NEWSLETTER Volume 5, Number 2 Fall 1987

AMTF Receives Federal Grant for university production is reviewed in this Love Life issue). The grant represents part of the The American Music Theater Festival NEA's six-million dollar effort to assist recently received an $80,000 grant from opera and musical theater companies the National Endowment for the Arts to throughout the United States. Other support its 1988 planned production of recipients include the Metropolitan and l Love Life and to assist in rehearsals of Operas (in support of Revelation of the Courthouse Park, by the their free summer programs), the Hous­ pioneering microtonal composer, Harry ton Grand Opera, the Lyric Opera of Partch. The AMTF production of the Chicago, the Opera Guild of Greater Weill-Lerner collaboration will mark the Miami, and the Washington, DC, Na­ first professional revival of the work (a tional Institute for Music Theater. IN THIS ISSUE Say No to Mediocrity: The Crisis of Musical Interpretation by 6 Kurt Weill Love Life Begins at Forty by Terry Millei· 8 The Seven Deadly Sins at Brighton by Jane P1itchard 10 Columns Letters: David Drew Answers Richard Taruskin 3 Around the World: Kurt Weill Festival in New York 4 I Remember: Your Place, Or Mine?: An "un-German" Affair by 5 David Drew's Handbook Published Felix Jackson New Publications in UK and US 12 Selected Performances 23 Kurt Weill: A Handbook by David Drew was published in September by Reviews Faber and Faber in the United Kingdom Kurt Weill Festival in New York Allan Kozinn 13 and the University of California Press in Seven Deadly Sins in London Paul Meecham 16 the United States. The definitive cata­ Mahagonny in Westphalia Josef Heinzelrnann 15 logue section includes short synopses of One Touch of Venus at Goodspeed Gary Fagin 17 every stage work- and descriptions of the The Princeton Festival Frank Lewin 17 extant manuscripts. This central part of Die Dreigroschenoper in Berlin Guy Stem 18 the book is preceded by the most exten­ Die Dreigroschenoper in Hungary Mikl6s Galla 18 sive chronology of WeiU's life yet publi­ Books shed and followed by an account of his unfulfilled projects which breaks entire­ Ferruccio Busoni: Selected Letters translated and edited by 19 Antony Beaumont Christopher Hailey ly new ground, not least in what the au­ thor has to say about such controversial Caspar Neher: Brecht's Designer by John Willett Thomas Bloom 19 topics as the composer's relations with The Singer's Anthology Jo-n Alan Conrad 20 Brecht and with radical politics. David Recordings Dr_ew prefaces the book with an enthrall­ Johnny Johnson Glen Becker 21 ing account of his personal involvement with Kurt Weill's music and its tangled l fortunes since the composer's death in * CHANGE OF ADDRESS * 1950. Foundation Moves to New Headquarters Scholars, producers, performers, and On 29 September the Foundation moved to its new facility at Holtz House in aficionados alike will find valuable in­ formation and fascinating reading in this New York's "Flatiron District." The Weill-Lenya Research Center and the Foun­ handsomely produced handbook, the dation offices share the handsome new space, which was designed by architect result of Drew's twenty-five years of re­ Michael Dodson, working in collaboration with David Farneth and Mario Merca­ search. The Kurt Weill Foundation for do. All correspondence with the Foundation should be addressed to: Music is offering the book at a special price to Newsletter subscribers. Please The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music see the order form on page 24 of this is­ 7 East 20th Street sue. New York, NY 10003-1106 Telephone (212) 260-1650 NEWS IN BRIEF A New Orpheus Wins Deems Taylor Street Scene Fights AIDS Steve Reich Speaks Out on Weill Award and Eisler Kim Kowalke, editor of A New Orphe­ Street Scene gained its first profes­ " ... I always like to think of people like us: Essays on Kurt Weill (Yale Univer­ sional production in Great Britain on 26 Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. They both sity Press, 1986), wi.11 be presented the April and earned over £20,000 to benefit were good Germans in a bad time. They ASCAP Deems Taylor Award on 2 De­ London Lighthouse, the first AIDS hos­ both were, perhaps, good socialists at a cember in New York. 1987 marks the pice program in the UK. The one-time Fascist time. And as a J ew in Germany twentieth anniversary for the awards, gala charity performance, forming part at the time, I would have been glad to given for outstanding books and articles of International AIDS Day, was given at have both of them on my side, helping me on music. A New Orpheus is a col.lection the Palace Theatre and profited from the to live. of seventeen critical essays assessing ta1ents of John Owen Edwards (conduc­ But, life is cruel and man uncouth. various aspects of Weill's life and works. tor), Peter Walker (director), Tom Jobe Alas, Eisler's music to me comes across The majority of the essays evolved from (choreographer), Charles Maude (de­ as heavy-handed, dogged, and we have to papers presented at the first internation­ signer), and a large cast of Britain's give him an "E" for effort, but his music al conference on Weill held in New Ha­ leading actors and singers, including is a bore, I believe. ven, Connecticut, in November 1983 and Meriel Dickinson, Elaine Paige, Hilary Kurt Weill is a musical genius. He has co-sponsored by the John Herrick Jack­ Western, Linda Brewer, Rosemary a lightness, he has an irony, and the son Mu.sic Library at Yale University Ashe, Gay Soper, Tommy Ki:irnberg, music continues to live - whatever its and the Kurt Weill Foundation for Mu­ Paul Harrhy, Christopher Blades, political content." sic. In addition to Kowalke, the contrib­ Yvonne Bachem, Rosie Ashe, Geoffrey utors to the collection include: Christo­ Burridge, Janis Kelly, and Alec Mc­ From a video production, Steve Reich: A pher Hailey, Alexander L. Ringer, John Cowen. New Musical Language, produced by Rockwell, Stephen Hinton, Susan C. All participants and authors donated MJW Productions for the Arts Council of Cook, Alan Chapman, Ian Kemp, Doug­ their services to this important cause. Great Britain in association with las Jarman, John Fuegi, Michael Mor­ Street Scene was a critical, as well as a WNET/Thirteeri, New York, 1987. ley, Ronald K. Shull, David Drew, Guy popular success. Tom Sutcliffe, The Stern, Matthew Scott, John Graziano, Guardian, commented, "Why should Larry Stempel, and David Farneth. The theater audiences, fed recently on a diet award, given by the American Society of of musicals devoid of music, not be Composers, Authors and Publishers, is allowed a work of this quality and pas­ KURT WEILL NEWSLE'ITER Vol. 5, No. 2 Fall 1987 named in honor of the late composer, sionate intensity? There was no dress music critic, and editor, who served as rehearsal for Sunday's AIDS gala, but © Kurt Weill Foundation for Music 1987 the President of ASCAP from 1942-48. Street Scene was triumphantly vindi­ 7 East 20th Street cated. It works." And writing for The New York, NY 10003-1106 Three Broadway Shows Now Stage, Frank Granville Barker com­ (212) 260-1650 Available in the UK mented, "The miracle ofWeill's score is that it gives memorable life to each ofthe MCI Mail 296-6674 As a result of a new agreement be­ varied characters who long to escape tween Chappell International Music from the pressures of poverty. The vital­ The Newsletter is published to provide an open Publishers Limited, London and the ity of Elmer Rice's drama came across forum wherein interested readers may express Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, a variety of ideas and opinions. The opinions splendidly in Peter Walker's production expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the Knickerbocker Holiday, Street Scene, and despite inevitable restriction of rehears­ publisher's official viewpoint. The editor en­ Lost in the Stars are now available for al time, and the musical direction ofJohn courages the submission of articles, reviews, general licensing in all English­ Owen Edwards was electrifying." and news items for inclusion in future issues. speaking countries outside of the United The submission deadline for the next issue is States and Canada. English-language Street Scene on German Radio 15 January 1988. productions throughout Europe are also included. For further information, David Farneth, E

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE2 LETTERS To the Editor: angrily annotated. Professor Ringer had lends them a characteristic elan. Enter­ not, however, given the date of publica­ taining though it is, his game with the A full year has passed since you publi­ tion, which was Christmas Day 1928, nor "demons" tends at each move to falsify, shed Richard Taruskin's review ofA New had he explained that the Tageblatt had confuse, or make light of questions that Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, and I invited prominent figures from the arts belong to the real world and demand real find it curious that ,something so chal­ and letters to present themselves and answers. The questions that arise from lenging and, in certain respects, ques­ their work in a manner appropriate to a the Brecht collaboration, for instance, tionable has aroused no public response class of intelligent 12-year-olds who read begin at a quite humble everyday level - not even so much as a word of congrat­ newspapers, interested themselves in but have immense ramifications which ulation to you for commissioning it. topics of the day, and had a keen appetite cannot, after half a century, be airily As one of the contributors to A New for facts. Among Weill's fellow contrib­ brushed aside. Taruskin's faith in the Orpheus, I consider myself disqualified utors were Heinrich Mann, Annette good sense of "musicians" does him from venturing most of the comments Kolb, Hans Rehfisch, Otto Klemperer, credit; but as far as performances of that in principle strike me as no less nec­ and Alfred Kerr. Weill are concerned, it is hard to see the essary today than they were a year ago. To read Weill's contribution complete grounds for it. But there is one area on which some light and in its proper context is, of course, a Such matters are familiar to readers of could perhaps be shed without introduc­ basic requirement, and one that should this newsletter. Altogether more novel ing too many subjective factors. obviate some of the misunderstandings and fragile is the Schoenberg question. During his discussion ofWeilJ and the bred by the original Musical Times In Taruskin's account it is epitomized by Schoenbergians, Professor Taruskin quotation and its many successors. The three quotations - one from Schoenberg cites a passage from what he describes as fulfillment of that scholarly obligation himself, one from Webern, and one from Weill's "wicked little 'classroom lecture' does not, however, rescue Weill from Adorno. The Schoenberg and Webern concocted at the request of a Berlin some of the charges leveled against him had been quoted for the first time, and newspaper" and notes that a respectful by Schoenberg. It is not the sincerely juxtaposed without comment, in the reference to Brecht is one of the two as­ meant and eminently justified tribute to leaflet which I edited in 1968 for Ber­ pects that may render the lecture "un­ Brecht that is ''uncongenial," Weill's fa­ tini's recordings of Weill's two Sympho­ congenial to Weill scholars of the new tal attempt to emulate Brecht's success nies. In that form they read as follows: era" - the other aspect being the scorn in manipulating the media in the inter­ heaped on it by Schoenberg. This is est of self-advertisement. If one knew Schoenberg(1933) quoted by Virgil called in support of Professor Taruskin's nothing else of his writings and actions Thomson (1967) contention that the "new era" of Weill throughout the period, one might well Franz Lehar, yes; Weill, no. His is criticism has inherited from the old a conclude from the debacle that the suc­ the only music in the world in host of "demons,'' headed by Brecht and cess of Die Dreigrosclumoper had gone to which I can find no quality at all. Schoenberg, and that all of them should his head. Attempting a maneuver that swiftly be exorcised. Brecht might have devised but surely Webern [9 March 1942) reported by An excerpt from the "wicked little lec­ would never himself have risked, he Dallapiccola [ notebook entry] ture" had already been included by seeks to win over his young readers by Webern, who had said little that Taruskin and Piero Weiss in their Music parodying the classroom tyrannies of a evening, suddenly exploded at the in the Western World: A History in Docu­ Prussian schoolmaster; yet the attitudes mention of Kurt Weill. Pointing ments [New York, 1984; pp. 490-91J. he is trying to make fun of merely ac­ his finger at me, he asked me the Beginning with the words "I have just centuate the speciousness of his case following question: "Where in played you some music by Wagner and against Wagner and the shameless Kurt Weill can you find anything of his followers,'' that excerpt- which was salesmanship of his account of Epic The­ our great Austro-German trad.i. not identified as such - ended ten lines ater in general and Die Dreigroschenoper tion? Of that tradition," (and here later with the words "if music cannot in particular. Unlike Kerr and he began to count on his fingers) serve the interests of all, its existence is Klemperer - the two co-contributors to "expressed by the names of Schu­ no longer justified" and was quoted from whom he would have felt closest - Weill bert, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler; the notes for Kurt Weill: Dreigroscheno­ not only misjudged the tone of the sym­ Schoenberg, Berg - and Webern ?" per Selections [Telefunken Records, posium, but also missed the point of it. LGX66053) - a ten-inch LP disc pro­ Schoenberg, too, may have missed the Twenty years ago both quotations were duced in England in 1955. Weiss and point; and for quite different reasons, in effect brand new: Schoenberg's re­ Taruskin follow the anonymous note­ Taruskin certainly has and not only mark had only recently been published writer in remarking that the or~ginal here:· with such impressive confidence by Virgil Thomson in his autobiography source was the Berliner Tageblatt. It is and verve does he arrange and conduct and Webern's had been conveyed to me clear that the note-writer was relying on his set of Mephisto waltzes that no one personally by Dallapiccola prior to the a reference to and' partial translation would believe this to be his first appear­ publication in Italy of excerpts from his from Weill's "lecture" which appeared in ance on the platform had he not said so diaries and notebooks. At that time, and The Musical Times [1 March 1929; p. beforehand; and even the motley or­ particularly in the context of the record­ 224] and achieved swift notoriety. chestra of "loyalist" Weillians pretends ing, both quotations seemed to me to be What is far from clear is bow Weiss not to notice that in each number the self-explanatory. Imagine my delight and Taruskin could have over.looked the maestro bas begun by firmly grasping when an anonymous critic in Der Spiegel publication in the Journal of the Arnold the wrong end of the stick. began his review of the recording by pil­ Schoenberg Institute [vol. 4, no. l (June Many of Taruskin's incidental obser­ fering Schoenberg's remark, and con­ 1980)] of an essay by Alexander Ringer, vations about the role of Weill scholar­ tinued approximately thus: "Schoenberg "Schoenberg, Weill and Epic Theatre," ship in the "new era" are timely and im­ perhaps goes too far, and yet... " which contained in facsimile the very portant, but their practical value is in my Schoenberg's remark to Thomson copy of the original Berliner Tageblatt view greatly diminished by the fanciful dates from a meeting in Paris in 1933, piece that Schoenberg had copiously and device which links them together and when Weill's reputation in that city was

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE3 at its height. From my point of view in and intellectual background as Schoen­ atonement for the obituary as a whole - 1968, it was important because it con­ berg's a decade earlier, I quoted it for which I discussed in some detail later on firmed and added weight to Walter quite different reasons: primarily, be­ - but also the entire body ofhis pre-1933 Goehr's much earlier oral account ofhow cause the question he posed was directly writings, Taruskin fathers on a compla­ Schoenberg, in one ofhjs Berlin composi­ relevant to the inherent problems and cent world another illegitimate demon. tion classes, had compared the Weill of actual achievements of the two sympho­ Certainly Adorno is no angel, either. But Die Dreigroschenoperto the Lehar of The njes, and could well be taken word for his contribution to Weill criticism is Merry-Widow, much to Weill's disadvan­ word as the pretext for a full-scale disser­ unique; and provided it is read with all tage. While Schoenberg's anger with tation on Weill in general; and secondly, due caution, it remafos indispensable. Weill at that time was wholly consistent because Webern's pre-ordained inclusion Much the same could be said of Taru­ with his lifelong attitude, and hence pre­ of two Jewish masters should not allow skin's review, and should be, Once the dictable even without the provocation of us to overlook the fact that the clouds reader has been alerted to the necessity the Berliner Tageblatt piece, the fact that arising from his "explosion" contain of rigorously searching for marks of the he was still expressing it in 1933, and some particles of cultural poljtics that cloven hoof in every summary of an ar­ doing so despite the tragic circumstances were entirely characteristic of post­ gument and every gloss on a direct quo­ of that year, has always seemed to me to A nschluss Austria and are not al­ tation, Taruskin's delinquent demonol­ imply an unconscious recognition that together irrelevant to Weill-reception in ogy can be seen for what it is - a price Weill did, after all, amount to some­ the German-speaking world since 1945. that has to be paid for his splendid free­ thing. For that reason among others it For Taruskin's Adorno quotation I dom from conventional pieties. As the has never occurred to me that WeiU's must again accept responsibility. But in work of an avowed "outsider to Weill re­ standing- whatever that might be-is this case there has been no time for it to search" who bad discovered and demon­ in any way threatened, let alone dam­ become part of Weillian folklore, since strated a lively new interest in the sub­ aged, by Schoenberg's contemporaneous my use ofit in A New Orpheus does not, I ject, the review had already transcended view of it. The distance i.s simply too believe, have any precedent other than its ephemeral purpose a year ago. Today great: in every musical respect the the original publication of Adorno's it begins to look as if it were as much a worlds of Weill and Schoenberg had been Weill obituary in the Frankfurter part ofthe "new era" as is A New Orpheus musically exclusive since 1928, and in all Rundschau (and not, as I carelessly .let itself. but the most transient moments had slip, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeit­ DAVID DREW been equally so for the previous six years ung). That obituary, as I observed in my London (notwithstanding Weill's remarks to the essay and tried to explain, was Adorno's contrary apropos of his Violin Concerto first published attempt to repudiate his - a work in which I, for one, can hear no pre-1933 view of Weill, but also his last. Schoenberg at all). By selecting the most obviously destruc­ Because of the late arriua.l of Mr. Although Webern's explosion of 1942 tive phrase from my quotation and ig­ Drew's letter, Mr. Taruskin has been in­ springs from precisely the same musical noring not only Adorno's subsequent vited to reply in the next issu.e. AROUND THE WORLD Kurt Weill Festival in New York

The first major Weill Festival in the President Kim Kowalke, as co-chair of and A Flag is Born in the context ofother United States, at Merkin Concert Hall the program with David Farneth, intro­ Jewish propagandistic pageants of the 17-30 September 1987, attracted inter­ duced the morning session by suggesting time. The symposium culminated with national attention to five concerts, an both the opportunities for scholarly in­ brief but hitherto unknown newsreel all-day symposium, and an exhibition of quiry into the topic and the problems clips from The Eternal Road, followed by Weilliana. Restricted by the size of both inherent in differentiating the "Jewish" vivid and animated commentary by the stage and hall, the festival, sponsored by from the German or American Weills. production's choreographer, Benjamin the Hebrew Arts School, nevertheless Alexander Ringer, senior musicologist at Zemach. attempted to highlight the full generic the Uruversity of lliinois, presented a Throughout the festival, an exhibit and chronological range of Weill's portrait of "The Cantor's Son " and entitled "Kurt WeiU-and his Jewish Her­ oeuvre. The five concerts included sev­ thereby traced the influence of Weill's itage" attracted many visitors to Mer­ eral American premieres, as well as the heritage on his career. Especially in­ kin 's gallery. Cu.rated by David Farneth first performances of four excerpts from triguing was Ringer's consideration of and Mario Mercado, the exhibit featured the German-language version of The Weill's social consciousness as a man­ correspondence between Weill and his Eternal Road (Der Weg der Verheis­ ifestation of his "religiosity" after aban­ family, the Weill family's genealogy, sung). The second concert, the symposi­ donment of religion per se in 1923. photographs and memorabilia, Max um, and exhibition focused on Weill's Jack Gottlieb summarized character­ Reinhardt's Regiebuch for The Eternal Jewish heritage, while the festival's istics of Jewish liturgical music and Road, and autograph facsimiles. opening coincided with the official publi­ identified its echoes in the curious stylis­ Standing-room only audiences for all cation and celebratory reception ofDavid tic amalgam of Weill's Kiddush. David of the concerts and widespread critical Drew's Kurt Weill: A Handbook. [See Drew traced the musical and dramatic attention reflected the phenomenal in• A1lan Kozinn's review of the concerts in outlines ofDer Weg der Verh.eissung and terest generated by the Festival. Sup­ this issue.] placed the monumental work in the Linie ported in part by a grant from the Kurt Discussion ofWeill's creative response of Mahagonny. Der Jasager, and Die Weill Foundation, it demonstrated, to his Jewish heritage drew an audience Bilrgschaft. Atay Citron presented a without the aid of a single fully-staged of severa.1 hundred to the all-day sym­ richly illustrated description of Weill's theatrical production, the continuing posium on 20 September. Foundation The Eternal Road, We Will Neuer Die, impact of Weill's still-emerging musical identity.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE4 I REMEMBER

Your Place, Or Mine?: An "un-German" Affair

By Felix Jackson

Editor's note: The following reminiscence is taken from an unpublished biography, Portrait of a Quiet Man: Kurt Weill, His Life and His Times, written by Felix Jackson in the early 1970's. Mr. Jackson, a close friend in Berlin during the 1920's, wrote music criticism under Oskar Bie for the Berliner Borsen-Courier. Then namedJoachim­ son, he wrote the libretto to Weill's lost comic opera Na und? (1926). After emigrating to the United States in Febru­ ary 1937, Jackson had a successful career working in Hollywood for U niuersal Studios.

The party started in the evening and and his dislike for Hitler; the French The man turned to her furiously. lasted until the early morning hours. It ambassador, Andre Frani;ois-Poncet, "Shut up!" was a large crowd, a variegated interna­ attending the guest of honor, author and Kurt Weill said politely, "You know, tional mixture of celebrities and eccen­ fellow diplomat J ean Giraudoux; Breit­ you must be careful. You're eating J ew­ trics: actors, directors, diplomats, young scheid, the oversized u rban German ish food. It might be poisoned." athletes in sweatshirts, bankers, scien­ Independent Socialist, expressing his The man looked disturbed. ''This is a tists, musicians, girls in tennis outfits, contempt for the incumbent Chancellor, gentile house," he said with uncertainty. writers, and sophisticated matronly so­ Franz van Papen; Bruno Walter; the The van Mendelssohns had been cialites with their muscular escorts. Swiss painter Paul Klee; from London, Christians for many generations. Fran­ It took place late in the summer of Noel Coward and a friend; Kurt Weill; cesco, who had been listening to the ex­ 1932 at Eleanora van Mendelssohn's and Erich Engel; Thomas Mann's children change, took the man's glass out of his her brother Francesco's villa in Grune­ Erika and Klaus; and with J ean Coc­ band and threw it on the floor. The thick wald, a fashionable suburb of Berlin. teau, Max Schmeling, the fighter, idol of carpet kept it from breaking. Francesco Both were in their twenties, the highly movie queens and intellectuals. stepped on it with his delicate patent attractive children of Robert van Men­ Some people were seated at the table leather shoes. His face was white. delssohn, owner of the banking empire in the large dining room; some were "To you, this is a Jewish house," he and his Italian wife, Guilietta; both were grouped at the buffet. The theater was said. "You'd better get out of here!" direct descendants of Fe! ix Mendels­ discussed. Someone was raving about The man seized his wife's arm. She sohn-Bartholdy and eighteenth-century Elisabeth Bergner, then at the height of dropped her plate and the food spilled all philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. her popularity. A stout man in his for­ over the buffet. She didn't raise her head Eleanora, tall and slim, blue-eyes and ties, president of an industrial concern, and did not look at her husband when he dark, gentle and vulnerable, was easily was listening with a sullen face. He held pulled her out of the room. moved to tears. Eleanora Duse had been a glass of champagne in his hand. Next The daughter had not moved. "May I her godmother, and this hint of destiny, to him his attractive wife and their teen­ please stay?" she asked Francesco in a combined with a genuine passion for the aged daughter, an aspiring actress, were small voice. theater, had started her on a successful filling their plates . He put his arm around her. "Stay as acting career. Francesco was a warm­ When the Bergner enthusiast stopped, long as you like." hearted extrovert, sophisticated, flashy the industrialist shrugged. "She doesn't Kurt Weill said to Mendelssohn, "I and eccentric, often on the brink of scan­ do a thing to me," he said. ''I'm sick and know you're not Jewish, but I couldn't dal. But he shared his sister's love for the tired of those un-German types in Ger­ help myself. That guy was too obnox­ theater and its people. Both were deeply man theaters." ious." Francesco laughed. Weill added, devoted to each other. There was a sudden silence. The "I guess it's time to leave." People were moving in and out of the man's wife continued busily loading her ''Don't be an ass!" Francesco said an­ magnificent rooms - the walls covered plate. The daughter stared at her father grily. with priceless original paintings. The aghast. Kurt shook his head. "I don't mean conversation was partly in Italian and Kurt Weill's quiet voice asked, ''What here - now. I mean it's time to leave French, but mostly in German. do you mean by 'un-German?"' Germany." His lips were trembling. For Among the gu ests were Cardinal "Exactly what I said," the man said. a moment, the sudden realization that Pacelli, the papal nuncio in Berlin and He was towering above Kurt Weill. the inevitable might happen seemed the future Pope Pius XlI, most outspoken "He means J ewish," the girl said owerwhelming. in his support for the Weimar Republic firmly.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGES Say No to Mediocrity! The Crisis of Musical Interpretation

By Kurt Weill Translated by Stephen Hinton

Introduction by Joachim Lucchesi "impoverishment of those circles interested in musical life," which before inf7,ation and war had turned every concertinto­ as he later wrote ironically - a "rendezvous for the elegant While doing research for an article on the organization of world."1 n.contrast , he calls attention to the emergence ofa new German artists "Die Novembergruppe," 1 chanced upon this mass public with quite different musical needs as well as to the largely unknown article by Kurt Weill in the Berliner threat that the new, alluring medium of radio poses for concert Borsen-Courier of 20 August 1925. The composer, who life. Moreover, an "army of 11,nfledged instrumentalists" with a months earlier had commenced his extensive duties as a critic glut ofartistically "mediocre" performances fiooded the concert for the weekly magazine Der deutsche Rundfunk, shows halls, having a negative effect on public taste. Weill's himselfto be an. extremely critical observer ofthe musical life of fundamental criticism, pertinent still today, evinces the en­ the Weimar Republic. In spite of a glitteringly representative during influence of his highly esteemed teacher, Ferruccio concert establishment, international virtuosos and top-cla.ss Busoni. A number of key ideas about the public and musical orchestras, which lent Berlin the status of the then most interpretation, as formulated by Busoni in his Entwurf einer significant European musical metropolis, Weill detects neuen Asthetik der Tonkunst and other writings, acquire a alarming sociological shifts in this area. H e observes the lasting resonance in the work of his pupil.

The intolerable state of affairs in the It cannot have anything to do with idiosyncrasy, the closer it is to conven­ musical establishment - hitherto anx­ recent musical production, which is as tional rendition, to tradition. One does iously kept secret by those involved and lively and resourceful as ever; and a not like it when an artist displays all too accepted with indifference by the masses wealth of talent enjoys the recognition original traits. One wishes to hear music - has suddenly become the subject of and performance statistics that in earlier one knows, and one wishes to hear it in pub! ic discussion. What was in the offing times one could onJy achieve, if at all, the way one is used to. An artistic act, for years has, all ofa sudden, been shown after one's 60th anniversary. Ifwe iden­ however,comes about only when the lis­ by the past season to be an undeniable tify the state of musical interpretation as tener is transported beyond the long­ fact: the concert life of our cities, which partly to blame for this state of affairs, established tried-and-tested impression owes its emergence to a bygone epoch of then it is not the performing artist so of the work into a new. extraordinary bourgeois prosperity, is nowadays point­ much as the public that is responsible. experience which comes solely from the less, useless, and out-of-date. The music The assumptions that inform our judg­ personality of the performer. The rendi­ business has become unprofitable. Every ment of a performance are fundamen­ tion must be a part of composition. Per­ evening distinguished virtuosos appear tally different from those in other coun­ formance must become productive. This before empty auditoriums. The most es­ tries. Our concert-going public does not requires two things: the demonic power tablished names have lost their appeal, come along to admire, it comes to scruti­ to shape, a power which fills the space and the rising stars have their work cut nize and compare. It does not wish to be between the notes with music - and the out seeing that their relations make use overwhelmed, but it does wish to swoon. technical facility that provides the artist of the free tickets sent to them. (Rumor It mistrusts anything new in an inter­ with the means of carrying out all his has it that for a Battistini concert in pretation; it wishes to hear the music in intentions. The first of these is purely a only five tickets were sold.) The accordance with its own experience of it; question of natural talent. Such musical reasons for this decline naturally lie in it is afraid of the unfathomable; it shies obsession in itself can suffice to produce the changed economic conditions as com­ away from the outstanding personality that atmosphere between auditorium pared with the pre-war years: in the until it has received confirmation a hun­ and stage that causes us to shiver. But it impoverishment of those circles inter­ dred times over in black and white. All can only rouse us to genuine admiration ested in musical life, in the glut of artis­ this is the consequence of an extremely when musical talent is accompanied by tic performances, and in the enterprise of highly developed musical dilettantism. virtuosity. Anyone who loves music is radio, which through convenience, The individual listener does not sense capable of heightened feeling. He is only cheapness, and the appeal of novelty the distance from the performing artist. an artist when he is capable - creatively manages to attract the masses. Yet be­ He has his own conception of how to pre­ or interpretatively - of expressing this side these more external symptoms, we sent a musical work of art. This, though, feeling completely and freely. must also detect an increasing apathy on is the same conception that every con­ It is for this reason that the underesti­ the part of the public towards the events cert-goer considers his own - it is the mation of technical facility, which often of concert life - and that increasingly so-called traditional interpretation of the extends among our audiences to con­ causes us to suspect that it is not purely musical work, and artistic performance tempt, necessarily had a disastrous in­ economic but also artistic shortcomings is all the more highly esteemed, the fur­ fluence on the development of concert that are to blame for this concert fatigue. ther it distances itself from personal life. One considered oneself particularly musical if one shrugged one's shoulders Stephen Hinton is preparing a,H andbook on The Threepenny Opera for Cambridge at the very word "virtuoso." Supply University Press. Joachim Lucchesi holds a position at the Akademie der Kunste matches demand: a remarkable decline der Deutschen Demokratischen R epublik.

KURT WErLL NEWSLETTER PAGE6 in technical proficiency can be observed. technical limitations, so it is apt to place merit neither in terms of ability nor in It would be false arrogance to th.ink that restrictions on the free unfolding of the the rousing momentum of the presenta­ the artist of today has superior ability to performing artist's creativity. tion but in extramusical concomitants, his nineteenth-century counterpart. No, One seeks to compare the events of a in philosophical or ethical tendencies. it is just that average ability bas in­ musical work with the events of life, lit­ One wishes to exhaust the "profound creased - and therein lies the danger. erature, philosophy - yet music has its content'' of a work of art - and forgets The whole musical establishment for­ own content which can only be formed the music in the process. One thinks one merly functioned within more intimate and comprehended with the senses of is giving a composition a new signifi­ bounds; the relatively small [musical] music. One demands an absolute repre­ cance by changing a metronome marking public was able to form its own opinion, sentation such as the composer imagined here, a dynamic marking there. The which is why it demanded musical origi­ - yet the significant production in the conception is a private (probably super­ nality and technical skill to such a degree last sense is also abstract, it is un­ fluous) matter of the artist. Perfor­ that it required a quite e..xtraordinary bounded by time and space, and hence mance, however, is only one form of talent and effort to elicit from this public offers the performing artist inexhaus­ making music; for the artist, it is one of any enthusiasm. Expectations have de­ tible possibilities for his own unfolding. many possibilities for allowing his hu­ clined. The step from musical dilettante One feels obliged to emphasize feeling, manity to express itself. to artist has become so small that all too one underlines the emotional content A complete interpretation takes place, many succumb to the temptation. An with musical and theatrical means: one then, when an important personality army of unfledged instrumentalists flood sighs at a gentle melody, one smiles combines a musician's obsession with our concert halls, and an easily satisfied coquettishly at pretty timbres, one defi­ virtuosity. It sets about the task in hand public helps them to undeserved emi­ antly tosses one's mane at sturdy chords with accomplished fidelity and allows nence which, in addition, robs them of - yet music is, after all, a language of the new experience of the work of art to any capacity for development. The eco­ the soul, it speaks to us with its own arise from the utmost objectivity. That is nomic consequences? See above. The words, and feeling illuminates it as the no unreachable zenith. We have in our artistic ones? A general slide towards clear silver moon does the nocturnal midst enough artists who have reached mediocrity. When we maintain that the forest. And one talks much too much it, enough talents who will reach it. Yet performing artist of today is capable of about conception. One discusses it must be the goal of all who elect musi­ too little, then we natura1ly understand whether this or that tempo is "correct." cal performance as their profession. Oth­ this ability in the broadest sense. It One frequently sees the interpreter's erwise we shall suffocate in mediocrity. should be first of all the obvious prereq­ uisite of every musical interpretation that the technical basis is available for an objective representation of the work of art. This objectivity is completely de­ pendent upon a mastery of the technical apparatus: the pianist's manual dexter­ ity and touch; the complete training of the violinist's right and left hands; the highest cultivation of the singer's voice and word-delivery; the conductor's sug­ gestive, both rhythmically and dynami­ cally expressive baton technique. There ought to be no limits. The omission of a performance ought not to be excused by any technical deficiencies on the part of the interpreter. To be able to play every­ thing must be the goal. "La Campanella" by Liszt ought not to be the insatiable longing of pianists. Nor are physical shortcomings any excuse. Whoever weighs two tons cannot become a tight­ rope artist. Busoni formulated the idea that every pianist should demonstrate before appearing in public that he com­ mands a minimum of technical facility, and he placed expectations very high when he required for this examination Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beetho­ ven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata and Busoni's "[Fantasia] Contrappuntisti­ ca." Technical mastery, however, should only be the foundation upon which talent can then thrive. For it is only here that the activity begins that raises the great artist above the average: the shaping of the work, the expression of one's person­ ality, the recreation of what lies behind The Darmstadt Staatstheater production of Mahagonny-Songspiel. Premiere March the notes, what cannot be notated. Yet 1987. .Directed by Ludwig Baum and conducted by AJexander Rumpf. Photo by just as mediocrity has brought about Gunter Schreckenberg.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE7 Love Life Begins at Forty By Terry Miller

This past spring, the 1948 Weill-Lerner Love Life emerged from four decades of obscurity, from a neglect only recently tempered by a grow­ ing sense of its role as progenitor of modem concept musicals. Yet doubts persisted about the viability ofthe show for contemporary audi­ ences, its perceived reliance on theatrical effects and magic, and its presumed anti-marriage thesis. Was Love Life ahead ofits time, or was its obscurity deserved? Any show burdened with such doubts may be ill-served if its first revival is a commercial production, in which inherent constraints and concerns can force cutting ofcorners and make any fair appraisal ofthe work impossible. But fortunately, Love Life returned to the stage in a highly accurate and fully-mounted, non-commercial production by the Musical Theater Program of the University of Michigan's School of Music. Under the able stewardship of director Brent Wagner, musical director Jerry DePuit, and their creative staff, this all-student produc­ tion rang cheers from an audience less concerned with the viability of an obscure work than in seeing a good show. Viewers with a more crit­ ical eye and ear were no less satisfied. Striding confidently beyond mere viability, Love Life reveals itself to be a masterwork of musical theater from the Golden Era spanning Oklahoma! and . Although experiments in form and content were not unusual during that era, Love Life was one of the bolder experiments. For starters, most traditional book shows traced a romance and ended with the lovers happily married or at least happily affianced. Love Life begins with its lovers, Sam and Susan Cooper, already married and traces their increasing unhappiness over time - considerable time, for, after a prologue set in the present, the story starts in 1791 and continues over some 150 years - without aging the Coopers. Unlike other mu­ sicals which invoked fantasy to explain the fantastic (Finian's Rain­ bow, ), Love Life is not a fantasy; nor is it a realistic musical. Rather, it might be called "expressionist," portraying neither a realis­ tic, specific place nor realistic, specific characters. The force opposing Sam and Susan, the source of their increasing unhappiness, is equally unconventional: the changing economic pressures of the disruption known as Progress. The play's fractured structure alternates book scenes with variety acts, in the manner of a vaudeville bill, staged without particular relation to place and time, while commenting on the action without specific reference to it. Apparently some in the audience of the original production in 1948 could not keep up with these freewheeling elements of Love Life, all of which were presented during the first act. Act Two keeps to the present-day, as the Coopers' troubled marriage disintegrates into a mock Punch-and-Judy ballet, where even divorce is a function of mon­ ey. Love Life concludes with a twenty-minute, through-composed se­ quence ("Minstrel Show of Illusion"), ending with the suggestion that Act I, Scene 4: The women of Mayville dance to "Green-Up illusory romance (the customary resolution of traditional musicals) Time." must itself be shattered before two people can share their lives in the modern world. As an experiment, Love Life did not lack antecedents. At least one quasi-expressionist musical, The Day Before Spring (1945), written by Lerner in collaboration with , had preceded it. Nor did Love Life introduce comment songs, though previously their function had been chiefly comic and incidental to the subject of the book (a rare exception, on both counts, was "OJ' Man River" in Show Boat). Weill, of course, was hardly a stranger to comment songs, as they dominate his European plays with music (a stunning example being his "Casar's Tod" from Der Silbersee (1933)). The structure of Love Life recalled earlier concept revues, which had proved so popular on Broadway dur­ ing the Depression, when financial constraints prompted creators of revues to replace sheer lavishness with the intelligent (and inexpen­ sive) alternative of unifying themes. In As Thousands Cheer (1933), for example, sketches and numbers each represented sections of a daily newspaper; At Home Abroad (1935) explored a theme of world travel. Act I, Scene 5: The ,·aude,•illians inform the audience that Love Life may not have invented its components, but it joined them in a good "Economics" is bad for love. unique manner similar to that of later "concept" musicals (Cabaret, Plwtos by David Smith, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE8 Hallelujah, Baby/, Company, Follies, Chicago, etc.). Whereas songs in recent concept musicals comment on the action of the preceding scene, Love Life's comment songs ("Progress," "Economics," "Love Song," etc.) precede the action - the scene plays out what has been stated in the song. No instance of this approach in another concept musical quickly comes to mind (though there may well be some). Because the production at the University of Michigan attempted to adhere to and realize its authors' intent, one can reliably evaluate the effectiveness of the show, as well as this production. Offering a smoother "through-line" and a good deal more inherent humor than expected, Lerner's book certainly plays better on its feet than it reads on the page. The production departed from Lerner's original book in a few respects, principally the combination of several small roles (the Magician, Mr. Interlocutor, and others) into two running characters representing the forces driving Sam and Susan apart. Primarily a matter of casting, this required no newly invented dialogue and, though technically inauthentic, proved a highly effective unifying device. On the other hand, another departure from the Broadway text was the restoration ofthe cut "Locker Room" sequence, and this proved unwise. Lerner's lyrics for it give his characters a self-awareness out of keeping with the rest of the show. Had the lyrics for the sequence been changed to remove this quality, the point of the scene would then be undercut. It may best remain on the cutting room 0oor, where Weill and Lerner put it. However, another song, "Susan's Dream," cut from the show prior to the Broadway premiere, might well deserve restora­ tion, although some question evidently remains as to its original placement. One possibility might be the final scene of Act. One, after Susan has declined the adulterous advances of Bill Taylor only to dis­ cover that her husband is preoccupied with his business cronies and indifferent to her loyalty. The nightclub singer who opened this scene - prevailed upon now to sing again - might offer "Susan's Dream" as a n umber sung in Susan's bearing and prompting her to reconsider her refusal as Sam disappears with his buddies and the act curtain falls. Act I. 8: Susan leads the suffragettes in "Women's Club This solution, however, would necessitate an arrangement of Weill's Blues." original version intended for a black, male quartet. With or without these two numbers, Weill's score is a delight, won­ derfully varied, inventive, and effective. Even those songs which have acquired some familiarity emerge crisp and rich in arrangements and orchestrations by their composer, as beautifully crafted and colored as any Weill created. Any concerns that so disparate a roster of musical styles could coalesce into a cohesive score simply vanish, not because these styles are minimized, or because the last refrain of "Here I'll Stay," sung in a 1791 scene, occurs later as a rhumba, or because the "Women's Club Blues," sung in an 1894 scene, is a modified 1940s swing. The score sets its own terms and triumphs. In addjtion to its songs, the score sports two major dance sequences, both of which are musically impressive. The "Green-Up Time Dance" sounds like every Michael Kidd muscular dance number rolled into one, no doubt because Mr. Kidd devised the choreography in 1948 and the composer knew what was needed. (Tim Millett set the choreog­ raphy for the University of Michigan production.) The second act "Punch and Judy Get a Divorce Ballet" cleverly recycles themes al­ ready heard in the score, putting them to different and sometimes ironic purpose and incorporating them within new musical material. Particularly effective is the ballet's use ofthe ''Green-Up Time" melody line at half-tempo, played as harmonics by the strings and sounding like a wind-up music box eerily running down. Though the ASCAP recording ban prevented a recording of the score with its original cast, it probably would have been subjected to extensive cuts. This is a score which deserves to be recorded and heard in its full 115-minute length, an event which may one day come to pass. When a work is labelled "ahead of its time," you can be sure 20/20 hindsight is close at hand. A theatrically effective production of Love Life may involve a large cast, but most musicals of that period do. It does involve special stage effects, and they can be cut without harm no more than flying effects can be cut from any theatrically viable Peter Pan. Love Life is clearly not a simple show to mount, but it is also clear, thanks to the University of Michigan production, that the rewards it offers are considerable. At last, the future for Loue Life looks bright. Act ll, Scene 8: Mr. Progress (Matt Chellis) and Mr. Cynic (Ty Hreben) work their magic on the Misses Horoscope and Terry Miller, author of the novel Standing By, is currently preparing a Mysticism during ''The Illusion Minstrel Show." history of Greenwi.ch Village for Crown Press.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE9 The Seven Deadly Sins at Brighton

by Jane Pritchard

"Two girls under a single brown cape" remained for years in the motor shed, The famous knee-length brown cape, -that was the image retained in the untouched except by damp, moths, and made of wool, cut with a wide neckline to minds of the critics and members of the rats, until the early 1970s when much of accommodate the two Annas, is a muted Parisian audience who wrote about the the collection was given to Brighton shade of pinkish brown. Muted shades of first performances of Les sept peches Museum. A few remaining items were fabric are also used in the scene portray­ capitaux by in June auctioned by Christie's at the West Dean ing the first sin, Sloth; here, the cape 1933 (the ballet was presented one sale in June 1986. doubles in use as the camera cloth. For month later in London under the title It is only recently, however, that the this scene of blackmail in the park, the Anna-Anna). The production of the bal­ collection at Brighton has been fully Brighton collection includes the flannel let by Weill and Brecht was designed by sorted. The costumes are currently being jackets, in shades of pink-grey, blue­ Caspar Neher, with choreography by catalogued in preparation for an exhibi­ grey, and brown-grey, of the compro­ . The image is rein­ tion on Les Ballets 1933 to be held at the mised men. forced by a photograph ofTilly Losch and Museum from 19 December 1987 to 31 By way of contrast, the dresses of the as the two Annas-the most January 1988. Much of the material is in cabaret dancers in the Pride scene are a frequently reproduced illustration from a fragile condition and selected items are bright shade of pink. Expertly cut, these the original production of The Seven undergoing conservation. Some of the sleeveless, full-skirted dresses have yel­ Deadly Sins. But what shade of brown material is in too poor a state to go on dis­ low silk lining with frills of lace and was that cape and of what fabric was it play, but at least the costumes that have matching yellow frilly knickers, which made? The answers to these and other survived will be fully documented. allowed the dancers to perform "a sort of questions about the ballet can be an­ The range of costumes for this produc­ can-can." Accessories of pink velvet swered by reference to the collection of tion is fascinating. It extends from a belts, pink elbow-length gloves, and pink material from Les Ballets 1933 now padded bodice, presumably for the male satin boots laced with pink ribbons com­ housed at the Royal Pavilion, Art Gal­ singer taking the role of Anna's mother, plete the outfits. The dresses are labelled lery and Museum, Brighton, England. to a collection ofhats which includes grey for the dancers who wore them: Kyra This collection, which includes sets, felt bowler-shaped hats, a cream-colored Blank, Galina Sidorenko, and Tamara props, and costumes from five of the six top hat (for rich "Edward"), and two grey, Tchinarova. ballets created for Les Ballets 1933, was crochet raffia hats. There are items of For the scene portraying Anger, Tilly given to Brighton Museum by Edward men's evening dress; two black wool Losch appeared on horseback. The James, the patron who funded the com­ crepe skirts, one with a slit side to make papier-mAche horse, supported in the pany established by Boris Kochno and movement easier for the dancing Anna; ballet by Serge Ismailoff and Ludovic George Balanchine. After the company's and a collection of variously colored court Matlinsky, was sold, without its season had ended at the Savoy Theatre, shoes for the corps de ballet. All the cos­ trimmings, at the West Dean auction on London, the sets and costumes were tumes are designed in a contemporary 5 June 1986 (lot 1736). Losch's costume packed up, and the majority of produc­ 1930s style and contrast with the more comprised a leotard covered in grey se­ tions were taken in their entirety to fantastic creations made for the com­ quins with pink chiffon frills onto which James' West Dean estate. Here they pany's other ballets. clusters of three grey sequins were sewn.

Tilly Losch on horseback and Roman .lasinsky in the "Anger" Tilly Losch surrounded by dancers in masks in the fi nal scene. Photo: Hoyningen-Huene from Vogue magazine, 1933, scene of the ballet. Photo: Hoyningen-Huene from Vogue courtesy of Jane Pritchard. magazine, 1933, courtesy of.lane Pritchard.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 10 A pink twill tailcoat worn by Roman J as­ scantily-clad hag holding a mask in her insky as the cruel "ringmaster" who raised left hand represents Lust; with arouses Anna's anger is also part of the one foot on a stool she has her legs spread collection. (Tilly Losch's costume and and a man in a top hat kneels at her right one of the cabaret dancers' dresses are foot. Avarice is portrayed by three gro­ among those from this ballet that will be tesque figures kneeling over a pot of on display in the exhibition.) coins, and Envy, by a woman, stripped to Tom Tit' s cartoon of Lotte Lenya, the waist, balancing by one foot on a ball which appeared in The Tatler of 19 July marked "rien." The word rien is also in­ 1933, shows her keeping her "sister's" scribed on her breasts and belly. The greed at bay by the point of a revolver. original sketch for this banner was on From this scene, representing Gluttony, loan from Austria for the 1986 Neher the Brighton collection contains Lenya's Exhibition, and this design demon­ skirt which was worn with a matching strated that the image had been changed blouse. The skirt is of grey sateen worn slightly in execution. As with the cos­ with the dull (reverse) face on the outside tumes, the condition of the banners var­ and painted with large crimson polka­ ies, but some examples will be on display dots. The front is decorated with bias-cut in Brighton at Christmas. flounces of a similarly painted sateen. A certain number of images of the This is one of the costumes that was :.. original production survive in George found in poor condition. Hoyningen-Huene's black and white Towards the end of Les sept peches photographs. These were taken on stage capitaux, masked figures in cloaks at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, emerge from the arc of doorways, which Paris, probably after a rehearsal of the are covered with paper and on which the ballet with the use of extra photographic names of the sins are inscribed. The Costumes for Les sept pecMs capitaux, lights. The photographs reveal only two Brighton collection has a number of the Les Ballets 1933, designed by Caspar Neher sections of the set in front of which the molded cloth masks, which were held to and executed by Karinska. Left: Pink performers portray a number of the the face by elastic, and a collection of dress lined with yellow silk and lace frills scenes. Shots of Tilly Losch and Lotte twenty-one cloaks! These cloaks have worn by the cabaret dancer in "Pride." Lenya, including the photograph of the Righ.t: Costume worn by Tilly Losch por­ Annas wrapped in the brown cape, show black net foundations onto which large traying Anna as a film star on horseback in scalloped layers of fabric, mostly the downstage, right corner with steps "Anger." P hoto courtesy of the Brighton up to the parlor on stilts, to which "access rough-cut cotton, are stitched. The Museum. cloaks fasten at the neck with a draw­ is gained by wooden steps and a swaying string. Surprisingly for a production Th~tre des CHAMPS-~LYSEE:> rickety door." The other Hoyningen­ Huene photographs are taken against remembered for its somber nature, these .JL, t "I cloaks are all colors ofthe rainbow except M[RC.PfDI 7 SA M~OI 10 , IJ>I I. the arc of arches center stage, and all indigo and violet. In addition to the MERCIIEOI 14 Sl>Mf 1)1 17 these photos have in the background the a 2t 1• • tl"" masks worn over the dancers' faces, torn door marked "Envi,e," irrespective of there are a number of masks on hand­ the sin portrayed. These photographs held poles, comparable t.o the ones which were reproduced in a number of contem­ were sold at the West Dean auction (lot porary periodicals and newspapers (most 1738). notably in Vogue) but have rarely been Little of the constructed set for this seen since. ballet has survived. However, the seven It is hoped that the exhibition of painted banners that hung over the stage Brighton will lead to better documenta­ were rediscovered in time for four to be tion of all the works created for Les Bal­ loaned t.o the Caspar Neher exhibition lets 1933. Included will be designs (bor­ mounted by The Arts Council of Great rowed from other collections and ar­ Britain last year (although they were not chives), publicity material, and photo­ aJI shown at each of the venues to which graphs as well as sets, costumes, and the exhibition travelled). These banners properties for the ballets. Although the were described variously in reviews as original choreography for the ballets is "cautionary pictures" or "rather ugly il­ lost, our understanding of the works can lustrations of the sins." Executed by be enlarged greatly by studying the pre­ brush on unstretched canvas, they are served original materials. painted sepia and grey on a yellow ground and a few have touches of red. Editor's note: There will be a study day The banner for Sloth depicts a woman on Saturday, 23 January 1988 in con­ stretched out, surrounded by men. Pride junction with the exhibition. Full details is represented by a woman, sprouting are available from the Brighton Art Gal­ wings with clawed feet, who dances be­ lery and Museum, Church Street, Brigh­ fore a crowd; the design for this scene is ton. England. (Telephone: 0273-603-005) reproduced in Les Ballets 1933's souve­ nir program. Anger is shown as a solo figure ofan irate working man. Gluttony is illustrated by a man force-feeding his fat friend; wine is poured into the obese Jane Pritchard is the Researcher for the Brighton Exhibition as well as the man's open mouth through a funnel. A Archivist of Ballet Rambert in London.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 11