KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER Volume 9 , Number 2 Fall 1991

IN THIS ISSUE

CULTURAL NOTES FROM THE FORMER GDR JURGEN 5CHEBERA 6

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH IN FORMER EAST GER- MANY TAMARA LEVITZ 8

DROPS IN THE DREIGROSCHEN O CEAN 5 TEPHEN HINTON 10 REPRINT OF "FILM Music: THE HARRY LIME THEME" BY HANS KELLER

BOOKS 14 Briefe an Marianne Zojf und Hanne Hiob by Bertolt Brecht; edited by Hanne Hiob. Real Life Drama by Wendy Smith Two New German Discographies Joyless Streets by Patrice Petro Inventing Champagne by Gene Lees

PERFORMANCES 18 Knickerbocker Holiday in lngolstadt Die Dreigroschenoperatthe Vienna Volkstheater L'Opera de quat'sous near Paris Happy End in Costa Mesa, CA Kurt Weill Revue in Paris Lost in the Stars at the Brighton Festival Happy End at the Juilliard School Concerto for violin and wind instruments in Boston Marie Galante in New York

RECORDINGS 23 Street Scene on Decca/London and TER Cover o f the original souvenir program, 1947 Symphonies 1 & 2 on Nimbus and Koch/ Schwann The Seven Deadly Sins on CBS and Decca/ London Decca/London and That's Entertainment Records release complete recordings of COLUMNS Street Scene. Jon Alan Conrad's review Letters to the Editor 4 appears on page 23. From the Archives 12 New Publications 13 Selected Performances 27 NEWS

University of California Press to Three New Mahagonnys in Europe mances are planned for 17, 19, and 21 Janu­ Publish Weill Correspondence ary 1992. Bill T. Jones directs and Christo­ New productions ofAufstieg und Fall der pher Larkin serves as conductor for the The University of California Press has Stadt Mahagonnyfigure in the 1991-92 rep­ performances that include Robert signed an agreement with the Kurt Weill ertories of noted opera houses in Germany Honeysucker (Stephen Kumalo) and Foundation for Music to publish at least and Switzerland. Schauspie!Bonn and Oper Pamela Dillard (Irina). BostonLyricOpera's four volumes of collected correspondence Bonn collaborate on a new production, season continues in March 1992 with in critical editions over the next six years. staged by Siegfried Schoenbohm and con­ Offenbach's The Tales ofHoffm ann. Kim H. Kowalke will serve as the general ducted by Dennis Russell Davies, newly editor of the series, which will include col­ appointed General Music Director of Oper New Recordings Scheduled for lections ofthe Weill-Leoyacorrespondence, Bonn. The premiere is set for 20 December Release theWeill-Universal Edition correspondence, 1991 and performances continue through This season brings the release of several the correspondence ofWeill and his family, 15 March. Ruth Berghaus will direct a new new recordings. Koch-Schwann has re­ and that ofWeill and his collaborators. The production for Staatstheater Stuttgart that cently issued in Europe the Four Walt University of California Press volumes will opens 22 March 1992 and runs through 14 Whitman Songs for voice and orchestra, appear in English; individual volume edi­ June. The Grand Theatre, Geneva, stages Berliner Requiem, and Recordare, recorded tors and editions in other languages will be Mahagonny in May. The creative team at the 24 March 1990 concert of the North announced as arranged.- includes KurtJosefSchildknecht, director, Rhine Westphalia Kurt-Weill-Festival. Bari­ JeffreyTate, conductor, and Werner Rutterli The first volume, Speak Low: 11ie Weill­ tone soloist is Wolfgang Holzmair for the and Renate Schmitzer, stage and costume edited by Kirn H. Mitman Songs, and the Niederrheinische Lenya Co"espondence, designers. Performancesarescheduledfor Kowalke and Lys Symooette, will be pub­ Chorgemeinschaft Dilsseldorf. M!idchen­ lished in Spring 1993 and featured in the 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23 May 1992. chor Hannover, and Chor der Studenten publisher's Fall 1993 catalog. Hamish der evangelischer Kirchenmusik Dilssel­ Hamilton will be thepublishe r in the United London Discovers Love Life dorf, with members ofthe Robert-Schumann Kingdom. The Victoria and Albert Museum will present a staged concert reading of Love KURT WEILL NEWSLEmR mcclung Wins AMS 50 Life as part of their 1991 season "Discover Vol. 9. No. 2; Fall 1991 bruce d. mcclung, Ph.D. candidate in The Lost Musical." The program, directed musicology atthe University of Rochester/ by Ian Marshall Fisher, is designed to 0 1991 Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Eastman School of Music, has been se­ reintroduce neglected theater works by 7 East 20th Street lected as a recipientof the prestigious AMS important twentieth-century composers. 50 Fellowship Award for 1990-91. The sti­ Love Life will be presented from script with New Yortc, NY 10003-1106 pend, instituted on the 50th anniversary of piano, with pre-performance talks, over a Tel, (212) 505-5240 the American Musicological Society, is five-Sunday period. beginning on 17 Fax (212) 353-9663 awarded on a competitive basis and given in November and continuing through 15 support of final stages of research and writ· December, in the Paintings Gallery, located The Newsletter is published to provide an open ing of the doctoral musicology dissertation. in Covent Garden. Members of the Royal forum wherein interested readers may express a Mr. mcclung, one of sixAMS 50 Fellows, is Shakespeare Company and theRoyal Opera variety of ideas and opinions. The opinions ex­ completing a dissertation entitled "Kurt donate their services to this non-profit pressed do not necessarilyrepresent the publisher's Weill's Lady in the Dark." venture. Other works in thefall 1991 season official viewpoint. The editor encourages the include Frank Loesser's Green Willow and Simon and Schuster Publishes New submission of artides, reviews, and news items for the Richard Rodgers-Arthur Laurents­ lndusion in future issues. The submission deadline Weill Biography Stephen Sondheim collaboration Do I Hear for the next issue is 15 January 1992. Anewbiography, Kurt Weill: Composer in a Waltz?. a Divided World by British author Ronald David Famett,. Editor Taylor, was published in September by University News Mario R. Meffado, Auodate Editor Simon and Schuster, London (ISBN 0-671- The University of Arizona School of Mu­ Margaret M, Sheny, Photo Editor 71070-2). A US publisher has not been sic will present Street Scene on 1 and 3 Anita T. Welsburger, l'roductlon announced. According to advance public­ November, 1991, with director Professor John Watson, llroductJon Assistant ity, "RonaldTaylor'spenetratingstudydraws Charles Roe and conductor Dr.JosefKnott . extensively on primary material and on the Board of Trustees The operad epartment ofCarnegie-Mellon testimony of people who knew the com­ Kim Kowalke, President University plans a production ofStreet Sune poser. Unravelling the many cultural and Henry Marx, VICP-Pn!sident in March 1992, directed byJan etBooks pan intellectual threads running through Weill's lys Symonette, and conducted by Robert Page. Vice-Presidenr music and unsettled life, he paints an inte­ Guy Stem, Seceta,y grated picture of the man and his works, The Curtis Institutefor Music will mount Milton Coleman, Treasurer setting Weill's compositions against their a double bill of Mahagonny Songspiel and Philip Getter historical and cultural background and as­ the Happy EndSongspiel, directed by Rhoda Harold Prince sessing their position in the musical life of Levine and conducted by David Hayes, in Julius Rudel the twentieth century." Prof. Taylor made the late spring of 1992. two extended visits to the Weill-Lenya Re­ Foundation Staff search Center and Yale University for his Boston Lyric to Stage research. Taylor's other books include Lit­ Lost in the Stars Kim Kowalke, President erature and Society in Germany 1918-1945, David Farneth, DiteCtDr and Atchivlst The Art ofthe Minnesinger, The Intellectual Following a successful 1990-91 season Lys Symonette, Musical Executive Tradition ofModern Germany, and biogra­ that included a critically acclaimed produc­ Mario R. Mercado, DirectOr of Programs phies ofWagner , Schumann, and Liszt. His tion of Marc Blitzstein's Regina, the Boston Margaret M. Sheny, Associate Archivist edition of Wilhelm Furtwangler's writings Lyric Opera continues its commitment to Anita T. Weisburger, Office Administrator on music is due to be published in Novem­ American works with a production ofLost in John Watson, Secretary ber by Scolar Press. the Stars in its 1991-92 season. Perfor-

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 2 NEWS

Kammerorchester. under Willi Gundlach, Fall Theater Conferences of Louisville at (502) 584-1265; FAX (502) perform lhe Requiem and Recorda.re. The Actors Theatre of Louisville is pre­ 583-9922. senting "TheTheatre ofThe Weimar Repub­ Koch Internationalwill issue in late 1991 The 1991 annual meeting of the Ameri­ lic: Germany 1918-1933," a weekend of per­ can Society for Theatre Research will be a recording entitled An Unqttiet Peace: 171e formances, exhibits, lectures, and colloquia The recording of­ held in conjunction with the Theatre Li­ lied Between the Wms. 18-20 October in Louisville, Kenhtcky. The fers the premiere of Ofrah's Lieder and brary Association meeting 14--17 Novem­ Berliner Ensemble will perform Love and ber at the University of Washington, Se­ includes "Casers Tod," ''Die Muschel von Revolution, a Brecht cabaret, and the Actors Margate," and "Berlin im Licht." Soprano attle. Seventy scholars will present papers Theatre will present the winner of the 1931 Cynthia Seiden, baritone Bill Sharp, and in thirteen sessions. David Kilroy of 19eistPrize, Talesfrom the Vienna Woods-by Harvard University, a Kurt Weill Founda­ pianist Steven Blier are the featured artists. Odon von Horvath in a translation by Chris­ Songs of Strauss, Schoeck, Eisler, and tion dissertation fellowship recipient, is topher Hampton. Heinz-Uwe Haus is sched­ Zemlinsky complete the recording. delivering a paper entitled "Envisioning a uled to lecture on the topic "Experiment and New World Order in 1949: TheWeill-Ander­ The recording of Angelina Reaux's one­ MassAppeal: Theatre ofthe Weimar Repub­ son MusicalTragicomedy ,I..ost in the Stars" woman-theater piece, Stranger Here Myself. lic" and John Willett will present "Weimar and William Grange of Marquette Univer­ is also set for an end-of-the-year release by and Germany: The Twenties and Today." sity is speaking on the topic, "Legitimizing Koch International. Panel discuss.ions will tackle timely sub­ the East German State: Brecht and the jects: "Epic Theater and New Objectivity," Berliner Ensemble, 1949-1953." Registra­ The Decca Street Scene CD [see review "The Berliner Ensemble Today," and tion information may be obtained by calling onpage 23], already released in some inter­ ''Weimar and Reunified Germany.'' Forfur­ the University of Washington Conference national markets, will be issued in Febru­ therinformation, contact the Actors Theatre Registration office at (206) 543-2310. ary 1992 on the London label in the United States. Necrology Street Scene r:eturns to ENO ' Claudio Arrau, one of the foremost pia­ Petit. He co-founded Les Ballets 1933 with The English National Opera is reviving nists ofthe 20th century, died on 9June 1991 Balanchine and was instrumental in com­ its acclaimed Fall 1989 production of Street in Mi.irzzuschlag, Austria. He was 88 years missioning Die sieben Todsiinden for that ScenewithJamesHolmesconducting. The old and lived in Munich. In a career that company. principal cast members include Jan~ce spanned eight decades, the Chilean-born Cairns (Anna Maurrant), Mark Richardson pianist was esteemed for his interpretations Edwin Lester, founder and longtime (Frank Maurrant), Lesley Garrett (Rose ofLiszt , Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, and director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Maurrant). Kevin Anderson (Sam Kaplan) , Brahms. Arrau was on the teaching staff at Opera, died on 13 December 1990in Beverly Meriel Dickinson (Mrs. Jones), and Rich­ the Stem Conservatory in Berlin from 1924 Hills. California. He was 95. Mr. Lester ard Halton (Harry Easter). Performances to 1940. Early in his career. Arrau studied spent four decades bringing thousands of are scheduled for 13, 19, 22, 27 February composition for a short time with KurtWeill. the most melodious hours in the American and 2, 5, 11. 14, 19 March 1992 at the musical theater to Los Angeles and San London Coliseum. Milton A. Caniff died in Manhattan on 3 Francisco. His productions included Peter April 1988 at the age of 81. He was the Pan with Mary Martin, Show Boat with Tryout Reissued creator of the comic strips "Terry and the Paul Robeson, Gypsy with Ethel Merman, Pirates" and "Steve Canyon," which earned and Coco with Katharine Hepburn. Mr. DRG Records, Inc. has just reissued on him a following of over 30 million readers. Lester broughtLady in the Dark to both Los CD (DRG904) an album entitled Tryout, a Caniff was a former neighbor and long-time Angeles and San Francisco in 1943. series of private rehearsal recordings of associate of Weill and Lenya in New City, actual performances by Kurt Weill, both in New York and one ofthe original members Mary Martin, 76, died on 4 November solo and singing duets with Ira Gershwin. of the Board of Trustees of the Kurt Weill 1990 in Rancho Mirage, California. As The Weill solos are from One Touch of Foundation for Music. America's leading lady of musical comedy, she captivated audiences as Ensign Nellie Venus. Weill and Gershwin together sing Leonore Strunsky Gershwin, wife ofIra Forbush in Maria von Trapp two numbers from the 1945 Twentieth-Cen­ Gershwin for 56 years, died on 20 August South Pacific, tury-Fox film Where Do We Go From Here?. 1991 in BeverlyHill s, California, at the age of in The Sound ofMusic, and the title role in 90. Since the death of her husband in 1981 Peter Pan. One Touch of Venus launched Venus at R & H at the age of 86, Mrs. Gershwin had devoted her stardom in 1943, in which she played much ofh er time to preserving the music of the role of Venus and made memorable such songs as 'That's "Speak Low," As of 3 December 1990, Rodgers & both lra and his brother, George, the com­ Him,'' and a Stranger Here Myseli." Hammerstein Theatre Library has added poser. Two years ago she established "I'm One Touch o/Venus to its catalog ofplays for Roxbury Recordings, which has plans to Ronald Sanders, a writer who special­ stock and amateur licensing in the United record Lady in the Dark in its entirety. States and Canada One Touch of Venus ized in Jewish history, died on 12 January joins other Weill theatrical properties ad­ Maria Hubek, Lotte Lenya's younger 1991 in New York City. He was 58 years minist.ered by Rodgers & Hammerstein: sister, died in Vienna, Austria on 17 May old. Mr. Sanders wrote extensively on the Knickerbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, 1991. She was 85 years ofage. Mrs. Hubek immigrant experience in New York and Street Scene, Lost in the Stars, and the Marc is survived by her nephew, Max Bla:mauer, elsewhere, Jews in Palestine, and racism in Blitzstein adaptation of The Threepenny of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. America. His 469-page popular biography Opera. of Kurt Weill, The Days Grow Short, pub­ Boris Kochno, a creative spirit behind lished byH olt, Rinehart& Winston in 1980, inquiries regarding One Touch of Venus much modem ballet, died on 9 December did much to increase the knowledge of should be madeto Rodgers & Hammerstein 1990 in Paris at the age of 86. Mr. Kochno Weill in the English-speaking world. Lime­ Theatre Library, 1633 Broadway, Suite 3801, was artistic director and scenarist for major light Editions published a paperback edi­ New York, NY 10019; telephone (212) 541- ballet companies including those of Serge tion, and Kindler publisheda German trans­ 6900. Diaghilev, George Balanchine, and Roland lation under the title Kurt Weill.

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 3 LETTERS To the Editor: the latter being more at home in a soap-opera with regard to his intentions in both textual and than a threepenny opera. perfonnance matters. I feel obliged to reply to Kim Kowalke's GEOFFREY ABBOTT I'm glad that Abbott makes explicit in his response in the last Newsletter to my essay in 19 July 1991 present letter what bad been implicit in his Stephen Hinton's Cambridge Opera Handbook essay: thorny issues of "authorial intention" The Threepenny Opera. Augsburg, Gennany have been entangled with those of "authentic­ Itis surprising to seemycontention thatMrs. ity." The knockabout nature of the first Peachum's music is intended to be sung an Kim Kowalke responds: ptoduction(s) of Die Dreigroschenoper, not to octave lower lhan written described as "star­ Amid the ever widening concern with "au­ mention the piece itself (and its post-premiere tling." After alL there is a very considerable thentic,• "historical,· and "historically informed~ process of revision), calls into question the tradition here in Germany of periorrning it in performance practice, l applaud Geoffrey applicability and even the very meaning of "au­ this way (including in all probability the first Abbott's attempt toextend the discussion to Die thentic." The "considerable tradition" of what production). This tradition stems from the fact Drei'groschenoper. These terms are, of course, has cumulatively befallen Die Dreigroschenoper that the actresses ofthe Fach to which Che role "loaded" with aesthetic assumptions and ideo­ since Weill protested unauthorized changes to of Mrs. Peachum belongs usually have deep logical. subtexts, and the vehemence of the the music by the Frankfurt production in Octo­ singing voices. Kim Kowalke's joke about the ongoing debates in Early Music circles matches ber 1928 is better characterized with some Kactress's baritone'' is neither funny nor polite the complexity of the pertinent issues. What adjective other than ''authentic." since the ranges of these two types ofvoice are comprises "authentic" performance practice is I suggestthatAbbott's campaign on behalfof indeed very similar. especially uncertain in the domain of the the­ baritone Mrs. Peachums would be more per­ My essay attempts to use historical and aes­ ater, where every production. including the suasive (or atleast less objectionable) ifit were thetic argumentation to show that this tradition first, is conditioned by practical circumstances, couched in more appropriate tenns. With a ofinterpreting Weill's and Brecht's work in this cultural context, and localized exigencies. Par­ piece whose ~textuality" is as "open" as Die way is authentic. Kim Kowalke fails to convince ticularly in the musical theater it's often difficult Dreigroschenoper's, be could instead plead his me that my argumentation Kself-destructs." On to reach consensus on what constitutes the caseon the basis ofcultural convention (''That's the contrary, I find his own reasoning seriously "text" ofawork, and therefore issuesoftextuality how Mrs. Peachum is usually sung in Ger­ flawed. compound those of perionnance practice. many"), aesthetic preference ("Mrs. Peachum This is certainly the case in spades with Die ought to sing an octave lower because it fits my It is true that vocal characterization does not interpretation of her character better"), stage­ only depend on tessitura. However, my aes­ Dreigroschenoper, so the various types ofissues need to be "unpacked'' very carefully. While wise pragmatism ("actresses of the Fach to thetic judgment insists that Mrs. Peachum's which this role belongs usually h11ve low voices tessitura should bel ower than that ofher daugh­ performance history and tradition can tell us much about earlier interpretations of texts, and can't sing it as written"), or even conducto­ ter. It does not disturb me at all that !lhe rial caprice ("I just like it better"). Then we therefore sometimes sings in the same octave both musical and dramatic, we must exercise caution to avoid confusing these interpretations could discreetly raise our eyebrows or shrug as Mt. Peachum and Macheath. In fact this only our shoulders - without feeling hoodwinked serves to underline important aspects of these with (or,gubstitutingthem for) the text (ortexts) itself. Whereas Abbott's valuable work with by an attempt to pass off an arbitrary choice as characters and therelation ships between them. the composer's intention. My "very strange definition oftessitura,• by the Mackeben's set of orchestral parts tells us way, is simply the New Grove definition ex­ something about both an early performance Rather than correcting Abbott's misstate­ pressed in statistical terms. practice and musical text (and their interzc­ ments in his partial recital of my argument or Kim Kowalke's suggestion thatErika Helmke tion), hisassertion that "Mrs. Peachum 's music rejoining his reactions to several of ·its non­ transposed Mrs. Peachum's music down an ... may require to be transposed up, sinceitwas essential points, I would urge the devoted (by octave on the 1930Telefunken recording merely intended [italics mine) to be sung an octave now, dogged) reader to reconsider therelevant todisguisethefacttbatonesingerisplayingtwo lower than written" is essentially a matter of passage from his essay on p. 179 of the Hand­ characters is, of course, highly unlikely. He textuality, not of periormance practice, authen­ book in light of my (and Stephen Hinton's) neglects to mention that on this recording tic or other. The rationale underlying this, yes, original comments. notAbbott's tropes thereto. Helmke also sings Polly in the Liebeslied with­ "reckless speculation" remains unstated but Under scrutiny his "historical and aesthetic out any apparent hint of disguise. nonetheless dubious: Weill's partitur (as well argumentation~ depends not on sound musico­ Kowalke's next argument "self-destructs" as all other scores of the piece published or logical evidence or keen musical perceptions since there were certainly then, as there are rented during his lifetime) must be "corrected" but barely camouflaged personal taste. now, plenty ofactresses in Germany who could or at least ~completed" with respect to the sing c (the C below middle C), if not G (the G notation of Mrs. Peachum's vocal line on the below that). (The note c is the role's lowest basis of early perionnance tradition. Abbott To the Editor: except for G which has d as an alternative each doesn't argue that Weill (and the various copy­ My contribution to the ongoing debate con­ time it occurs.) ists and typesetters) ''forgot" to indicate octave cerning Mrs. Peachwn as bass baritone, helter, Theevidence ofthe accompaniment is not as transposition here, there, actually everywhere or transposed drag queen might, to modify easily dismissed as Kowalke would wish, since in Mrs. Peachum's five musical numbers, but Thomas Mann, perhaps be described as Die it is simply untrue that it is an accepted tech­ rather that the musical text was intended to be Ballade de,r armen Frau Peachum oder Die nique to consistently double the melody of a read in this way-despite the practical problems verlauschten Kopfstimmen. On reflecting on female voice an octave lower. I know of no that arise from such a reading, which "may oneof Mr. Abbott's points-thecontention that single case of this, nor of any textbook which require [her music) to be transposed up." Mrs. Peachum's role is actually to be sung an warns against doubling a voice at pitclt. Such a That's the crux of the matter: intended by octave lower than written -1 have come to the book was evidently also unknown to Mozart. whom? I can only infer thatAbbott means the conclusion that there may be considerably more Verdi, and Wagner. composer. Yeteven ifAbbott were somehow to to this than meets either the eye of the careful Finally, ofcourse, itis the characterization of succeed in salvaging one, two, or even all four score reader, or the earoftheattentive listener. the role which is decisive in this issue. The fact of the pieces of evidence he labelled "compel­ Equally as relevant as the information about that Kim Kowalke can only describe Mrs. ling" from theobjections concerning their accu­ Rosa Valetti's freakish range- incidentally it Peachum as a ~bourgeois matron• shows that racy, relevance, and interpretation that I raised must be a matter of considerable regret that he is not prepared to look very far for the in the last issue, he would demonstrate little or Yma Sumac will now never have the oppol'tli­ essence of Die Dreigroschenoper. To make this nothing about authorial intention. On the con­ nity to siog all versions of the role of Mrs. oversimplification is to ignore the many in­ trary, there is no shred of direct evidence Jink. Peachum - is the hidden message embedded stances of Brecht's text which suggest a much ing Weill to tbetransposition ofMrs. Peachum's in the musical language of kBallade von der less refined woman who tries to appear bour­ music down an octave (or up therefrom!). In sexuellen Horigkeit,n geois, but is, in fact, a partner in a criminal fact, the published materials and Weill's full It has, of course, been commonly accepted business and a drunkard. These and other score had already taken into account what the thatthis number was omitted from the original unmatronly attributes lead one to expect an composer wished to preserve ofhis experience production because of the "offensiveff nature of unrefined, deep and raucous voice ratherthat a with the premiere, and thereafter he consis­ the text. But if one reflects that, sung down the ~screechy-mezzo" (Kowalke) . l can imagine tently cited the full score as the final authority octave, the opening phrases bear a startling

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 4 LETTERS resemblance to "In diesen heiligen Hallen," without consideringwhat might happen to them given there (Copenhagen) and have notsent might it not be just as likely that the tale of if they were in Jimmy Mahoney's place. They a telegram either." AlthoughneitherSteffin's offended sensibilities is a red herring, and that probably begin considering when they start nor l.enya's letters have survived, it's dear Weill was really afraid that thefigureofSarastro the big demonstrations that shape the finale of that thecomposer's stamp ofapproval for the (dearly the alter ego for Mrs. Peachum) might the opera. Thereis a turning-pointafter Jimmy's Danish performance was some sort of unau­ have loomed too ominously and resonantly over execution, a turning point between the rise and thorized publicity ploy, which Steffin at­ the proceedings? In this connection it is hardly decline of the city. tempted to confirm with Weill. While it accidental that the keys ofboth numbers are so I believe this to be important because of two doesn't alter the fact that the production closely related (Eflat and E) while the shape of reasons which exceed the scope ofmy review, occurred, it does call into question its pur­ the melodic line is, in each case, virtually iden­ but mightinterest the readers of the Newslet­ port~d quality and nature. tical. with its risingand falling pattern and alter­ ter. KIM H. KOWALKE nating two-fold phrases. 1. now a very topical piece in Mahagonnyis 22 June 1991 On a moreserious note. it may bethat Geoffrey Gennany. For example, most West Gennans Abbott's analysis - presumably computer as­ have been watching the economic decline in Rochester, NY sisted - of the respective ~tessituras" of Polly East Gennany with little concern about the To the Editor: and Mrs. Peachum is accurate. I remain skep­ situation of their fellow countrymen. Most of tical, however. as most singers in my experi­ the West Germans still can pay their bills. David Hamilton's very thoughtful and well­ ence pay scant attention to such tasks as calcu­ Another example: we have seen this year, and informed review of the latest CD reissues of lating the proportional percentage of particular still see, the return ofwar to the political agenda the old Weill and l.enya shellacs is the model pitches and more to the actual occurrence and of Europe, and many people tend to watch ofan excellent record review (Newsletter DC/ recurrence ofnotes round the upper and lower these wars as a pleasant spectacle on the TV 1). Please allow me to expand upon some of limits of their range. I have known baritones screen - ifs not them who have to die. But Mr. Hamilton's remarks. who go through scores marking the upper F how long will Mahagonny continue to rise? 1) Hamilton writes ~rm sorry the elusive sharps and G's they arerequired to sing, reckon• What'sgoingtohappenwhenwecan'tshrugoff Fritzi MassaryversionsofMSeerl!uber-Jenny• ing that anything more than half a dozen turns the miserable status of the world any longer? and "Barbara-Song" are not here, for they the evening into something like a series of 400- The Frankfurt perfonnance ignored that there would represent the Dreigroschenoper inter­ meter hurdles. Ifone adopts the same undoubt­ is a turning point in the history of the city of acting with yet another institution of this edly ad hoe, butentirely pragmatic approach for Mahagonny, as the authors have conceived it time, the world of Berlin operetta.• I have two ofthe numbers sung by Mrs. Peachum and 2. How do the authors bring about this known theleg end ofthe Massary recordings for a Jong time, but after many years of Polly, the fonner in Number 4 has eighte-flat2s sudden turning point? Of course, there is the and two f-flat2s, while Polly in the :first verse of placard with that famous inscription: "Und in looking for them (m close cooperation with the "BarbaraSong" has eleven e-flat2s and eight zunehmender Verwirrung, Teuerung und the leading shellac collectors in Germany) fls. Such rudimentary arithmetic suggests to Feindschaftall er gegen alle demonstrierten in there is no evidence that Massary really did me that Mrs. Peachum's "tessitura~ is not as den letzten Wochen der Stadt die noch nicht record any DreigroschenojJer songs. The high as Polly's though I allow there may be a vernichteten ftir ihre ldeale unbelehrt." How­ legend was, I contend, created by a mistake variety of arguments that might be put to dem­ ever, I can't believe thatthe dramatic impact of in the Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv Frankfurt onstrate the opposite. this message is strong enough to bring about amMaio,wherethereisatapecopyofCarola Mrs. Peachum may well sing in 1be First the necessary changeofatmosphere. In Leipzig Neher's Orchestrola record falsely attrib­ Threepenny Finale"': "ja dann ist's eben nichts 1930, there was a visual element that gave a uted to Massary. (Another mistake with this Neher record happened on the LP reissue by damit, dann istdas eben alles Kitt"; butl feel this sensuous dimension to the written announce­ and related tessitural, archetypical, and Zweitausendeins in 1974 - there it was ment Caspar Neher's projection showed a to hemidemisemiological questions could well pro­ number of military aircraft flying towards the credited Lotte Lenya, which also led to vide a fruitful area for further research. spectator. 1n hisRegiebvch, Weill stated: "Die many confusions!) Further, Berthold Projektionstalfefu Caspar Nehers bilden einen Leimbach's new discography lists more than MICHAEL MORLEY Bestandteil des Aufftlrhrungsmaterials (sie 80 recordings by Massary but includes no 18 June 1991 sollen daher auch gemeinsam mit dern mention of any Dreigroschenoper pieces. By Notenmaterial an die Bilhnen verschickt the way, one document of a Berlin operetta The Flinders University of South singer does exist a Parlophon record of Australia werden)." He repeated this after the Leipzig perfonnance in his correspondence with Uni­ "Seerauber-Jenny" and "Barbara-Song,• sung To the Editor: versal Edition regarding the following perfor­ by Beate Roos-Reuter and the Haller-Revue­ mances in other German cities. Up to now, Orchester recorded in 1929. Can this be I thought your readers would be interested in mixed up with Massary too? The singing nobody bas tracked down all ofNeber'sprojec­ something I came up with on Avfstieg u,id Fall style of Mrs. Roos-Reuter is so poor that we der Stadt Mahagonnywhen I was reading a new tion boards so as to mount a fully authentic decided not to include the record on the book on the life of Henry Stimson, The Colonel performance. But the visual element, and the part of Neher in the conception ofthis opera, I Capriccio CD. by Godfrey Hodgson (Knopf, 1990). In 1927, 2) Hamilton immediately recognized that suppose, deserve far more attention than they when Calvin Coolidge was president and the for the 1930 Homocord record of two United States was involved in Nicaragua, there have hitherto attracted. Malwgonny songs sung by l.enya, I gave in were businessmen involved in our Latin Ameri­ ANDREAS HAUFF my discography (Newsletter IV/1) Weill as can policy, and they were called the mahagony theconductor whereas the original label only people -Americans wno owned lumber in the 11 September 1991 says "mitOrchesterbe_gleitung." Hamilton is Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. Mainz, Germany right The reason for this mistake is the To the Editor: extreme rarity of some of the original shel­ ANTHONY 5. OCARIELLO lacs. When I wrote the discography I had in Cambridge, MA Niels Krabbe's description of the hitherto my possession only a tape copy ofthe record unnoted production of Aufstieg vnd Fall der To the Editor: with notes by the collector (who would not Stadt Mahagonny (in the Fall 1990 issue of the part with the original recording). When we Unfortunately, I overlooked a mistake when Newsletter) included a newspaper report that finally found a second copy, the error could checking the English translation ofmy reviewof Weill listened to the performance on the radio not be corrected. So the only way to be Avfstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny in Frank­ from Vienna and sent a telegram to the opera correct in all details is autopsy! (Another furtfor the lasti ssueof the Kurt Weill Newsletter. company, saying: ''It came througb all right such case is the Bost and OWJ records ofthe As it turned out, the crucial sentence read: "'The The music was exactly as I had imagined it Forties. Although many points speak for the inhabit.ants of Mahagonny consume the cynical should be. Marvelous artists!" The report fact that Weill plays the piano parts himself, trial ofJimmy Mahoney simply as a spectacle of turns out to be bogus. While Lys Symonette there is no evidence on the original record the mass media, not without considering, of and I were editing the Wei11-l.enya correspon­ course, what would become of them if they dence recently, we were struck by a passage in labels for it So my notes on the Capriccio CD could no longer pay the bill.• What I wanted to a letter from Weilltol.enyaof12January 1934: may be Calse, too!) sa,y, however, was justthe opposite: The inhab­ "'The letter from 'Grete' (Margarethe Steffin) itants of Mahagonny are consuming the trial just anived. I had no idea thatMahagonnywas ( continued on page 11)

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 5 LETTERS ties of childhood, so the prolonged melodic-harmonic structure, in that the submediant inhibition, the insistent sus­ tune apotheosizes that submediant which pension of the jazzy sixth, represents the we bear in certain blues in place of the continued from page 5 most primitive application of this principle leading note and with a Vl7 implication: by in the sphere of dissonant chordal forma­ an extreme inhibition of the tonic, the tions. (In chordal progressions, the conse­ submediant here downright usurps it. quences of the interrupted cadence V-VI Owing to the quality oft he melodicline, we 3) Thatleads directly to Hamilton's ques­ are, of course, the prototypical example of are no longer disgusted at the primitive tion ofw hether we could find "any clues as to such an increase of satisfaction.) inhibition, though in order to fully appease who theot her singers are" in the Mahagonny It is imaginable thatthe musical primitiv­ our unconscious conscience we may have Querschnitt of Electrola, which only indi­ ity ofthis hannonic maneuver corresponds to murmur something about the decadent cates Lotte Lenya on the label. I am quite to a relatively unsublimated amount of, per­ German twenties. Decadent the tune cer­ sure that the singers are Trude Hesterberg haps, infantile sexual energy behind it; this tainly wishes to be, an aim which itachieves (Begbick) and Heinrich Gretler (AJaskawolfjoe) from the original Berlin the­ ater cast; I am not sure who sings Johann Ackermann (probably not Harald Paulsen) but all this is speculation, until perhaps one day we find original documents from the r;-r, ,;-,-, recording session. Obviously there were 1J ,J)J ),J. )1 substitutions from the stage cast of the The­ ater am Kurfilrstendamm because Hans Sommer conducts rather than Alexander von Zemlinsky. The field ofWeill shellacs remains a thrill­ J~ I 11 ing experience. Just recently we discovered two Japanese recordings from 1932-33 (ex­ cerpts from Kleine Dreigroschenmusik far Blasorchesterwith the Tokyo New Symphonic "The Third Man" Words by Walter Lord. Based on music composed and arranged Orchestra, Hidemaro Konoe, conductor; and by Anton Karas. two Dreigroschenoper songs "Moritat'' and "Ballade von angenehmen Leben," sung by Copyright i:l 1949 & 1950 by British Lion Pilms Limited. London. Copyrights Renewed, Chapp

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