biting criticism of the a colorful and entertaining evening. I when in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt “conditions,” which today again (or still?) would like to have seen a more pointed Mahagonny Paul Ackermann (a.k.a. Jim seems so topical, is conveyed almost exclu- approach from this faithful production that Mahoney) is sentenced to death “because sively through means created seventy years would have extended beyond the work into of the lack of money, which is the worst of ago, and it’s deeply alarming that they still today’s reality. Some of Jimmy’s lines seem to beg for it: “Look now, this is your world: Peace and contentment, they don’t exist but of hurricanes we got plenty. Not to mention typhoons and waterspouts. And it’s just the same way with man: he will destroy what’s around him.” This is not to say that all-out would have been the magic remedy here, but a touch or two surely would have given a boost to this case of uninspired Werktreue.

Ricarda Wackers Saarbrücken

Safe sex in Mahagonny: Begbick (Dubravka Mušovic) hands a condom to one of the girls, with Trinity Moses (Stefan Röttig) looking on. Photo: Bettina Stöß Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 19

extent to which Weill’s Performances score falls stylistically between the polyphon- ic, late-expressionist language of his early Mahagonny Songspiel and the catchy song style of Die Aufstieg und Fall der Dreigroschenoper, and Stadt Mahagonny that this contrast is employed consciously. The instrumental in- Dessau terludes propel the Kurt Weill Fest (imaginary) story line while their layered melodies form a kind of The male quartet of Mahagonny Songspiel stands to the left; Jessie (Salome 24 February – 5 March 2006 “Symphony of the Kammer) and Bessie (Ingrid Schmithüsen) stand to the right. Stefan Asbury City” (reminding me of How often does it happen that one can see Walter Ruttmann’s film, conducts. Photo: Kai Bienert both the Songspiel version of Mahagonny Berlin: Sinfonie einer and the full-scale opera on one weekend? Großstadt [1927], with music by Edmund the recent discovery of fifteen sketches by For the fiftieth anniversary of Brecht’s Meisel), in which life in Mahagonny Neher in a private collection in Vienna, death, the Kurt Weill Fest offered a broad unfolds. Occasionally we hear instrumental Universal Edition is able to offer a total of spectrum of works that Weill created in col- solos which really stand out and evoke visu- 23 images; a large number of them clearly laboration with the poet/playwright. The al associations, in addition to a defamiliar- were used in the early productions of church-turned-concert hall Marienkirche ized quotation of “The Internationale.” I Mahagonny and several others would fit in served as the venue for the Songspiel, which must confess that I have never heard a per- nicely (the images can be viewed at the fol- was performed by musikFabrik, a young formance where the polyphony is so trans- lowing URL: http://www.universaledition and skillful ensemble based in Cologne, parent and the expression so carefully cal- .com/neher). The festival’s Intendant, along with the soloists, and led by the culated—a recording with these perform- Clemens Birnbaum, made a dramaturgical- British conductor Stefan Asbury. The per- ers would be a dream. ly plausible choice that comes close to formance was semi-staged, and the well- But the music was not the only note- David Drew’s attempt at reconstructing cast male quartet, consisting of Lothar worthy aspect of the evening. Equally the projections, as laid out in the prefatory Odinius (Charlie), Andreas Post (Billy), important in terms of performance were material to the 1963 edition of the piano- Sebastian Noack (Bobby), and Reinhard the projections originally designed by vocal score of Mahagonny Songspiel. Mayr (Jimmy), always stayed together and . In 1927, at the world pre- Neher’s series of images amplifies the asso- sang with great expression. Salome miere in Baden-Baden, the projections by ciation with Ruttmann’s Berlin film. We see Kammer (Jessie), this year’s artist in resi- the set designer, who was friends with both the city under construction, the girls dence, and Ingrid Schmithüsen (Bessie) Brecht and Weill, were an integral part of dubbed “sharks,” the moon of Alabama, were clad in evening dresses and high heels the work. That’s when the idea of a God in Mahagonny as an overgrown civil- and strutted across the stage as whisky- and “Gesamtkunstwerk with division of labor” ian with a raised index finger, airplanes boy-driven “sharks.” In a capricious mood, came up, and the creators used this model crossing the city’s sky, and a group of they explored the complete range of vocal again for the full-scale opera. Already in demonstrators carrying blank signs. subtleties from Sprechgesang to bel canto— 1929 Weill was expressly attempting a form The projection showing four women, including some clever instances of alcohol- of theater “where elevated speech, pure placed in a landscape, talking on their slurred speech. The entry of the canon in music, and autonomous painting can be phones, is amazingly topical. Only the size “” formed the euphoric high employed” (quoted from: K. Weill, “Aktu- of the receivers and a telephone line in the point of a promising beginning. By chang- elles Theater,” Melos 8, no. 12 [December background place this image in the pre-cell ing to stunned disillusionment in “Benares 1929], pp. 524–27). And in the preface to phone era. For the last image, which was Song” and puppet-like, terse cynicism in his “Production Book for the Opera left blank by Drew (no. 17 at the beginning “God in Mahagonny,” Kammer and Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny”he of the finale), Birnbaum came up with the Schmithüsen demonstrated that even the stated unmistakably: “Caspar Neher’s pro- following interesting solution: “God in sketch-like Songspiel shows an unmistak- jection plates constitute part of the perfor- Mahagonny” looks like he is about to get able development. Since all soloists were mance materials (and are to be shipped to into a car that is ready to pull away, but exceptionally clear, the use of microphones theaters along with the music).” before doing so he snarls “Oh, this seemed superfluous (perhaps they offered These staging instructions have disap- Mahagonny” and angrily kicks a girl sitting some reassurance given the church’s prob- peared from the theatrical landscape over on a bench. There are two projections lematic acoustics). the past several decades. The projection where one can see a hooded hangman, and In the accompaniment passages, Asbury plates were lost, the drawings on which the the motif of the gallows appears twice, held the orchestra back noticeably but plates were based were scattered through- which came up in an interview that the returned to full force during the instru- out the world, and theater scholars have New York Times conducted with Weill in mental interludes. Thus he made clear the devoted little attention to Neher. But after 1935. At the time Weill replied that the 20 Volume 24, Number 1 Kurt Weill Newsletter

Songspiel had “reflected the effects of the Neher’s images provided visual continuity, image, but even though the two were seat- horrors of war, which we had witnessed, but the opera’s set designer, Stefan Rieck- ed atop separate floating clouds, they didn’t and which we wanted to throw off in a cyn- hoff, did not succeed in creating a convinc- make eye contact: Jenny looked into the ical manner.” ing visual scheme. Even though the initial audience and Jimmy stared ahead absent- While the city of Mahagonny is seen idea of symbolizing the city’s growth with a mindedly. Pieter Roux (Jimmy) lacked not today as a symbol of capitalism, con- steadily expanding black box and a sprout- only stage presence but vocal power as well, sumerism, corruption, and crisis, the initial ing palm tree seemed apt, it was soon aban- at least for this performance. His big aria conception was informed by the experience doned. Instead, the set changed to an ordi- was forced, and he had problems with both of violence during the years from 1914 to nary terrace at a resort, complete with deck pitch and rhythm. We also didn’t see much 1924, when war was followed by revolution chairs and sunshades. Jack O’Brien gutted conviviality among the lumberjacks. and then by civil warfare in several parts of his calf in a black peep show that bore the Instead a winter wonderland got wheeled Germany. Weill and Brecht dealt with these heading “Du darfst,” as the men of in, with a disoriented polar bear thrown in nightmarish experiences explicitly in their Mahagonny watch. But the box soon lost its for fun. But rather than bad weather and Berliner Requiem. Its kinship with the meaning, and during “Loving,” “Boxing,” wild nature, doesn’t Alaska stand for Mahagonny complex is strengthened by and “Drinking” we lost sight of the appeal extreme experience? Like the (in-)famous the fact that the funeral march from of such diversions. Stage director Helmut camaraderie on the front lines during Aufstieg, “Können einem toten Mann nicht Polixa failed to get the chorus moving (they World War I? Not until the end did Pavel helfen,” was originally part of the Berliner seemed extremely immobile and the tenors Safar as Moneybags Bill get an opportuni- Requiem (as was the ballad Vom Tod im struggled in the upper register). The opera ty to stand in the spotlight. But the trial Wald, op. 23, set near the Mississippi River, owes much of its visual and episodic struc- scene lacked both bite and wit, since not which Brecht would have considered the ture to the revues of the 1920s; the work is even the punch lines were properly played Wild West). And thus it was an obvious also full of dance rhythms from the popular up. idea to add these two works to the evening music of the time; and the music’s drive Regrettably the musicians fit right into in the Marienkirche. The program was plays no small part in connecting the three this general indistinctness. For the most framed by some numbers from Mauricio acts. But no chorus line evolved on that part conductor Golo Berg managed to keep Kagel’s 10 Märsche, den Sieg zu verfehlen night, and it was not at all clear that the up the artistic standards that have been (“10 Marches to Miss the Victory”). This music inspired the performers beyond an attained over the past few years, but while series of miniatures, consisting of irregu- occasional flare-up. the strings played their cantilenas beauti- larly mounted clichés, keeps losing the beat But the chorus and production team fully, many of their phrases went nowhere in grotesque ways, recalling parts of were not the only ones to blame for the lack and the accompaniment figures lacked Stravinsky’s L’histoire du soldat, which is of drive and clarity, as the soloists also drive. Next to the incisive brass the wood- also among the artistic influences on the struggled. The most convincing perform- winds appeared oddly pale, and the percus- Mahagonny Songspiel. ers were those who formed the outlaw trio: sion section seemed tired even during solo Waltraud Hoffmann-Mucher portrayed a passages. At least there were times when lively Begbick, both vocally and visually the music came across as it ought to: sec- • attractive. Her wardrobe became more tions that clearly had been well rehearsed, extravagant as the evening progressed, moments where the energy jumped from Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny was indicating that she’s the uncrowned queen the pit to the stage, acoustic images of irri- the new production of the Anhaltisches of Mahagonny who controls both Fatty tating and stimulating intensity. And in the Theater for this year’s festival. Compared (Marian Albert) and Trinity Moses (Nico end we heard the powerful funeral march, to the Songspiel it was a letdown: some of Wouterse). Stefanie Wüst sang Jenny with “Können einem toten Mann nicht helfen.” the elements that worked well in the latter a clear soprano, not seedy and twisted but But onstage there were no demonstrators; didn’t work in the former. For instance, rather youthful and lively, with coloratura and while the performers sang of their and flourishes in the our helplessness, the revolving stage with “Alabama Song.” She deck chairs and sunshades kept spinning— gave Jimmy a friendly and with it our lives. One began to have a greeting. But it’s not premonition that Weill and Brecht’s vision clear at all why she of the city’s fall might be outdated. didn’t pay his bill at Nowadays Mahagonny does not perish; the crucial moment there’s simply no alternative to Maha- (even though she gonny. But such a reading was quickly flashed the money crushed: while the music was still heading and later paid for the towards the final chords, the curtain chance to see him one descended softly and even before we heard more time before his the last note, polite applause began. execution). We also didn’t learn what connects Andreas Hauff Jenny and Jimmy. The Mainz Jenny (Stefanie Wüst) and Jimmy (Pieter Roux). Photo: Claudia Heysel “Crane Duet” could create a truly poetic Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 21

project in the symphony, and further sug- Recordings gests, “Many of the themes match Becher’s speech-rhythms so closely that it is possi- ble, drawing on the play’s words and images, to sketch out a detailed scenario.” Symphonies nos. 1 & 2 With the new program in hand, the work’s meaning comes into much sharper Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen focus. The crashing dissonances of the Antony Beaumont, conductor opening quartal harmonies now represent “The Sixfold Discord,” apparently a con- Chandos CHSA 5046 cept from Becher, and when these har- [also contains Quodlibet, op. 9] monies are later transformed, it represents “the swords of Discord beaten into the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra ploughshares of Concord.” Beaumont is Marin Alsop, conductor able to fit the chorale tune beginning in m. 302 exactly to Becher’s words (“Komm Naxos 8.557481 Hirt der Wandlung! Schon füllt deine [also contains Symphonic Nocturne from Nähe! Dein Frieden erwässert die Schlucht “Lady in the Dark”] unseres Kriegs!”), and all of the syllables line up with the chorale’s rhythm. Still, Collectors will welcome these new record- there are sections where more seems to be ings of Weill’s two symphonies for a variety happening in the music than is described in of reasons. The most significant aspect of the program. One questionable place is the the Chandos recording, perhaps, is that the section at mm. 202–207, which Beaumont Kammerphilharmonie played from revised associates with “fleeting vision of the and corrected versions of the scores pre- Promised Land, allusion to The Star- pared by Beaumont, who re-examined Spangled Banner.” While I can see some Weill’s autographs. The published scores resemblance, the tune is indeed fleeting, were edited in 1966 and 1968 by David covered as it is by completely different Drew, who according to Beaumont took a melodies in the winds. But even if Weill more interventionist role in determining might reject some of Beaumont’s specific though Beaumont’s is more dramatic and the musical text than is the practice today. connections with Becher’s play, it seems more committed at times. In the Symphony no. 1 in particular, highly likely that had Busoni been more If Weill’s first symphony represents the Beaumont writes that Drew “amend[ed] receptive to the work, Weill might have social optimism of the beginning of the what he considered to be the miscalcula- published it under the title, Arbeiter Bauern Weimar period, the second symphony tions of a novice. Markings of dynamic, Soldaten: Symphonische Dichtung. memorializes its end. Weill began the work tempo and expression, phrasing, even Along with the revised score and the in late 1932 in Berlin but completed it in pitches: scarcely a bar was published as new program, Beaumont uses a smaller France, months after his flight from Weill had written it.” Moreover, writes string section than on other recordings. In Germany. From the beginning, this sym- Beaumont, “Drew worked from a tran- the published score, Drew called for a phony has raised questions of meaning and script of the autograph score that was itself string section of at least 50 to balance the significance that have had a decisive effect corrupted by errors and omissions.”1 winds, but Beaumont believes that Weill on its reception. Weill secured a premiere Without a copy of Beaumont’s revised had a much smaller ensemble in mind, and of what he called his “Symphony no. 1” score, these changes amount to needles in a accordingly uses just 27 strings. The Naxos (since he had rejected the 1921 work) in haystack; their overall effect seems more recording with Marin Alsop and the Amsterdam with Bruno Walter incidental than revelatory. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra does the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Before the More decisive for how a listener might not list individual players, but the orchestra premiere, Walter asked Weill for a pro- approach the work is Beaumont’s proposal has 47 strings on the roster. Despite grammatic title “that would give a pointed of an extensive program for Symphony no. Beaumont’s claim that a larger group can expression of your feelings and state of 1, which he prefers to call a symphonic sound “opaque,” the Alsop recording is mind during the conception of the work.”2 poem. In 1920, Weill agreed to compose admirably transparent, even when the cel- Contrary to Walter’s hopes, Weill respond- music for Johannes R. Becher’s epic play, los and basses divide into three parts in ed with the title “Symphonic Fantasy Arbeiter Bauern Soldaten, which described mm. 67–70. Still, in the Beaumont record- (Symphony no. 1),” as well as a program Becher’s vision of a paradise to be achieved ing the individual parts are highly present note that stated the work was “conceived as by a religious-communistic revolution. and readily identifiable; the sound is that of pure musical form.” Nevertheless, in the Weill’s sketches from this aborted project a studio with instruments or sections program note Weill identified the second do not survive, but Weill apparently miked separately. The Naxos sound is movement as a “Cortège” and suggested penned a quotation from the play on the slightly more distant, placing the listener in that perhaps a friend’s comment that the symphony’s title page, which is now lost. a hall rather than in the control booth. To work was “the opposite of Pastorale” might Beaumont concludes that Weill must have my ears both performances are fluid, be correct. For a performance of the work used the music he sketched for the Becher extremely well-played, and compelling, with the New York Philharmonic in 22 Volume 24, Number 1 Kurt Weill Newsletter

December, 1934, the program read “Three the tempo almost imperceptibly, to great From a musical perspective, Alsop Night Scenes, Symphonic Fantasy,” a title effect. I was particularly taken with her seems to have the clearer conception of the that Walter suggested,3 but in 1937, when pacing of the tempo and dynamics before movement. For one thing, she takes Weill’s Walter conducted the last performance of the climax of the first section of the move- indicated tempo of t=126, while Beaumont the work during Weill’s lifetime, the title ment after rehearsal 46. Her goal seems to loafs along at t=116. At the faster tempo, reverted to “Symphonic Fantasy” (Kuhnt, be to give the movement the scale of a the polka that breaks out three bars before p. 319). grander, more Romantic symphony, and rehearsal 60 sounds appropriately dement- The issue of the title and Weill’s pro- she emphasizes its emotional effect; her ed, and the tarantella’s acceleration better grammatic intentions is heightened by reading is far sadder than Beaumont’s and motivated. With the extra percussion parts, Weill’s political and theatrical orientation perhaps more persuasive for the typical Beaumont should have the edge on turning as a composer, and because parts of the symphony audience. the “alla marcia” into “a parody of goose- “Symphonic Fantasy” lend themselves to a In contrast, Beaumont keeps the same stepping Nazis,” but his version sounds programmatic interpretation. This is espe- somewhat brisk (for Largo) tempo through- threatening and brutal, less like a parody cially true of the second movement, the out, lingering less on the big expressive and more like the real thing, while Alsop “Cortège,” which has all of the hallmarks moments. As he points out in the liner comes closer to Shostakovian pained of a funeral march—slow tempo, dragging notes, the main motive “recall(s) the devil- humor. As for the tarantella, the “speed and dotted rhythms, portentous brass figures may-care spirit of the Kleine Dreigroschen- noise” of the ending is a sure indicator of including a solo, and a lyrical musik,” and he seems to want to keep the irony, and in both readings the terminus is second theme. When I first heard the work, movement from falling back into the nine- not Naples but someplace more sinister. it also seemed obvious to me that the open- teenth century. Beaumont also decided to In the end I found the two recordings ing motive parodies the first four notes of perform the parts for triangle, military equally worthwhile, the Beaumont for its the Dies irae, and I was surprised to discov- drum, tenor drum, cymbals, bass drum and scholarly integrity, new program for er that apparently no one else hears that gong that Weill added after he finished the Symphony no. 1, and more Weimar-ish connection. True, Weill’s motive ends with autograph. Drew argued that Weill grudg- sound; the Alsop for its lush musicality and a major third instead of a minor third, but ingly added the parts at Bruno Walter’s more convincing performance of Sym- in some harmonizations a minor third is request, but that Walter returned to the phony no. 2. Each offers a tempting, rare also prominent (as in the upper voice of the original version for the premiere; for this bonus work as well. On the Chandos CD, in m. 9). Christian Kuhnt has sug- reason Drew omitted them from the score. the Quodlibet, op. 9 was Weill’s orchestral gested that the motive quotes the In contrast, Beaumont points out that Weill standard-bearer in the mid-1920s, and “Kanonensong” from the Dreigroschenoper, expressed to his complete sat- though it probably loses something without a parallel that admittedly lies closer to isfaction with the work after the final the dance-pantomime it was originally home than the Dies irae, but only clouds rehearsal, when the percussion parts were written to accompany, Beaumont makes a the movement’s meaning (Kuhnt, p. 326). still in place. In the Beaumont recording first-rate performance available here. The The “Cortège” is the longest of the the snare drum rolls and cymbal crashes of Naxos CD offers the “Symphonic Noc- three movements, and it leaves the the added percussion parts almost push the turne,” artfully arranged by Robert Russell strongest impression. Given the Nazi funeral tone into parody, which may lie Bennett from Lady in the Dark into a seam- takeover of Germany and the dire situation closer to the movement’s intent. less medley beginning with “” and for Jews, Communists, and composers of The third movement proved difficult ending with “The Saga of Jenny.” This modern music, the obvious direction is to for critics of the first performances, who gorgeous Broadway souvenir appears for interpret the “Cortège” as a funeral march thought it banal. The conservative critic the first time on record and amply demon- for the Germany Weill had left behind. Of Olin Downes said Weill’s “Three Night strates why Lady was such a hit. course a slow-movement funeral march Pieces” “end with speed and noise, and calls to mind Beethoven’s “Eroica” sym- some accept these qualities as wit and Matt Baumer phony and several symphonies by Mahler, esprit” (New York Times, 14 December Indiana University of Pennsylvania and in a sense these links cast it as a memo- 1934). I would suggest that listeners are rial for the cultural “death” brought about ultimately unsure whether to hear the piece by the Nazis. Whether Weill had any of this as a high-spirited rondo à la Haydn, or a in mind or not, these ideas have inevitably strutting, parodic march-finale à la Shosta- Notes surrounded the work since its rediscovery, kovich. In his liner notes, Beaumont 1. Drew’s “Editorial Report” refers only to and provide the most compelling context remarks on this conundrum: the “autograph full score,” and makes no mention within which a modern audience can make that he worked from any transcription. See Kurt sense of it. Is the “march for winds” a parody of Weill, 1. Sinfonie (1921), ed. David Drew (Mainz: The rather divergent readings of the goose-stepping Nazis, as some com- B. Schott’s Söhne, 1968), ix. “Cortège” by Alsop and Beaumont most mentators see it, or a bumptious echo 2. Christian Kuhnt, “‘Das Gegenteil von clearly illustrate the differences between of the self-righteous Salvationists in Pastorale,’ Anmerkungen zu Kurt Weills 2. Sinfonie,” in Exilmusik: Komposition während der their approaches to the symphony. Alsop’s ? Does the Mediterranean NS-Zeit, ed. Friedrich Geiger and Thomas reading clocks in at 13:08, nearly three gesture of the tarantella transport us Schäfer (Hamburg: von Bockel Verlag, 1999), 319. minutes longer than Beaumont’s (10:12). to some place “where the sun is shin- 3. “Activities of Musicians Here and Afield; Since they both start at essentially the same ing”? Or has that place, like Brecht’s Kurt Weill’s Latest Work to have American tempo, the difference is that Alsop uses Benares, “been perished in an earth- Premiere under Walter,” New York Times rubato more liberally and frequently drags quake”? (9 December 1934), X7. Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 23

tonal nor a strictly atonal language. The executed for only the second time in the Recordings violin concerto exhibits lyrical passages recording studio. Considering the out- over lively and varied accompaniment; a standing realization of Weill’s score, the tri- wide range of colors drawn from the angle’s last note in the Serenata is sorely Concerto for Violin and unusual combination of solo violin and missed. Each movement ends with a dis- wind orchestra; dance-like, dotted rhythms tinctive percussion sound, and it is unfor- Wind Instruments, op. 12 that became characteristic of Weill’s later tunate that the triangle is either absent or style; and a number of excruciatingly fast inaudible at the end of the second move- sections for the solo instrument. Marwood ment. Anthony Marwood, violin and conductor and the excellent musicians of the Academy The first quarter of the twentieth cen- Academy of St Martin in the Fields have impeccable intonation, but the tury featured a number of pieces for wind extremely accurate playing does not take orchestra, and Igor Stravinsky’s composi- Hyperion CDA67496 away from the spirit of the work. tions had the most direct influence on Marwood’s sumptuous sound and formida- Weill. Yet writing a concerto for violin and ble technique make his playing seem effort- winds, percussion, and double bass can Kurt Weill’s Violin Concerto, written in less. Well-chosen tempi and precise articu- cause problems for the balance of the solo 1924, occupies an odd place on the border lation give the concerto bite and contribute instrument and orchestra (Stravinsky com- of the tried-and-true repertoire for the vio- to a tight performance. One should not be posed a solo concerto in the same year and lin. Championed throughout Europe by fooled by the apparent effortlessness of this with the same orchestral forces, but for violinist Stefan Frenkel, it received many rendition; the work poses extreme difficul- piano rather than violin). Weill nonetheless performances and widespread praise in its ties for both soloist and orchestra. The meets the challenge, and while he creates a early days. The newest recording, with playful and charming execution of the sec- vast spectrum of colors he does not always Anthony Marwood as soloist and con- give the violin “the upper hand,” but ductor with the Academy of St Martin lets the orchestral instruments speak in the Fields, is the concerto’s nine- equally soloistically. In most concert teenth commercial release, a large num- performances, passages in which the ber when set beside the number of solo instrument is playing accompagna- recent performances of the work. to are heard as intended by the com- Furthermore, the piece is unknown to poser, while the orchestra has to be surprisingly many distinguished musi- careful not to play too loudly. In a mod- cians—a circumstance unimaginable ern recording studio the soloist is often for a Berg or Shostakovich concerto. amplified far more than necessary, and Why then, despite numerous record- our ears get used to unrealistic balances ings, does Weill’s concerto live in the that distort our expectations for the shadow of other works? Part of the concert hall. Luckily, Marwood and the answer lies in the fact that most record- Academy had a first-rate recording ings have little general appeal. The con- engineer who kept an excellent balance, certo is commonly combined with other resisting the temptation to promote the pieces by Weill, or other twentieth cen- solo instrument over the orchestra. tury works, and thus only a specialized Maybe the high-register winds are audience enjoys it. The new recording slightly too present and the double on the Hyperion label forms part of this basses are not quite strong enough in trend. Weill’s concerto makes an attrac- the first movement; Marwood’s con sor- tive pairing with Peteris Vasks’ dino section in the second movement Concerto for Violin and String could sound more muted, and the six- Orchestra (“Distant Light”), because teenth notes of the murmuring wind Vasks is a well-known living composer passage in the third movement could be with a growing worldwide reputation. less distinct. But this is nit-picking On the other hand, this CD may again with score in hand. Marwood’s superb be consigned to the collections of vio- direction, everyone’s individual play- linists, modern music lovers, or twenti- ing, and the interpretation as a whole eth century music scholars and fail to Anthony Marwood. Photo: Gigi Clarke presented on this CD leave the listener reach a broader audience. For the sake with an impression of great skill and of the performers’ brilliance and obvious ond movement, with beautiful solos in all profound emotion. enthusiasm for both pieces, let’s hope not. the instruments, and the air of risk-taking Marwood’s performance of the concer- everywhere in the work stand out. The to is a virtuosic feast and an emotionally musicians dare to put the music first, creat- Annegret Klaua gripping rendition. In Weill’s own words, ing the feeling of breath and breadth of a Brandeis University his compositional period between 1920 and live performance. The excitement must 1925 was one of artistic experimentation, stem partly from Marwood’s double role as during which he created works in neither a soloist and conductor, a difficult task and NEWSLETTER RESPONSE FORM Name ______Institution ______Add my name to mailing list Address ______Delete my name from mailing list Telephone ______Update listing

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No. of copies Title Current Price Total Books ______Weill. Briefwechsel mit der Universal Edition. Metzler, 2002. $50.00 ______Weill. Gesammelte Schriften. Schott, 2000. $48.00 ______Farneth/Juchem/Stein. KW: A Life in Pictures. Overlook, 2000. $75.00 ______Farneth/Juchem/Stein. KW: Ein Leben in Bildern. Ullstein, 2000. $65.00 ______Speak Low: The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. California, 1996. $39.95 ______Weill/Lenya. Sprich leise, wenn du Liebe sagst. Kiepenheuer, 1998. $37.50 ______Juchem. KW und Maxwell Anderson, Metzler, 2000. $37.50 ______Weill. Briefe an die Familie, Metzler, 2001. $37.50 ______Geuen. Von der Zeitoper zur Broadway Opera. Argus, 1997. $50.00 ______Drew. Kurt Weill: A Handbook. Faber, 1987. $50.00 ______Farneth, ed. Lenya the Legend. Overlook, 1998. $45.00 ______Kowalke, ed. A New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill. Yale, 1986. $28.50/18.00 (pbk) ______Kowalke and Edler. A Stranger Here Myself [essays] Olms Verlag, 1993. $40.00 ______Schebera. Kurt Weill: An Illustrated Life. Yale, 1995. $35.00 ______Schebera. Kurt Weill. Rowohlt, 2000. [in German] $10.00 ______Taylor. Kurt Weill: Composer in a Divided World. Northeastern, 1991. $15.00 (pbk) ______Kortländer, ed. Vom Kurfürstendamm zum Broadway. Dröste, 1990. $18.00 ______A Guide to the Weill-Lenya Research Center. $5.00 ______Kurt Weill: A Guide to His Works. 3rd ed. $5.00 ______Music ______Down in the Valley. Piano-vocal score. Schirmer. $18.00 ______Four Walt Whitman Songs. Piano-vocal score. EAMC. $12.95 ______Lady in the Dark. Piano-vocal score. Chappell. $40.00 ______Lost in the Stars. Piano-vocal score. Chappell. $40.00 ______One Touch of Venus. Piano-vocal score (selections). TRO. $8.95 ______Street Scene. Piano-vocal score. Chappell. $40.00 ______The Threepenny Opera. Critical edition, piano-vocal score. EAMC. $40.00 ______The Threepenny Opera. Songs; Blitzstein. Warner. $11.95 ______Sechs Songs aus der Dreigroschenoper. Arr. Marino Formenti. UE. $15.00 ______Unknown Kurt Weill. For voice and piano. EAMC. $19.95 ______

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