FROM THE ARCHIVES

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

Compiled by Kenneth Schlesinger The following list offers a selective Gesang und Klavier" Vienna: Universal summary of the documents acquired by the ORAL HISTORY Edition 9851A, 1931. Weill-Lenya Research Center since October "Reminiscences of Weill/Lenya:" The Road of Promise, photocopy of 1988. Due to space limitations, omitted from Hesper Anderson; Ben Cutler and Maya Chappell piano-vocal rental score for The the listing are books, articles, press clip­ Gregory, cast members of The Eternal Road; Eternal Road (Ben Cutler). pings, and commercial recordings, as well Jean Dalrymple, theater producer; Martus UE rental full scores for Die Burgschaft, as most photographs, programs, and post­ Granirer; Willi Kraber, member of Group Die Dreigroschenoper, Der jasager, Der ers. The names of donors are indicated in Theater; Paula Laurence; Maurice Levine; Protagonist, Royal Palace, Der Silbersee, Der italics at the end of each entry, when appro­ Henry Marx; Lys Symonette; Wilhemena Zar la!st sich photographieren, and Der neue priate. Tuck; Peggy Turnley. Interviewed for 1988 Orpheus. Oral History Project, Professor Mel Gordon COLLECTIONS and students, New York University. SCORES -- UNPUBLISHED J tirgen Schebera, Berlin (DD R): "Chari­ "Conversation with Maurice Abra­ "America," "Battle Hymn of the Re­ vari: More details about Dreigroschenoper vanel," by Olivia Mattis. Typescript and public," and "Star Spangled Banner," piano­ early history," article, plusfourphotostats of cassette tape. vocal scores of Weill's settings in copyist's original Dreigroschenoper advertisements in hand (Rodgers and Hammerstein Theater Charivari, Bloch Erben's house journal, library). 1928-29. Donald Spoto, Los Angeles: Inter­ Firebrand ofFlorence, selections from view tapes and selected materials gathered rehearsal scores. while researching Lenya: A life. "Langsam er Fox" (1921), transcription prepared for 1975 Berlin Festival by David CORRESPONDENCE Drew (David Drew). Lotte Lenya to Milton Caniff (15 let­ Where Do We Go From Here, photo­ ters, photocopies; 1962-78) (Donald Spoto) ; copy of vocal score. (Mrs. Ira Gershwin). Kurt Weill to Ira Gershwin (20 letters, pho­ tocopies; 1940-44; random annotations by SCRIPTS Gershwin)(Mrs. Ira Gershwin). Der Silbersee, Felix Bloch Erben, from Harold Prince Collection; Der Weg der Ver­ THESES AND DISSERTATIONS hei!sung, photocopy of Werfel's holograph, Humphreys, Paul W. "Expressions of Van Pelt Library, Special Collections, Uni­ Einverstandnis: Musical Structure and Af­ versity of Pennsylvania. fective Content in Kurt Weill's Score of Der ]asager." Ph.D. dissertation, University of V IDEOTAPES California, Los Angeles, 1988. Die Dreigroschenoper, Hessischer Rund­ Scott, Harrison Charles. "Busoni's funk, 1957; Die Dreigroschenoper (1989), Doctor Faust." Masters thesis, North Texas Happy End (1988) and Der ]asager (1989), State University, 1976. Banff Art Centre; Mahagonny Songspiel (with "Conversa­ HOLOGRAPHS tions with Fear and Hope After Death") "Surabaya Johnny," early holograph Peter Sellars, BAM Opera, 1989; Aufstieg sketch, 44 measures, pencil, 1½ sides, on und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Hessicher Beethoven Papier Nr. 38a (28 Linien) [1929] Rund.funk, 196-; The Eternal Road, Para­ Sketch for "Ira" from Die sieben mount newsreel (1937) and "On Stage: Todsiinden by Casper Neher. March of Time" (1949) (Mel Gordon). NON- COMMERCIAL RECORDINGS All rights reserved. "Kurt Weill and his Jewish Heritage," VISUAL ART Symposium at Merkin Concert Hall, 1987; Studs Terkel Radio Show, WFMT-Chicago PROGRAMS Neher, Caspar. "Ira," sketch for Die [Happy End, Court Theatre, 1989]; Happy 'The Judgement of Paris," Agnes de sieben Todsunden stage panel. Yellow and End, Westdeutscher Rund.funk, Koln, 1988; Mille ballet to Weill score, Westminster gray wash on paper. 36 X 24 cm. Purchased The Seven Deadly Sins, Sinfonia San Fran­ Theatre, London, July 1938 (Jane Pritchard); from the Edward James Collection. cisco, 1987; The Threepenny Opera and johnny Der ]asager, Music School of the Henry Johnson, The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Street Settlement, New York, 25 April 1933; WRITINGS 1989; "Cry, The Beloved Country /Lost in Der ]asager, Akademie fiir Kirchen- und "Der deutsche Rundfunk," photocop­ the Stars," a concert sequence devised by Schulmusik, Berlin; original playbills from ies of articles by Weill, January 1925-May David Drew, American Composers Orches­ Weill Broadway musicals: Firebrand of 1929 (Jurgen Schebera); "Musikfest oder tra, Carnegie Hall, 1988; War Play (Weill/ Florence, Knickerbocker Holiday, lady in the Musikstudio?"; [Zu Der lindberghfl,ug] Drew), Ensemble Modem, Frankurt, 1988; Dark, Lost in the Stars, love life, and Street "Keine Differenz Weill-Hindemith"; "Kurt Weill" and archival recordings, Hun­ Scene. "Rundfrage Richard Strauss," Musikblatter garian Radio, Budapest, 1988; lady in the des Anbruch 6:5 (May 1924); "Schriftsteller Dark, Edinburgh Festival, John Mauceri, SCORES-- PUBLISHED 1934: Eine Umfrage," in Pariser Tageblatt 1988; Street Scene, Scottish Opera, John "Sechs ausgewahlte Stticke aus der 2:41 (21 January 1934). Mauceri, 1989; Violin Concerto, Stephanie Oper Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny Gonley with Guildhall Chamber Orchestra, von Kurt Weill/Text von Bert Brecht/ 1987.

Ku rt Weill Newslet ter Volume 7 Number 2 15 NEW PUBLICATIONS

60007-1 ARTICLES """' KU R T WE I LL ~ DER ZAR l](SST SICH PHOTOGRAPHIEREN Fehn, Ann Clark. "Concepts of the Masses and German Drama in the Weimar Republic." - THE TSAR HAS HIS PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN - Seminar24:l (February 1988): 31-57.

McDANIEL · POHL · NAPIER Hinton, Stephen. 'The Concept of Epic Opera: Theoretical Anomalies in the Brecht-Weill l

BOOKS Bassi, Ad riano. Kurt Weill: I Grandi Musicisti del XX Secolo. Milano: Targa Italiana Editore, Collana Musica Studio, 1988. Bentley, Eric. The Brecht Memoir. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited, 1989. [New British edition with an introduction by Martin Esslin.] Berlau, Ruth. Living/or Brecht: The Memoirs ofRuth Berlau. Edited by Hans Bunge. Translated by Geoffrey Skelton. New York: Fromm International Publishing Corporation, 1987. Gilbert, Michael John T. Bertolt Brecht's Striving/or Reason, Even in Music. New York: Peter Lang, 1988. Gordon, Eric A Mark the Music: The Life and Work ofMarc Blitzstein. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. Martin, Jeffrey Brown. Ben Hecht: Hollywood Screenwriter. Studies in Cinema, No. 27. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985. [References to Hecht's 1943 ''We Will Never Die," with music by Weill.] Mehner, Klaus andJ oachim Lucchesi, editors. Studien zur Berliner Musikgeschichte: Musikkul­ tur der zwanziger fahre. Im Auftrag der Akademie der Ktinste der DDR. Berlin (DDR): Hen­ schelverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft, 1989. MHS 512l81Z Speirs, Ronald. Bertolt Brecht. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1987. KURT WEILL Symphony No. 2 RECORDINGS ALBERTOGINASTERA Variacioncs concen:uucs Entartete Musik: Eine Tondokumentation zur Diisseldorfer Ausstellung van 1938. I. Sauber­ ungen; II. MiBbrauch; III. "Deutsche Musik"; IV. Widerstand. Zusammengestellt und kom­ mentiert von Albrecht Dtimling. CDP Berlin 57265043 & 57265023. (4 CDs) Der Jasager. Joseph Protschka (Student); Lys Bert Symonette (Mother); Willibald Vohla (Teacher). Dtisseldorf Children's Chorus and Chamber Orchestra; Siegfried Kohler, conductor. Concerto for Violin and Wind Orchestra; Anahid Ajemian, soloist, with M-G-M Wind Orchestra; Izler Solomon, conductor. "Dance of the Tumblers" from Lady in the Dark and "Gold!" from Lost in the Stars; M-G-M Chamber Orchestra; Arthur Winograd, conductor.

Symphonkorcbcstcr dc5 BaycrilCben Ruodfunks PolyGram 839727-4 (cassette); 839727-2 (CD) [Reissue.] JULIUS RUDEL, CONDUCTOR Der Lindberghjl.ug and The Ballad of Magna Carta . Pro Musica Koln; Ko iner Rundfunkorch­ ester; Jan Latham-Konig, conductor. Capriccio 60012-1 (CD). [Includes a 1930 broadcast recording of the Weill-Hindemith version of Der Lindberghflug, conducted by Hermann Scherchen.] Over There: Songs of War and Peace, c. 1900-1920. Michael Feinstein; Armen Guzelimian, piano. EMI Angel CDC 7 49768 2. (CD) [Includes Weill's "Riders' Song [Reiterlied]," "Parting Song (Im Volkston)" and 'The Beautiful Child. (Das schone Kind)".] Die sieben Todsiinden. Gisela May, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Leipzig; Herbert Kegel, conductor. Das Berliner Requiem. The London Sinfonietta; David Atherton, conduc­ tor. PolyGram 429333-2/4 (CD/cassette). [Reissue.] Symphony no. 2. Variaciones concertantes, op. 23 by Alberto Ginastera. Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Julius Rudel, conductor. Musical Heritage Society 5123812 (CD); 312381H (Cassette) Threepenny Opera Suite (Kleine Dreigroschenmusik). Chicago Pro Musica. Reference Record­ ings RR-29. (LP and CD.) A Walk on the Weill Side. Helen Schneider. CBS Masterworks MK45703 (CD); MT 45703 (cas­ sette).

Kurt Weil l Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 16 BOOKS

snippets of information, diary entries, un­ for the most part, but effective, and crucial to published earlier versions, or textual vari­ the understanding of the tone and mood of BRECHT ants. Thus, the first question to be asked of the individual songs. (Any reader interested GROSSE KOMMENTIERTE the new edition must be: will it replace the in pursuing the question further could find BERLINER UND FRANKFURTER earlier ones from Suhrkamp and Aufbau? some, but by no means all, of the tunes AUSGABE Well, um, yes, and er, no. reproduced in Hennenberg's Das grosse But in at least one crucial respect, this Brecht-Liederbuch). To some, this may seem new enterprise is to be welcomed. For it a trivial objection. Yet Brecht's concept of aims to present "die autorisierten and Gestus and "gestic" language cannot be wirksam gewordenen Erstdrucke oder geht grasped without a look at its origins in sung­ bei postum erschienen Werke auf die Texte spoken delivery, performance situations, and aus dem NachlaB zurtick," together with an the way the aural-oral popular traditions are extensive (though by no means exhaustive) as important as the literary-scribal ones. Of critical apparatus divided into six categories: course, the musical sketches in the material Textgrundlage, Ubersicht, Entstehung, Text/ preserved in the Archive are at times diffi­ Fassungen, Wirkung, and Zeilenkommentar. cult to decipher, but some are quite clear, Stiickel Such an apparatus is vital to any understand­ and at least one or two of these should have Dir Bibel · BaaJ ( 1917) · Baal (1922) ing of Brecht's development (perhaps "twists Lcbcnslauf des Mannes Bui · T rommdn in dcr Nae ht been transcribed and included in such an Die H()('hz.cit · Der Settler oder Der tote Hund and turns," or his own quirky word "lavie­ edition. Er 1rt"ibt cinm T n.ifel aus • Lu• in m~bri, Oc:r Fisc.hz.ug · Pr1ric ren" would be the more appropriate term): The situation, however, is much more Im DK' kKh1 · Im Dickicht dtt Stidu- for he was always, compulsively reworking disturbing in the case of the next collection, earlier, perhaps unregenerate works, in the the Hauspostille of 1927. It is, strictly light of his later, more developed or "re­ speaking,factually wrong for the editors to formed" awarenesses. Changes in the text, note that the basis for their edition of the Bertolt Brecht: Werke. GroBe the repositioning of themes and elements work is Bertolt Brechts Hauspostille. Mit kommentierte Berliner und sometimes peripheral in earlier versions Anleitungen, Gesangsnoten und einem An­ Frankfurter Ausg. Hrsg. von closer to the center of a play's or poem's ar­ hang, Berlin 1927. For nowhere in this new Werner Hecht (u.a.) (Berlin: gument, the occasional drastic shifts in his edition are the Gesangsnoten to be found and Aufbau; Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, attitude to his central figures in the light of the single paragraph (p. 303) devoted to 1988) social and political developments (most some desultory comments on the sources Bd. 2. Stucke 2 (Bearb. von Jurgen Schebera.) obviously in the case of Galileo, butjustasin­ for the musical style makes no mention o( Bd. 3. Stucke 3 (Bearb. von Manfred Nossig.) triguingly and ambiguously in the case of the reasons for not including them. (Unless Bd. 4. Stucke 4 (Bearb. von Johanna Galy Gay, the positive-negative "hero" of there is a contemporary negative sub-tex­ Rosenberg und Manfred Nossig.) Mann ist Mann) - all these will now prove, tual hint to be gleaned from the editors' Bd. 5. Stucke 5 (Bearb. von Barbel Schrader und Gunther Klotz.) thanks to the new edition, much easier to earlier laconic observation that, in the case Bd. 11. Gedichte. 1. Sammlungen 1918- trace and comprehend. It is still far from the of the original: "Die Hauspostille .. .kommtzu 1938 (Bearb. von Jan und Gabriele Knopf.) ideal - a historical-critical edition which einer grosszugigen, [my italics) fi.ir Lyrik­ Bd. 12. Gedichte. 2. Sammlungen 1938- would probably pose problems even more Sammelungen jedoch nicht ungewohnlichen 1956 (Bearb. von Jan Knopf.) complex than those relating to Holderlin's typographischen Gestaltung" (p. 302)) . or Goethe's output- but that is, like the goal The scholar who wishes to study the Several years ago I seem to recall the in Brecht's poem 'To Those Born Later," first edition as it actually appeared must reviewer of some recent additions to the "far in the distance ... and I myself [read "we either track down the original, Klaus crop of Brecht-editions or Materialienbiinde readers") was [were) unlikely to reach it." Schuhmann's more recent facsimile reprint, commenting wryly that these would repre­ As was the case with the previous or the American Manual of Piety published sent yet a further installment in his already hardcover and softcover editions, the vol­ for the first time back in 1966, all of which considerable investment in money and umes are beautifully presented, with the contain the original melodies. A similar bookshelf space devoted to primary Brecht Garamond typeface looking both as elegant criticism applies in the case of Lieder Ge­ literature - and that the investment would and "sachlich" as ever. And the fact that the dichte Chore, published in Paris in 1934, undoubtedly need to be topped up again, edition is appearing simultaneously in the which also included thirty-two pages of music and yet again. As far as this latest edition is Federal Republic (Suhrkamp) and the GDR as well as the Brecht texts. In this case, one concerned, Weill scholars will probably be (Aufbau) is to be welcomed - as is the pres­ might have thought that publisher and edi­ better off than their Brecht counterparts: ence on the editorial committee of scholars tors could have heeded the relevance of the they will not have to contemplate buying all from both Germanys. The jacket design is, very clear message Brecht himself had thirty volumes in order to stay abreast of however, different; and here I would ex­ spelled out in a passage they quote on p. 366 material unpublished, forgotten, re-assigned, press a clear preference for the Aufbau ver­ of the commentary: "so fordert er [Brecht] rediscovered, or finally reprinted with com­ sion which lists on the front cover, below the die Redaktion von Internationaler mentaries that may throw up old problems generic title, the individual works included. Literatur ...auf, im Fall der Wiegenlieder die and new issues. And yet, right at the outset, there are Musik mitzudrucken, 'damit die Gedichte This may seem a rather grudging note some problems. Open Gedichte 1 and you Gebrauchswert erhalten."' Am I the only on which to begin a review of what is clearly, find the first cycle to be Lieder zur Klampfe reader prompted to murmur, "De te fabula?" on the evidence of these first six volumes, a von Bert Brecht und seinen Freunden. 1918, Such reservations aside, the first two valuable undertaking. But I cannot, offhand, a collection of poems Brecht put together for poetry volumes are a considerable achieve­ think of another twentieth-century author performance and for entertaining his ment, the explanatory material succinct and for whom the scholar - not to mention the Augsburg friends. The notes point out cor­ helpful (though suffering at times from libraries - has had to contemplate the need, rectly that "die Musik ... spielt ftir die comparison with John Willett's editorial every two or three years, to buy up one or Entstehung der Lieder ... eine wichtige Rolle." commentary and notes in the English Poems several volumes which will invariably dupli­ (p. 289). Yet nowhere in the edition is a bar 1913-56). The major discoveries to be made cate much of what he or she already has, of this music to be found, nor even the barest here are the various collections of sonnets merely in order to obtain a few additional attempt at describing its idiom - primitive Brecht worked on over the years. Some

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 17 BOOKS

have been published previously, others have (p. 444)? Tum to p. 342 of the notes to ter audience in such a form. Besides, apart been known of, but for the first time. the Gedichte 1 which includes Die Songs der from the odd witty rhyme or pun, they are editors have brought together all the son­ Dreigroschenoper, and the omission is recti­ very obviously "occasional" pieces-though nets Brecht prepared for (mostly unreal­ fied but still without indicating that the the new version of an incident from Act I, ized) publication in his lifetime. Foremost composer F.S. Brunier had worked with scene iii where, instead of five cripples, a here are the Augsburger Sonette and the Brecht on the earlier settings. And surely, journalist comes to seek registration with thirteen sonnets written over a period of though some stories gain in the retelling, it Peachum after he has been blacklisted for roughly three years to Margarete Stettin. is now a little late to be trying that sort of disclosing details of massacres in the Bel­ Brecht himself had no compunction about thing for the tale of the impetus for the gian Congo, is savagely funny and wholly referring to the bulk of these as porno­ writing of the Moritat. It's presented once accurate in its satire on the links of Euro­ graphic, and they seem to have filled for him on p. 428 of Volume 2 and again, in slightly pean business concerns (nowadays read: a purpose similar to Joyce's letters to his different, extended form, on p. 341 of Vol­ and American) with Black (read: South) wife, Nora. But if pornographic they are ume 11: would not a simple "see page x" Africa. (and theLehrstuck Nr. 2., "Advice ofan older have been neater? Or did the publishers Mahagonny is rather more problematic. whore to a younger," is certainly, scurril­ really think that the reader, hungry for Die Suffice to say that anyone seeking to under­ ously that) , they are also virtuoso displays of Songs der Dreigroschenoper would not have stand the work's performance context would poetic (even sexual) technique and often hi­ thought of buying Die Dreigroschenoper as still have to keep David Drew's 1969 edition lariously funny. In these days of modernist, well? of the piano-vocal score for Universal [UE post-modernist, neo-subjective, neo-brutal­ If room can be found for that sort of 9851) close at hand to have any idea of the ist, and old-minimalist verses, it is relief to anecdote, why no mention of two equally theatrical effect and musico-dramatic func­ find a poet who could not only master the relevant details on which the notes are si­ tion of various sections. To give but one in­ sonnet as proficiently as Rilke and Auden lent: the fact that the legal actions brought stance: surely some method could have (and with considerably more fluency) but by Weill and Brecht against the Nero Film been decided upon to indicate to the reader can actually cause the reader to laugh out Company ended with rather different out­ that Moses' text at the beginning of scene 19 loud at some of the unexpected metric and comes, and the (to this reader, though also, (p. 382) is not - as the typographic layout physical stratagems. I hope, to others) deliciously ironic anec­ might lead one to conclude - to be sung, but However, if Brecht's major female col­ dote that KL. Ammer, after the plagiarism spoken. Much more complicated is any at­ laborators and partners might be said to lawsuit concerning the Villon translations tempt to try to reconcile the UE version with come well out of these volumes, the same used in Die Dreigroschenoper, was compen­ the text published here. Until both UE and cannot, alas, be said for his musical collabo­ sated fully, listed as a future royalty benefici­ Suhrkamp decide to pool their resources rators. The works written with Kurt Weill ary, and bought a vineyard from his pro­ and produce a working/study edition which, are included in volumes 2, 3, and 4, though ceeds? It might not say much about literary for example, incorporates Brecht's arguably for some reason, the Berliner Requiem, which or theatrical culture in Weimar Germany, more sharply focused textual and scenic was performed and published and should but it certainly says something about the alterations in scenes 19 and 20 (Schebera have warranted inclusion, is glaringly ab­ commodity value of the artwork, as well as speaks of the replacement of the "private" sent. But the editors responsible for each representing an interesting reversal of the action between Jim and Jenny and the ex­ volume could hardly be said to display uni­ familiar aphorism from Die Dreigroschen­ changes between soloists and chorus, by form (or even analogous) command of both oper "Ethics first, then grub," (or, in this the dominating presence of the chorus and aspects of this subject. case, grapes). consequent highlighting of the social di­ Jtirgen Schebera is predictably helpful The "heikle Frage" ofwhatBrechtdid to mension (p. 462)) with the musical adjust­ and knowledgeable on Die Dreigroschen­ some passages and several songs from the ments Weill himself accepted as appropri­ oper and the two Mahagonnys. Particularly work is discussed in the notes and pre­ ate, any director or conductor tackling the valuable - indeed essential in such an edi­ sented in the published variants. Person­ piece with their own texts (and pre-estab­ tion - is the evidence he adduces, in the form ally, I have always found little to cavil at in lished views), can expect a re-staging of the of information concerning published sheet Brecht's relaxed attitude to such outmoded old "Prima la musica, poi le parole" conflict music and record releases (pp. 439-40) , to nineteenth- and twentieth-century notions as a curtain-raiser to any rehearsal period. demonstrate the widespread popularity of as the inviolate sanctity of the poetic text. With Volume 3, however, the flaws and the former work in pre-Nazi Germany. At a Any author concerned primarily with re­ vagaries of this edition emerge more clearly. time when Andrew Lloyd-Whoever and his flecting changing social conditions and atti­ Manfred N ossig's editorial material relating Terribly Useful Music Factory send their tudes and speaking to his time rather than to to all the Brecht-Weill collaborations is mass-produced article out on to the stages of a closed group of scholars or aficionados, is sometimes inadequate, often misleading. the world with the Biblical admonition "Go placing a real.functional value on his work. The reader is told (p. 402) that for the first forth and multiply," it is still worth remem­ "If in its earlier form, it cannot be made to performance of Der lindberghf/,ug in July bering that by January 1933 - and without speak to new times and contemporary is­ 1929, Weill composed seven of the fourteen the benefits of laser-technology and -eyed sues, then change it," was Brecht's attitude. musical numbers, Hindemith six, with one marketing men, considerable private wealth, Inevitably, this poses problems when spe­ scene containing music by both; but who and a promoting organization that might cific texts had specific musical settings pro­ actually wrote what is left to the reader's teach Saatchi and Saatchi a thing or two - vided for them; butthe new versions of those powers of intuition. And I may have been Die Dreigroschenoper had clocked up over Dreigroschenoper songs Brecht provided for suffering from a surfeit of Brecht commen­ ten thousand performances in eighteen lan­ post-war performances in Germany are taries by this stage, but I simply gave up guages in Europe alone. shown, ironically enough, in this edition, to trying to work out which 1929-30 sections Along with such detail and the excerpted have outlived any possible future function were in-out-re-allocated-not sung, not pub­ responses of Adorno, Stuckenschmidt, simply by virtue of the number of footnotes lished, or where the original sections in the Pinthus et al. , the commentary section also they require. The footnotes for the whole of April 1929 version began and ended. As for displays some inconsistencies and puzzling Die Dreigroschenoper occupy roughly two the text's relation to Weill's score, p. 403 omissions. Why, for example, are we told in pages; the notes required for the "new" informs us that the 1930 piano-vocal score the case of Die Seerauber-]enny that the songs with their references to Hitler's sa­ consisted of 15 sections but gives no indica­ poem dates from 1927, yet this information traps, occupy just over a page. Not much tion of what is sung and by whom. Such is withheld in the case of the Barbara-Song likelihood of those songs speaking to a thea- omissions might perhaps be considered

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 18 BOOKS

acceptable if the reconstruction of the theat­ posed his first orchestral work, the Marcile rical details and context of the first perform­ Vainqueur - A Festival March for Complete ance allowed the reader to visualize the text Orchestra. Later, he abandoned a troubled as staged. But when the editor quotes two academic career at the University of Penn­ brief remarks from Brecht about the sort of sylvania to enroll as one of the first students production-values and -effects he was aim­ at the newly established Curtis Institute of ing at and omits the surely significant- even Music in 1924. In the early twenties, he com­ semiological-detail that the listener is to be muted to New York to study with Alexander represented by "ein Mann in Hemdarmeln Siloti. By the middle of the decade he was mit der Partitur [who] ... summt, spricht und studying with Rosario Scalero, who was also singt den Lindberghpart" (Briefe, p. 149), Virgil Thomson's teacher and later the one wonders what the criteria were for se­ mentor of Samuel Barber, Gian Carlo lecting editorial material. Menotti, and Lucas Foss. During this time, The]asager and Neinsager commentar­ Blitzstein wrote notably of his appreciation ies are likewise somewhat sketchy, with for jazz works as "authentic pieces of art." barely a page devoted to the Wirkung sec­ Also during this period he made the ac­ tion. This is surely odd, as I possess some quaintance of Berenice Skidelsky, who - UE publicity material which speaks of the along with Jo, his sister, and Eva Goldbeck, work as "ein Ereignis im deutschen Schulle­ his future wife - would remain one of Blitz­ ben" and includes lengthy excerpts from stein's closest confidants and advisors and reviews from nine critics, including Ein­ later count as the source of remarkably keen stein, Stuckenschmidt and Pringsheim, none and sensitively drawn insights into the com­ of whom receives a mention in the notes. poser's personal life. And lest it be thought these were merely In the late 1920's, Blitzstein longed for musicological responses, it should be said a specific American musical style which he that Brecht's text, together with Weill's Mark the Music: The Life and believed had not yet emerged from the cul­ score, receives some favorable and crisply Work of Marc Blitzstein By Eric ture. In his song settings of Whitman poems worded comment in the reviews. Given that A. Gordon. New York: St. Martin's Press. (1925-1928), the composer felt that he had the editor's work on the dramas in Volume 4 1989. 605 p. touched upon a musical language marked is both wide-ranging and informative, should by a uniquely American inflection and wed­ one assume that such documents were A veritable Who's Who of mid-cen­ ded to indigenous texts. Soon after, how­ merely overlooked? tury American musical culture, Eric ever, he left for Europe where he was to The notes on Die sieben Todsunden der Gordon's, Mark the Music: The life and undertake his study with Nadia Boulanger Kleinburger (sic) are somewhat puzzling on Work of Marc Blitzstein is a vast and long and Arnold Schoenberg. During this time, the question: with or without der Kleinburger? overdue biography of the man who, accord­ the highly politicized plays of Berto It Brecht We are told the two additional words are ing to Aaron Copland, "made indigenous and other left-wing playwrights were inspir­ there in Brecht's handwriting on the earliest American opera possible." He was a com­ ing a simpler and more direct musical thea­ typescript, that the ballet was originally plex personality and a significant contribu­ ter, like that of Weill, to surface in Berlin. entitled Die sieben Todsunden, and, in tor to twentieth-century American musical Wary of Schoenberg's high-brow twelve-tone Brecht's lifetime, was known only under this theater. His best-known work, The Cradle idiom, and partly the result of the deep title. But when the addition was made is Will Rock, is the fruit of hit-and-miss musical support of communism he had seen in Ger­ unclear. So why the opting in favour of the experimentation, representing an avid com­ many, Blitzstein began writing a number of expanded title-a decision seemingly at odds mitment to left-wing causes. Apparently an communist-theme musical theater works. with the principle of printing "die autori­ exceptional pianist and certainly a tireless Gordon points out that Blitzstein's long-lived sierten und wirksam gewordenen Erst­ composer, Blitzstein strove to incorporate and impassioned commitment to commu­ drucke?" Is there not a slight inconsistency communist philosophy (in a time of bur­ nism may be more the product of a second­ here, particularly when one notes that Die geoning McCarthyism) into his musical aes­ hand knowledge of communist philosophy Hochzeit is to appear in Volume 1 under that thetic. Moreover, he bears the distinction of than of a personal reading of Marx or Stalin. title, and not the expanded one? These are being the only American composer to have This notion is poignantly dramatized in Blitz­ perhaps minor objections, but a few words of studied both with Arnold Schoenberg and stein's silence about, if not ignorance of, the explanation might have helped, particularly Nadia Boulanger, thereby being influenced, Soviet Union's lack of artistic freedom and since, in the material relating to the Galileo­ though not without criticism, by two seem­ retrogressive attitude about homosexuality, complex, space is found for such essentially ingly diametrically opposed approaches to two issues with which Blitzstein himself irrelevant information as the first recorded musical composition. About Kurt Weill, the struggled most painfully throughout his life. use in English of the expression "making young Blitzstein was harshly critical but Blitzstein's appreciation for Kurt mountains out of molehills" - not, I trust, a later became a deep admirer and, it can be Weill's music was not immediate. In 1928, remark applicable to the reservations ex­ argued, imitator of Weill's musical style. he found Weill's music, including Die pressed in this review. Born in 1905 of a Russian Jewish Dreigroschenoper, "ugly because it is char­ banking family in Philadelphia, Blitzstein acterless." Yet, he thought there was poten­ Michael Morley received a privileged musical education. His tial in the young Weill. But again, back in Bedford Park, Australia initial passion was for the piano, and he America in 1931, he characterized Die Drei­ demonstrated considerable ability and prom­ groschenoper performances at Philadelphia ise for a professional career. Blitzstein as "not so good." Weill was not in bad dabbled in composition from his early teens company, though. Blitzstein was similarly but, daunted by the manifest talent of his critical of Bartok, Berg, Richard Strauss, favorite pianists (which included Vladimir and Hindemith. Conversely, in 1935 he Horowitz) he directed himself ambitiously found Lotte Lenya "a special talent," charm­ toward composition; by fifteen he had com- ing and enigmatic. Over the years Blitzstein's opinion of Weill was, of course, transformed.

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 19 BOOKS PERFORMANCES

Briefly noted ... Although the reasons for this are not made Rise and Fall of the City of immediately clear, certainly Blitzstein came The Brecht Memoir By Eric Bentley Mahagonny Los Angeles Music to appreciate Weill's cross-over idiom be­ with an introduction by Martin Esslin. Center Opera, Jonathan Miller tween serious and popular music. In fact, stage director, Kent Nagano'. Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock (1937) is Manchester. Carcanet Press, 1989. 135 p. clearly indebted to Weill's musical style, musical director, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17 even so much to have elicited the comment Eric Bentley has amended and enlarged September 1989 from Weill: "Have you seen my new opera?" his Brecht Memoir, first published by PAJ Blitzstein began making his English ad­ Publications in 1985 (see review in Vol. 4, It took a certain bravery for the Los aptation of Die Dreigroschenoper early in No. 2) . Besides making corrections to the Angeles Music Center Opera - only in its 1950, and soon after Weill's death that same first edition, Bentley adds a "postscript," fourth season and remarkably successful so year he wrote that he believed the "Moritat wherein he shares some personal notes about far despite the predictions of some of the to be one of the great songs of the century." his upbringing, education, and career. town's most outspoken naysayers - to Marc Blitzstein committed a goodly portion subsume Mahagonny into its agenda so soon. of his later life to finding appropriate venues The Idea of Gebrauchsmusik: A But Peter Hemmings' fledgling company for his own important compositions. Though Study of Musical Aesthetics in knows no fears; its list of previous successes it was a 1930's period piece, Cradle enjoyed the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) includes works as daunting as Katya Kaba­ nova and Wozzeck. Somebody, after the long many performances through the 1950's; the with Particular Reference to the New York City Ballet premiered The Guests and famous Los Angeles operatic drought, is Works of Paul Hindemith. By finally doing something right. (Most of the in 1955, and the City Opera offered a produc­ Stephen Hinton. New York: Garland, tion of Regina that same year. The com­ time, anyhow.) poser suffered a number of debacles, as 1989. 246 p. There was, furthermore, some delicious well, such as his musical adaptation of King irony at work in casting the Weill-Brecht Lear, which was performed and directed by Stephen Hinton's The Idea of Ge­ agitprop masterpiece onto the stage of the Orson Welles. brauchsmusik ... represents a new title in Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for five perform­ Weill himself did not think much of the Garland series "Outstanding Disserta­ ances in September, in the midst of the Blitzstein's music, except that he felt Blitz­ tions in Music From British Universities," Music Center Association's gala self-cele­ stein copied his style. Gordon's book rec­ John Caldwell, editor. Completed in 1984 at bration of twenty-five years' survival - a capi­ ords a number of instances in which Weill the University of Birmingham under the talist orgy if ever one was. And just in case wields a sense of superiority over Blitzstein, supervision of Nigel Fortune, the disserta­ the irony might go unnoticed, stage director demonstrating a peculiar professional inse­ tion is organized into three parts: 'The Idea Jonathan Miller and designer Robert Israel curity. However, Weill did appreciate the of Gebrauchsmusik," "Weimar as a Musical set their Mahagonny not in the customary American composer's literary talents and it Epoch: From Expressionism to Neue Sach­ vaguely Floridian desert but on a Hollywood is significant that Weill's legacy in America lichkeit," and "Hindemith." soundstage circa 1930. And why not? After thus far lies not in his American works (as he Hinton, who is currently on the faculty of all, Otto Friedrich's penetrating study of had hoped), but rather his "adapted" Ger­ the Technische Universitat in Berlin, is a Hollywood's palmy days (written with fine man work, The Threepenny Opera, which is regular contributor to the Kurt Weill Brechtian thrust and irony) does call itself marked by Blitzstein's clearly discemable Newsletter and has recently finished work on "City of Nets." (The opera, in Michael Fein­ thumbprint. Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera, soon to gold's updated if not upgraded translation, Gordon makes much of Blitzstein's be published by Cambridge University Press. does not; however, it settles for "Spider-Weh homosexuality and personal struggle with City," which strikes me as somewhat relationships, which is, doubtless interest­ Studien zur Berliner clumsy.) ing in its own right. But the biography is Musikgeschichte: Musikkultur Even so, the Hollywood setting raised cluttered with tangential characters and der zwanziger Jahre Edited by Klaus some hackles. "Lights, Cameras, Inaction," events, and frequently the discussion de­ Mehner and Joachim Lucchesi . Berlin growled the Los Angeles Times' implacable generates into a rudimentary chronology of (GDR): Henschelverlag, 1989. 156 p. Martin Bemheimer. Actually, however, the events propped up by chatty and gossipy ir­ Hollywood setting receded almost immedi­ relevancies about the composer's life-long The editors have chosen nine wide-rang­ ately in one's awareness. The framework of struggle with what are ultimately normal ing essays by leading German musicolo­ the primitive sound stage, with the tired old human difficulties and failings. These faults gists for inclusion in this collection: "'Dein car bursting through a fake wall at the start, notwithstanding, the value of the book rests Tanzer ist der Tod!' Leben in den Zwan­ and with Robert Israel's buildings obviously in its re-introduction of an important figure zigem" by Kirsten Beuth; "Stefan Wolpe: consisting of false fronts easily rotating to of American music, putting the sources of Ein fast vergessener Berliner Komponist" reveal other, well, false fronts, made its his life and work before the American pub­ by Eberhardt Klemm; "Zur Stellung Ferruc­ reasonable, Brechtian statement: all the lic. The volume also presents the case for cio Busonis im Berliner Musikleben" by world's a stage, and we are only props. the high quality and importance of works Jutta Theurich; "Arnold Schoenberg und Miller, already a Music Center Opera wrought by communist artists earlier in this seine Berliner Schiller" by Mathias Hansen; veteran (with a cutesy-poo Mikado and a century, when a cultural isolationism - and "'Ein Theater fur alle Tage': Aufstieg und powerful Tristan und Isolde to his credit) had even fear - determined taste for many Ameri­ Fall der Krolloper" by Joachim Lucchesi; his own strong ideas: basically, to de-Bre­ cans. It is hoped that this book will prompt "Filmspezifische Musik" by Wolfgang Thiel; chtify the framework of the opera by doing producers to put Blitzstein's compositions "Zur Rolle des Rundfunks der Weimarer Re­ away with the placards and processionals onto their repertoire lists and inspire schol­ publik als asthetische Avantgarde" by Stefan (and also most of the narration) and, in his ars to continue researching this rich period Amzoll; "Berlin und das Neue in der Musik" words, "to liberate a small, naturalistic drama of American music. by Klaus Mehner; and "Berliner Musikkri­ from its confines of didactic Marxist tik" by Frank Schneider. The slim, paper­ twaddle." In this he cannot be faulted; his Brian Byrnes back volume, commissioned by the vision of the great score could, under proper New York University Akademie der Ktinste der DDR, was pro­ circumstances, have stood in for the basis of duced directly from typescript. a thrilling evening of abrasive, compelling, musical theater. The Israel sets, likewise-

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 20 PERFORMANCES

At no time were the talents of the Detroit Symphony more in evidence than in the Chamber Orchestra's concert of 30 April. The inclusion on the program of Weill's Concerto (along with works by Elgar, Haydn and Bolcom) proved particularly refreshing; although this piece is perhaps one of the more frequently performed ofWeill' s instru­ mental works, it is hardly yet a mainstay of the violin concerto repertory. However, the Concerto (1924) remains a fascinating com­ position, and it is quite moving when per­ formed as well as it was here. One wonders if this concert led those who know only Weill's later stage pieces to explore his ear­ lier works of the 1920's. Theodor Adorno once wrote that this piece "stands isolated and alien: that is, in Billy (John Atkins), Jimmy (Gary Bachlund) and Jenny (Anna Steiger) the right place." As several scholars have share spirits in the tavern. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Los pointed out, the piece is certainly not "iso­ Angeles Music Center Opera. Photo: Frederic Obringer. lated" from musical trends of the late nine­ despite their insistence on sand colors and rior diction of the cast. teenth and early twentieth centuries; paral­ grey (an Israel cliche, if you remember his One thing the Music Center Opera has lels can be seen with Stravinsky, Hindemith, Akhnaten in Houston and New York) - did developed has been a solid repertory en­ Schonberg, and even Mahler. Yet in its serve to establish some strong thoughts on semble of solo singers, and some of these harmonic structure, polyphonic clarity, and character: Begbick in her garish golden were good enough to keep the opera afloat use of a musical language (particularly in the gowns right off Theda Bara, Jenny in her in its bad moments: Greg Fedderly as a solo part) which is at times profoundly lyri­ white-on-white (ha!ha!) virginity. curiously slender Fatty, Jonathan Mack as cal and at times almost brutally angular, the Unfortunately, the operatic powers-that­ Jakob in his deliriously funny calf-eating Concerto is, in fact, strikingly original for its be chose to torpedo some of the high con­ scene, Michael Gallup as a resonantTrinity­ time, in some ways foreshadowing ideas cept that director and designer brought to Moses. The Begbick was another company that Weill was to use in his later stage works, the work. Kent Nagano, a fast-rising young regular, Marvellee Cariaga; she did push and in other ways showing experimental conductor already ensconced on the inter­ the pitch somewhat, in her best Katisha avenues that Weill would neglect after national circuit (California born, and a one­ manner; against memories of previous moving to the U.S. time protege of Seiji Ozawa in the Bay Area) Begbicks, however, there was a musicality Geoffrey Applegate, principal second either perpetrated or acquiesced to a drastic in Cariaga's style that discouraged reproach. violinist with the DSO, was the soloist in this series of cuts in the score that lopped off The lovers were Gary Bachlund and performance. Although technically nearly some forty-five minutes of music and, worse, Anna Steiger (Rod Steiger's and Claire flawless, the performance was most notable distorted the timing of the work. Some Bloom's kid). Again, memories of former for a warmth of expression. In some hands, scenes were chopped in half; latter stanzas Jimmies (Cassilly at the Met, and the sour much of this music can take on a rather icy even of songs as familiar as "Denn wie man tenors on both recordings) may have made quality; however, Applegate approached the sich bettet," not to mention both "Alabama" Bachlund sound better than he actually was, more abrasive passages with the same depth and "Benares," were missing; the result but I heard him as a bright, youthful tenor of feeling with which he interpreted the veered dangerously in the direction of "Ma­ with a thread of the heroic in both voice and lyrical sections. And for all his seriousness hagonny's Greatest Hits." And why? The manner. Steiger, sweet to behold, was not of purpose, he obviously enjoyed himself as work as written is not long; furthermore, quite up to this, however; it's a pretty voice well, especially in the charming duet be­ this distorted reading (with often-cut she has, but it says nothing about the char­ tween violin and bass in the "Notturno." "Crane's Duet" included but stuck in the acter. Mimi yes; Jenny no. The rest of the ensemble performed wrong place) seemed unduly protracted. admirably. Particularly lovely were the clari­ Some of this might have been helped by Alan Rich net duet at the beginning of the first move­ a stronger musical concept, but Nagano had Los Angeles ment and the crucial (though brief) solo none to offer. Given a splendid pit band in passages for horn and flute in the first and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (with Concerto for Violin and Wind second movements. Throughout the piece the most seductive saxophones you'll ever Orchestra Detroit Symphony the group maintained a clarity of sound hear in some of Weill's most eloquent Chamber Orchestra, Stephen which, though it owes much to Weill's tal­ moments), Nagano seemed lacking in any Stein, conductor; Geoffrey ents as an orchestrator, could still have been sense of onward thrust, the music often just obliterated by a mediocre performance. lay there. Considering that the opera is a co­ Applegate, violinist. 28-30 April Unfortunately there were also occasional production with the Geneva and Kentucky 1989 flaws: Stein's tempi were sometimes too Operas, and, with Nagano's own Opera de slow; the opening of the "Notturno" was Lyon also possibly involved, there may be As this review is written in late summer, particularly lead-footed, and Applegate sad news ahead for those cities. Let's as­ the future of the Detroit Symphony seems to seemed the only performer able to project sume, anyhow, that Geneva and Lyon will be be hanging by a thread. Like so many first­ the humor of this section; the ensemble's spared the fussy new Feingold translation, a rate ensembles in the U.S., theorchestrahas attacks in the final movement were not al­ far remove from his earlier text for the great been plagued by financial difficulties and ways precise. But these were only minor Yale revivals in the early 1970's, full of "s"­ distressingly low attendance. Detroit (con­ faults in what was generally an exceptional words and other titillations, and needlessly tinually attempting to upgrade its national performance. underscored in Los Angeles by running image) needs especially to maintain a high­ Jeffrey Taylor supertitles rendered needless by the supe- caliber musical organization. Detroit

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 21 PERFORMANCES

Happy End Court Theater, Happy End rounds to the delight of the only the necessary rhythmic precision and Chicago. 3 March- 9 April 1989. youthful audience, while a shapely blonde sharp accentuation but in the end lost what­ announcing each round in the nude was ever drive it did have at the outset. A young enthusiastic cast, a sympathetic savored by some older gentlemen in particu­ When all is said and done, much of the audience, an intimate theater where the lar. The Chicago production to its lasting blame must fall on a musical direction that "stage" forms an integral part of a circular credit eschewed the boxing ring as much as was, to put it mildly, unconvincing, possibly arrangement that ensures close contact the cheap gimmicks that disfigure so many because it never managed to come to terms between actors and onlookers, an effective current productions. Instead, there was with the peculiarities of Weill's post-Three­ split-stage set Geff Bauer), imaginatively plenty of action and interaction, more per­ penny music. Mere lack of acquaintance used by a fine director (Linda Brovsky), ap­ haps than the songs warrant. But then, with the period and style in question, how­ propriate costumes (Anne Jaros), and com­ therein lies one of Happy End's most ob­ ever, does not fully explain such a lackluster petent lighting (Rita Pietraszek) - all this streperous problems: how much horseplay performance on the part of the members of and much more should make for a most will the music tolerate and vice versa? Linda the University of Chicago's excellent New satisfying evening of entertainment. And so Brovsky, in a succinct program note, re­ Music Ensemble who, far from doing their it did in many respects last March at the ferred to the plot's contemporary relevance appointed share in carrying the action for­ Court Theater of the University of Chicago, in terms of both implicit and explicit social ward, accompanied at best and at worst except that it reminded this reviewer far contradictions, only to assert: "add Kurt provided mere background. Their awkward more of New York's Broadway than Berlin's Weill's cheery, toe-tapping songs about God, placement above and behind the open stage Schiffbauerdamm. sex, and violence - and you have Happy no doubt helped to obscure the true quality Happy End, to be sure, may well be the End." Had she understood that Weill's songs of the instrumental sound. It certainly pre­ most problematic product of the short-lived (never mind the epithets!) represent the cluded any kind of meaningful communica­ Weill-Brecht collaboration: two writers very essence of the show, things might have tion between the actor-singers and a con­ whose respective contributions are still been altogether different. ductor reduced to beating a measure. Given awaiting full clarification; a rather lightweight Michael Feingold's adaptation admit­ such minor yet disconcerting handicaps, and at times confusing story with the Lord's tedly plays havoc with any serious attempt to the vocal performances could legitimately private Salvation Army and Chicago's gang­ render the music its proper due. For, it claim extenuating circumstances, the more sters as stand-ins for good and evil; cliche interferes time and again with the character­ so, as the smaller parts in particular deserve figures from the Chicago underworld of the istic bite of the melodic-rhythmic pattern­ a good deal of praise, and the cast as a whole prohibition era, culled directly, it seems, ing. Thus, her valiant effort notwithstand­ displayed a sense of mutual responsibility from some early talking movie; an author or ing, there was no way Shannon Cochran that Kurt Weill, for one, would have cher­ part-author fascinated with prize-fighters as could articulate Hell's Lily's Ballad ished. metaphors for the modern world and, there­ adequately vivace, as mandated by the fore, suggesting a boxing ring as the ideal composer. Feingold's text runs directly Alexander L. Ringer stage for fifteen rounds of play; a composer counter to the authors' single measure phras­ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign flushed with recent unexpected success and ing. Why, on the other hand, Jonathan Weir hence in danger of repeating himself, writ­ should have taken the beginning of the liq­ Marie Galante. Happy End. ing, moreover, for a band geared to the uor dealer's "Moritat" as fast as he did is (Concert versions) The Redwoods incisive sounds of Berlin cabaret during the beyond comprehension. As for Ann Arvia's Summer Music Festival, Chalk Hill declining years of the Weimar Republic, Lillian, her pleasant operatic voice was quite Winery near Santa Rosa, etc., etc. In short, an unending list of poten­ out of character. Looking and acting very well indeed, she nevertheless sang her so­ California. Ryan Brown, tial pitfalls faces anyone bold enough to conductor. 20 August 1989. tackle a task as forbidding as it is potentially cio-political piece de resistance, the "Lieuten­ rewarding, provided everything somehow ant of the Lord," as if totally unaware of its The Redwoods Summer Music Festival falls into place. textual implications, let alone Weill's musi­ at the Chalk Hill Winery near Santa Rosa, Some years ago in Frankfurt, German cal allusions to communist :fighting songs. California presented on 20 August the West television's Colombo turned up between Her "Sailor's Tango," in turn, lacked not Coast premiere ofWeill's songs and inciden­ tal music to the play Marie Galante by Jac­ ques Deval and a concert performance of Happy End. Concert attendants that after­ noon were shuttled up to the Wedding Park, a grassy knoll and grove of trees with a lovely view of the surrounding hills and vineyards. While no doubt an idyllic setting for connubial rites, it seemed less ideal for concert performances; the musicians had to deal with the concomitant problems of wind and sound amplification. Ryan Brown, a New York-based musi­ cian, organized the event and conducted members of the Santa Rosa Symphony. Soprano Lucy Shelton was scheduled to perform but had to cancel because of illness. (Oddly enough, the last time I attended a performance of Happy End, albeit a fully staged one at the Berkeley Repertory The­ atre, a substitution was made for the female Gang leaders Bill Cracker (David Nisbet) and Doctor Nakamura lead, also.) Judy Ruth Hubbell, a San Fran­ (Larry Russ) show off a soft shoe routine in Happy End at cisco Bay Area soprano, did an admirable Chicago's Court Theatre. Photo: David Sutton

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 22 RECORDINGS

job taking on a program obviously intended showman Larry Kert took the role of] ohnny for Ms. Shelton. Johnson as narrator, and the Western Wind Marie Galante is unusual among Weill's Vocal Ensemble, six New York-based sing­ works. Composed in 1934 during his stay in ers, assumed various singing roles and also Paris, it retains the use of distinctly W eillian formed the chorus. Rhonda Kess led the St. harmonies and rhythmic patterns derived Luke's Chamber Ensemble. from popular song and dance forms, while Ms. Kess, who was certainly the motive achieving a synthesis in the French idiom. force behind the performance, conducted Ms. Hubbell did well; hers is a pleasant voice with great nuance and obvious affection for with accurate pitch and excellent control, the score. The orchestra brought out the and she succeeded in conveying the dra­ delicacy of Weill's orchestrations (particu­ matic content of the music without resorting larly in "Johnny's Dream," where the piano, to histrionics. She was accompanied by an two violins, and vibraphone created a ensemble consisting of the original instru­ moment of aural magic) and played with all mentation-two violins, viola, bass, three the verve and bounce Weill's music demands. doubling woodwinds, two trumpets, one This ensemble shows a flair for Weill's thea­ trombone, percussion, guitar (doubling ter music, and I will look forward to future banjo), piano (doubling harmonium), and performances of his scores under Ms. Kess's accordion. Being unfamiliar with the inci­ baton. The Western Wind sang well and dental music and its genesis, I was surprised with the evident enjoyment that informs all by Weill's self-borrowing, i.e. to recognize their performances. Cheryl Bensman Rowe "Das Lied von der harten Nuss" from Happy was noteworthy as the Statue of Liberty and End when the ensemble began the "Scene suitably flirtatious in "Mon Ami, My Friend." au dancing." Mr. Kert was a likeable narrator and dis­ An intermission was followed by a con­ played his usual show-biz panache in cert performance of Happy End, sung in the "Johnny's Song." more ribald English translation of Michael Some reservations must be noted, how­ Feingold. Ms. Hubbell was joined by bari­ ever. Most seriously, the orchestra, placed Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt tone J. Sean Mattingly; a five-voice chorus on the tiny Merkin Concert Hall stage be­ Mahagonny, Koiner Rundfunk­ rounded out the forces. Mr. Mattingly has a hind the singers proved to be overwhelming orchester. Jan Latham-Konig, full and confident-sounding voice which proj­ throughout, with the result that the lyrics cond. Capriccio (CD: 10-160/61) ects well; I doubt if the use of the micro­ were often inaudible. Balance is often prob­ phone would have been essential. His jaunty lematic in Merkin Hall and, consequently, In his own explanations of delivery, however, lacked that sense of moral Ms. Kess might have been more sensitive to Aujstieg und ambiguity or hint of menace essential to a projection. Mr. Kert, seated at a podium, Fall derStadt Mahagonny Weill was anxious Weill-Brecht protagonist. Ms. Hubbell was miked. to stress the autonomous character of the continued to shine, demonstrating an un­ The narration, given over wholly to music. 'The subject matter of the opera," he derstanding of the gestic style. She faltered Johnny, presented the character as much asserted, "made possible a structure based only once, in the "Ballad of the Lily of Hell," too sophisticated to have been the simple on purely musical laws" (Vorwort zum as one hand grasped hat to head against the American Schweik that Green and Weill Regiebuch). The libretto, conversely, "is rising wind. The brief choral numbers were intended; the plot and consequent involve­ actually structured from a purely musical nearly inaudible at times because of amplifi­ ment of the other characters was minimal. point of view" Oetterto Universal Edition, 18 November 1927). It is almost as if his opera cation problems. Rather than this newly-conceived narration, Although not without its flaws, most I would have preferred an abridged reading aesthetic (or rather, Busoni's) had been truly due to circumstances beyond the per­ of the original script. As John McGlinn's conceived with the prospect of concert per­ formers control, this overall commendable concert performances of early musical formances and sound recording already in performance provided an enjoyable comedies have shown, this solution is a mind. On its own, divested of the visual di­ mension, the score does indeed make per­ afternoon. Happy End always merits a listen, practical and by far the best alternative to an but one wonders why it has taken fifty-five actual staged production. fect musical sense. But that's also the prob­ years for Marie Galante to be heard on the Ms. Kess should be applauded for in­ lem: the stage business is dispensed with. West Coast. With any luck, there won't be cluding a vast amount of Weill's underscor­ Less self-sufficient music serves to under­ nearly so long a wait for the next opportu­ ing, which offers some of the best moments score the drama - drama which becomes conspicuous in recordings by its very ab­ nity, and one hopes under more favorable in the score. A small disappointment was conditions. the lack of previously unrecorded music. sence. The alert listener, aware of that Except for Minnie Belle's brief "Farewell, absence, is invited to compensate imagina­ Michael Colby Good-bye," all of the music performed is tively. Not so with Aufstieg. In this sense, San Francisco available on the excellent Polydor reissue recordings of the work are an even poorer recording. Favorites from the score, such as substitute for actual stage productions than Aggie's "Sewing Machine Song" and 'The with less autonomous scores. Johnny Johnson (Concert Generalities aside, there are two spe­ Performance) Merkin Concert Psychiatry Song" were missing; but, given the time restraints of a half-evening concert, cific ways in which this new recording puts Hall, Rhonda Kess, conductor. 14 the work at a further remove from the thea­ September 1989. the program presented enough material for the audience to understand the main plot ter than is actually necessary. First, it omits development. The enthusiastic audience the summarizing captions. Brecht saw these A concert performance of selections from as an essential ingredient of epic theater; Johnny Johnson was held on 14 September reception suggested that a full-fledged pro­ duction is long overdue. Weill as a neat way of avoiding bothersome 1989 as part of Merkin Concert Hall's ''Voices spoken dialogue. Second, the execrable of Change: American Music of Protest, delivery of the small amount of spoken dia­ Politics and Persuasion" series. Veteran Brian E. Drake New York logue is by far the weakest aspect of this

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 23 RECORDINGS

otherwise admirable production. Jim a problem. Yet there is no denying that its gibility. At two minutes and twenty-one sec­ (Wolfgang Neumann) is a particularly seri­ absence represents a regrettable musical onds (the shortest piece on the disc), "Zu ous offender, turning at one point the per­ loss, however great the dramaturgical bene­ Potsdam" leaves the listener hungry for formance direction "ironic" into something fits. more. Thorofon would have done well to approaching "untutoredly indifferent." Al­ The star of this recording is undoubt­ add Weill's companion work, "Die Legende though there is no question that this record­ edly the conductor, Jan Latham-Konig, who vom toten Soldaten," to help counter the ing handsomely supersedes its 33-year-old does full justice to the score's claims to imbalance. predecessor, the new cast could still have musical autonomy. In taking Weill's tempo Also of interest are first recordings of usefully turned to Lenya and her associates indications seriously, at least for the most Krenek's Symphonie fur Blasinstrumente und for some lessons in acting. part, he gives the music a coherence and Schlagwerke, Op. 34, played with great sensi­ The delights, however, are many. As balance that I have never experienced be­ tivity by the RSO Berlin under Vinko Glo­ one might expect, the CD sound is excel­ fore in the opera house. The "Alabama bokar, and Hans Eisler's "Palmstrom." In an lent. The orchestral playing, apart from Song," for example, at its prescribed speed effective performance by Junko Ohtsu-Bor­ some unedited infelicities in the strings, is · (half-note = 69) allows the 6 "Madchen" to mann, Eisler's striking song cycle for so­ also of a very high standard. Thomas project a deliciously bored insouciance ("Oh prano and chamber ensemble bears more Lehrberger, as a lyrical Fatty, and Paul don't ask why") while revealing an internal than a superficial resemblance to Weill's Wolfrum, a sweet-toned Bill, are so assured musical connection (the rhythmical inver­ own song cycle for soprano and wind en­ in their relatively small roles that I regretted sion of anapests into dactyls) with its pidgin­ semble Frauentanz. Eisler's music is so on occasions that they hadn't been given English counterpart, the symmetrically rarely offered on recordings, and yet his something bigger. Although the principals placed "Benares Song." This latter song, in significance in the musical and theater world all put in fine performances, ultimately none fact, Latham-Konig takes at an even slower of the 20's and 30's commands an influence of them seems utterly at home with his or speed than prescribed; but it works. The on later generations of socially-conscious her allotted part. Anny Schlemm as Begbick, only serious departure from the score is the composers such as Blitzstein, Copland, and very firm in the lower register, has to strain "typhoon" fugue which for obvious dramatic Bernstein, that its inclusion here is doubly rather in the higher regions, being forced to reasons Weill required to be played molto welcome. The other selections are per­ apply vibrato of the "take-your-pick" variety. vivace. Here it sounds more like a piece of formed with suitable panache and convic­ Wolfgang Neumann is clearly on top of one Gabrieli gone neo-Classical. Latham-Konig tion; pianist Horst Gobel's playing of Grete of the hardest tenor roles in the repertory, has set a high standard for all future record­ von Zieritz's "Praludium und Fuge" is espe­ yet his Jim lacks a little of the both blameless ings ofMahagonnyto follow. The challenge cially notable. and defiant victim that goes with the role and that remains is to inject a greater sense of The program booklet in the attractive which a lighter, more lyrical voice might theater. package offers an Editor's Foreword, a brief convey. He manages the top C in "Nur die Stephen Hinton but informative overview of the musical scene Nacht," but only just. Anja Silja's Jenny is a Berlin (West) in Berlin in the 20's, and a set of notes in piece of analogous casting. She is perhaps a German, French, and English on the com­ little too mature and forceful for the part, posers and selections offered. On the nega­ comparable to Jessye Norman playing tive side, the disc is poorly indexed: each Carmen. Pianissimo (at the end of the Die Zwanziger Jahre Various work is given a single index point, with no "Alabama Song," for example) is a dynamic performers. Thorofon CTH 2043 (CD) indexing for the separate movements within marking that she naturally fights shy of. the piece. Texts for the songs are given in Following the music with the piano vocal Thorofon, which previously released German only, with no translations. score I was left wondering whether Miss Kurt Weill's Der Lindberghflug (as Der Horst Gobel states the rationale for the Silja or the score was at fault, particularly in Ozeanflug, Thorofon MTH 118), has now recording in the foreword: "Denn wie man sich bettet." In the verse she made another welcome addition to its ad­ The works have been chosen accord­ sings the word "kein" ("Ein Mensch ist kein venturous catalog. Die Zwanzig er ]ahre is an Tier") on an e2 rather than the printedP In ing to these criteria: the composer anthology of previously unrecorded music had to have lived in Berlin and the the refrain "hist" ("und wird einer getreten, composed in Berlin during that fruitful dec­ hist du's") is a d 2 rather than the written c #2, composition been written during the ade. Of major interest is the first commer­ designated period; the composer had (There is also a measure missing in Act II, cial recording of Weill's "Zu Potsdam unter five mm. after figure 33. Or does the score to have been of significance to the mu­ den Eichen," in the 1929 arrangement for sical scene in Berlin; the work chosen [p. 177] contain one bar too many?) male chorus. If one agrees with David Drew that should, if possible, be a first release "Zu Potsdam" was originally composed on records, so as to enhance the pres­ there is no ideal production of Mahagonny, by Weill to be sung by a male trio as the sixth just as there is no "definitive edition" (Kurt ently meager supply of recordings movement of Das Berliner Requiem and was from that era. Weill: a Handbook, p. 185), then there is a evidently broadcast by Radio Frankfurt at fortiori no "ideal" recording. Unlike the the cantata's premiere on 22 May 1929. Later Bravo to Thorofon for a courageous and 1956 recording, which introduced numer­ Weill set "Zu Potsdam" for a cappella male vitally necessary undertaking. ous cuts and transferred the "Kraniche­ chorus at the request of Erwin Stein of Uni­ Duett" to the "love" scene in Act II, the pro­ Brian E. Drake versal, for inclusion in that publisher's se­ New York ducers of this new one have elected to give ries of choral works, "Die rote Reihe." us everything in the Drew edition except the The piece is here sung expressively, if a Editor's Note. This recording was also re­ duet (and the reprise of "Lasst euch nicht trifle lugubriously (not at all out of place in leased on LP as part of a complete, 4-disc set verfilhren"). Perhaps they came to the this case), by the Staats- und Domchor of entitled Musik zwischen den Kriegen: Eine conclusion, like Drew, that "the truthfulness Berlin, under the direction of Christian Berliner Dokumentation on Thorofon Capella of Mahagonny may well be greatest when Grube. In this performance, the music ETHK 341/ 4. Each disc has a seperate the "Kraniche-Duett" is omitted." Its plac­ remains melodically and contrapuntally in­ theme: 1) Die Zwanziger ]ahre, 2) Die ing, not to mention its stylistic divergence teresting, yet the text gains complete intelli- Drei/Siger ]ahre, 3) Die Hochschule fur Mu­ from the rest of the opera, does indeed pose sik, 4) Die PreuBische Akademie der Kiinste.

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 24 RECORDINGS

Brecht-Weill Songs Gisela May, artiness applied to the soaring melodic arches cherishable music. All is style, all is slither; mezzo-soprano, with studio of "Surabaya?" What I get out of Schneider's when you've made your tortuous way from orchestra conducted by Henry singing (and it could, of course, be the the Silbersee "Fennimores Lied" to a One Krtschil. Capriccio Records (10 upcreep of old age) is the work of a willful Touch of Venus group at the end (polyester innocent with a fine gift for cutesy troping of posing as silk) you really haven't heard very 180) a given tune, but with no idea what the tune much of the genius of these songs. John A Walk on the Weill Side Helen might be about. I can still go all soft when Mauceri's orchestral support is very fine, Schneider, soprano, with Bruce the likes of an Ella Fitzgerald can run a great but most of the time there's not that much to Coyle, keyboards. CBS tune through the bouncies the way a snake support. One plus: the notes do include the Masterworks (45703) charmer might an amorous boa. Hearing complete texts; none of the other disks do. Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill Schneider pull fifteen of the greatest theatri­ Then there's Julie Wilson, whose man­ Ute Lemper, with the RIAS-Berlin cal songs I know out of any consistent shape agement proudly lets out the story of her gig Chamber Ensemble conducted by - well, it puts me squarely on the side of the at London's Ritz Hotel in 1986, where pa­ John Mauceri. London Records boa. The slithery keyboard stuff in the back­ trons were losing their dinner from the in­ (425 204-2) ground is certainly not on the side of Weill. tensity of her "Surabaya Johnny." Disre­ I wrote of Lem per-mostly with enthusi­ spectful if obvious comments aside, and my The Kurt Weill Songbook Julie asm, as I remember - when her vinyl album longtime adoration of Wilson's way with a Wilson, soprano, with William came out early in 1987; my first disillusion- song under firm control, I have to greet this Roy, piano. DRG Records (CDSL as another sad effort 5207) whose time has Over There Michael Feinstein, come and long since tenor, with Armen Guzelimian, gone. Yes, there are piano. EMI Records (CDC 7497682) the golden threads here, and in the light­ Iffy stuff, this, and in textured "Sing Me overpowering quantity. Not a Ballad," that de­ Gisela May is, of licious irony of the course, the known quan­ Wilson of yesteryear tity here, now and then bounces ingratiat­ with the Berliner En­ ingly into your con­ semble, since 1957 a sciousness. But the Brecht-Weill-Eisler-Des­ noises out ofWilliam sau specialist (at the in- Roy's collection of sistence, the story goes, electronic toys is of Hanns Eisler who, on bothersome; Weill is hearing her at a not yet ready for that, Deutsches Theater mati­ and neither am I. nee, announced, 'This Feinstein, fi­ woman can sing and nally: an ingratiat­ must sing!"). On her ing singer if lots own, May has built a fair more fun in person. career, much of it in Rounding out his Lenya's footsteps and twenty-five-song trib­ with Lenya's rewrites ute to World War I and transpositions. nostalgia are three of Na und? It's been a } ' . _/ cf' Weill'searlypieces­ long, long time since "Reiterlied," "Im 1957; May has recorded Volkston," and "Das most of this repertory - ii> ·. _ "[I schone Kind" -­ all of it the familiar stuff songs clearly in­ from the German shows spired by the young - earlier and better (on composer's immer­ Deutsche Grammophon and East German ment came later that year, at the mayhem sions in Mahler and the dying gasps of the Etema). Here we have yet another quavery­ she perpetrated upon excerpts from the German lied. They are, thus, entirely wrong Lenya ripoff, to be listened to only by dedi­ Seven Deadlies at the Weill Festival at for Feinstein's reedy, basically unformed cated nostalgists. To perpetuate the notion Merkin. Somebody, apparently, had gotten voice, and his cabaret manner that makes of the Weill repertory as a sort of rest home to what I had heard as a clean, unmannered, the rest of the record so completely delight­ for aging lady baritones is an idea whose nicely directed way of singing and pointed it ful. A pox on whoever leads such marvelous time, I thought, had long since passed. Yes, in the wrong direction. The new CD, around artists down such fruitless byways. May can still scare the pants off you with long enough already at this writing to have Alan Rich "Ballade vom ertrunkenen Madchen," as made some headway on the charts, dupli­ Los Angeles did Lenya, and in the same Lenya misread­ cates almost nothing from the earlier set ing. Na, und? (only "Jene t'aime pas," which Lemper had The title of Helen Schneider's collection sung as ''Wie lange noch" on the LP). But is bad enough, reports of the success she's the new record also fails to duplicate most of been having with her Weill cabaret (at New what I had admired in the earlier set. This is, York's The Ballroom et passim) is worse, once again, a record about the way a singer and the record is worst of all. Do we really can make up a lot of vocal styles and stick need this kind of half-spoken, insinuating them, willy-nilly, onto some powerful and

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 25 PRESS CLIPPINGS

ence's thanks for the magnificent perform­ wrote the "Mahagonny" lyrics, and Luther's DER SILBERSEE FLOWED GENTLY ance of this work, which is unfortunately Bible and between Weill's and Bach's height­ THROUGH THE FORUM rarely heard. ened diatonicism needed no stressing. The Velberter Zeitung, 20 March 1989 Bach movements were rescored for Weill's Translated by Michael Hoexter ensemble: clarinets for oboi d'amore, vibra­ The WDR performance, in concerl form, phone for recorders, a saxophone obbligato of the play-with-music Der Silbersee at Fo­ winding through ''Wie furchtsam wankten rum Niederberg was an extraordinary experi­ SELLARS' SUCCESS AT BAM meine Schritte," from Cantata No. 33. Not ence. an evening to "explain" but one to respond The second production of the Brooklyn to, to be grateful for: a sequence of precisely In Silbersee, the author Georg Kaiser Academy's opera venture was a revival, in composed, piercing visions. expresses his vision of regeneration for the Majestic Theatre, of Peter Sellars' Weill­ The company consisted of Lorraine humanity. Severin, unemployed and starv­ Bach bill: the "Mahagonny Songspiel" fol­ Hunt, Mary W estbrook-Geha, Frank Kelley, ing, overcomes his desire for revenge against lowed by movements of several Bach can ta- Sanford Sylvan,] ames Maddalena, andJ ohn the policeman Olim, who wounded Osborn. The lighting was by James him during a robbery. Olim, who Ingalls. Fine-grained instrumen­ has come into money through win­ talists from the Orchestra of St. ning the lottery, recognizes his Luke's were conducted by Craig guilt and cares for Severin until he Smith, whose phrasing is slightly is well. They become friends. too soft in outline, overtender, for When they are driven out by my taste but was well suited to - the scheming housekeeper and play its part in creating - the po­ her niece, they seek to drown etic, shining dream. themselves in the Silbersee [Sil­ Andrew Porter verlake). But the lake freezes over The New Yorker and supports them: it is the sym­ 17 April 1989 bol of hope for those who have become more human through in­ sight and personal fortitude. KURT WEILL'S STREET In social-critical parts of the SCENE play, Kurt Weill's music has the aggressive edge and songs in the THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW style of"Dreigroschenoper". But, The tenth of Kurt Weill's in accord with the dominant tone American stage works-Street Scene of the work, the music on the whole of 1947, a "Broadway opera"­ expresses an emotional depth opened in Glasgow on Tuesday, devoid of parody, in particular at receiving at long last its first full­ the very moving denouement. scale British professional produc­ Despite many ensemble pieces and tion. big scenes, the music always re­ This must count as a red-letter mains direct and theatrically effec­ day in British opera, for the work tive. The sound of the large or­ is of astonishing richness, teem­ chestra is colorful and clear. ing with vitality and blazing with To sing Silbersee, not singing compassion, positioned at that rare actors but singers with acting abili­ but infinitely rewarding point ties are a necessity. It was advan­ where genuinely popular musical tageous for the concert version theatre meets opera to produce a that the spoken text was limited to masterpiece. The splendid 1983 just the essential parts. Most dis­ student staging at the Royal Acad­ tinguished in singing, speaking, emy of Music paved the way; now and interpretation were Hildegard Scottish Opera, fired by the joint Heichele as Fennimore, Eva Ta­ Enjoying life's pleasures in the Peter Sellars productions of Weill enthusiasm of its music di­ massy as the housekeeper, Mahagonny Songspiel at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. rector, John Mauceri, and of the Photo: Peter Krupenye Wolfgang Schmidt as Severin, show's producer, David Poutney, Hans Korte as Olim, and Frederic have added the work to the repertory and to tas grouped as "Conversations with Fear Mayer as the lottery agent. The Baron, the their list of shining good deeds. Shopgirls, the Young Men and the narrator and Hope After Death." Not exactly an In this work, the new theatrical style that Michael Thomas were all convincing in their opera, but an evening of imagery, moving in Weill had consciously sought in America roles. both senses of the word, where music took came to maturity; as the composer himself The Cologne Radio Orchestra under the visual form wh ile it sounded, and ear and eye said, "Not until Street Scene did I achieve a direction of Jan Latham-Konig played with were held spellbound by the shapes that real blending of music and drama." The absolute precision, potency, and virtuosity, voices, instruments, and bodies were trac­ cross-section of tenement life drawn from yet was also able to capture the expressive ing. It was a paradigm for Sellars' opera the 1929 Elmer Rice play by Langston atmosphere of the piece. The choir Pro productions: a key to open the approach, for Hughes, the librettist, offered him a kind of Musica Kain was excellent, impressively doubters, to ways in which he can invest tableau vivant, in which the intricate back­ and clearly embodying the voice of human­ music and its meanings with-sometimes drop of minor characters going about their deliberately contrapuntal-visual and physi­ ity. The enthusiastic applause was the audi- daily business throws into relief both bold cal attributes. Links between Brecht, who

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 26 PRESS CLIPPINGS

and subtle the main tale of the unhappy one craved a sharper rhythmic outline and Maurrants and their daughter Rose. stronger forward movement, less rhapsodic The ancestor of Street Scene is Porgy and lingering, and certainly less.frequent cover­ POLITICIAN ASKED TO CUT "MACK Bess; both the family likenesses and the ing of the voices. Many of the spoken words THE KNIFE" ADS wholly positive influence of that earlier and too many of the sung ones want more PITTSBURGH (AP) - A political ad popular American masterpiece are easily forceful projection into the audience. being run by City Controller Tom recognized. But it is through awareness of Flaherty may be in copyright trouble. the work's familiar features - the Broadway­ Pountey's production, in a set (by David Fielding) that blends the naturalistic and the type orchestration, brilliantly re-invented by Al Kohn, vice president of licensing for fantastic, the "local" New York and the Weill, the situations and sentiments of time­ Warner-Chappell Music Inc., said Thursday symbolic, is as one would expect-a first-rate honoured usage - that one comes to appre­ that the firms's lawyers would be sending a ciate its startling originality. piece of mise-en-scene. Characters and inci­ cease and desist letter to the Flaherty cam­ All of Weill is in Street Scene. The Sing­ dents are exactly placed, and will surely paign to stop running a radio jingle "as soon flower more vividly in later performances. spiel-descended succession of speech and as we find an address to send it." song moves with masterly fluency; "We don't want to get anyone and the sheer stylistic plurality of in any trouble, but this is a viola­ the numbers - which stretches tion of a major copyright and we from the cod-opera Ice Cream view it very seriously," Kohn said. Sextet and Mrs. Maurrant's Puc­ Flaherty, a Democratic may­ cinian opera aria, through the vari­ oral aspirant, recently has been ous shades of popular song, to a running a radio commercial with a classic Broadway song-and-dance jingle to the tune of "Mack the show-stopper and back again to Knife." the powerful mourning choral en­ Kohn said the rights to the semble of Act 2 (m which the Berlin famous tune were owned by the Weill is best recalled) - fleshes out Kurt Weill Foundation, the estate the world of music-drama com­ of Bertolt Brecht and Warner plete and indissolubly whole. Brothers. It used to be received opinion He said no one had asked per­ in higher musical circles that the mission for use of the tune and Broadway Weill was a sell-out, a thatthesongisnotpermitted to be tragic loss to serious music. We used in a political context. know better now. To write a suc­ Pottsville, PA Republican cessful popular opera is to be 28 April 1989 deadly serious: you need a com­ prehensive command of theatrical styles allied to a comprehensive BOULEZ A CONDUCTOR ON range of musical gifts, and in every A GRAND SCALE respect this is one of the handful of successful popular operas. It Musician to focus on pleases (those tunes!) and it "musical realities" moves, but it does not preach; its "The composer mustn't be the pris­ vision oflife at the lower end of the oner of technology. He must give city is at once a period piece and something back; the composition piercingly, at times painfully must be his, not the machine's." modem. Pierre Boulez Normal life, abnormal death, eviction and a general sense of Twenty-five years ago, when I contained pessimism lie side by Susie Lee-Hayward (Mae Jones) and Philip Gould (Dick first sat down with Pierre Boulez side; and after ten years of Thatch­ McGann) stop the show in the Scottish Opera Street Scene. to discuss the future of the C-ma­ erite Victorian Values, Glasgow jor scale and similar weighty mat­ and London audiences may well find the ters, he had already emerged as a pulveriz­ question posed by Sam Kaplan, the "con­ The single weakness is a familiar Poutney ing presence on the musical landscape. science" of the opera, newly and uncom­ tendency to gild the lily: the wit of the Ice He had called, in one famous interview, fortably pertinent: ''Why do we go on living Cream Sextet is submerged in added rou­ for a destruction of all the world's opera in this sewer?" The luminous humanity of tines, and the smooth seductiveness of houses and a reduction of the operatic reper­ the opera itself provides one possible an- "Wouldn't you like to be on Broadway" (and tory to just one work-Kurt Weill and Bertolt swer. of Alan Oke's stylish, idiomatic Harry Easter) Brecht's Mahagonny. He had terrorized must compete with flashing neon signs. A avant-garde circles with an article called On Tuesday the Scottish Opera Street passing beggar fishes a cigarette butt out of "Schoenberg is Dead." Scene proved to be a superb show not com­ the gutter, and once again one feels a nudge Alan Rich pletely out of the chrysalis. Mauceri, who from the elbow of this producer's Social Herald Examiner, Los Angeles, CA conducted the magnificent 1979 production Conscience. 12 May 1989 at the New York City Opera (my own first These are mild irritations, and they are exposure to the work), lavished love, expert outweighed by a plethora of pleasures. knowledge and acute sympathy on every Max Loppert note and phrase; but, especially at the start, Financial Times, London 25 May 1989

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 7 Number 2 27 NEWSLETTER RESPONSE FORM

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Drew. Kurt Weill: A Handbook. Faber, 1987. $30.00

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