NEW PUBLICATIONS

ARTICLES

Kowalke, Kim H. "Accounting for Success: Misunderstanding Die Dreigroschenoper." Opera Quarterly VI (Spring 1989): 18-38.

Menuhin, Diana. "Les Ballets 1933." Dance Research Vl/2 (Autumn 1988) : 61-77.

Schebera, Jilrgen. "Nachlese zur Ausgabe: 'Cbarivari'." notate IV/88 (October 1988): 14-15.

BOOKS

Brecht, Bertolt Werke. Edited by Werner Hecht.Jan Knopf, Werner Mittenzwei, Klaus-Detlef Millier. Stticke2. Edited by Jtirgen Schebera. Frankfurt Suhrkamp, 1988. 474 p. [Includes Leben Eduards des Zweiten von England, Mann i-st Mann (1926), Mann ist Mann (1938), Die Dreigroschenoper, Mahagonny, and Att/stieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny]

Rudnitky, Konstantin. Russian and Soviet Theater 1905-1932. New York: Abrams, 1988. 320p. [Includes production photos and set designs for the 1930 production ofDie Dreigroschenoper, Kamerny Theatre, Moscow.]

Schrader, Barbel, and Schebera, Jtirgen. The "Golden" Twenties: Arl and Literature in the Weimar Republic. New Haven: Yale, 1988. 271 p.

Tschulik, Norbert. Musiktheater in Deutschland: Die Oper im 20. fahrhtmdert. Wien: Osterreichischer Bundesverlag, 1987. 347 p.

Willett, John. The Theatre ofthe Weimar Repubic. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1988.

Zim, Larry; Lerner, Mel; Rolfes, Herbert; The World ofTomorrow: The 1939 New York World's Fair. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. 240 p. [Contains description and photos of Railroads on Parade.)

DISSERTATIONS

Hennenberg, Fritz. "Neue Funktionsweisen der Musik und des Musiktheaters in den zwanziger Jahren: Studien tiber die Zusammenarbeit Bertolt Brechts mit Franz S. Brainier und Kurt Weill." Ph.D. dissertation, Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg, 1987.

RECORDINGS

American Musical Theater: Shows, Songs, and Stars. Volumes 1-4. The Smithsonian Collection of Recordings. RD 036. [Vols. 2 & 3 contain songs by Kurt Weill.]

Concerlo for violin & winds, Op. 12; Kleine Dreigroschenmusik. Orchestra of St. Luke's; Julius Rudel, conductor; Naoko Tanaka, violin. Musicmasters CD 6-40164, MMC 40164 (cassette)

Gi-sela May Sings Weill. Capriccio CD 10180. [Includes selections from Happy End, Das Berliner Requiem, Die Dreigroschenoper, and Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.J

Julie Wilson sings the Kttrl Weill Songbook. William Roy, piano. DRG Records CDSL 5207.

Kleine Dreigroschenoper in "Die Kroll-Jahre." Otto Klemperer, cond. Symposium 1042. [Recorded in 1930-31; reissue of Polydor 24172/3; includes four of the eight movements]

The Men in My Life. Lena Home. Three Cherries Records TC 64411. [Includes "September Song")

Theatre Music of Kurt Weill. The Sextet of Orchestra USA Bluebird 6285-2-RB. Uazz arrangements; compact disc reissue)

Ute Lemper singt Kitrl Weill. Rias Berlin Kammerensemble; John Mauceri, conductor; Kai Rautenberg, piano. Polydor 820 760-2; Decca NL 425 204-2. KURT WEILL SONGBOOK Der Zar liisst sich photographieren. Capriccio CD 10147; LP and Cassette 27121.

KURT WEILL NEWSLE'ITER PAGE20 BOOKS

Musik bei Brecht by The facts in the book do not always reflect traditional aesthetic of the individual work Joachim Lucchesi and Ronald K. the latest research. Brecht teamed to play rather than an operative philosophy of the guitar in 1912, as his brotherWalter told this arts. Brecht himself had a complex and Shull. Frankfurt am Main: reviewer, but not while at the university. differentiated way to observe and judge the Suhrkamp Verlag, 1988. 1082 The publication of "Hauspostille" failed not effect of music. This cannot be overlooked pp. because of the objectionof a shareholder, as in his commentary to ''Lled vom achten Friedemann Berger has proven. And it is Elefanten" (Mus 283.31) or the satirical song not at all clear whether Eisler really did not In the last several years, researchers too of the Bishop Cauchon (Text 253). (That write a review of Die Dreigroschenoper, pos­ have cometo realize how decisive the role of one text is in the music section and the other sibly, the review in the Rote Fahne of music has been in the development and 4 in the text section without any cross-refer­ September 1928 was written by him. The popularization of Brecht's works. With the ences illuminates a problem in the construc­ information about Brecht's knowledge of exception of John Willett, the first impulse tion of this volume.) Stravinsky is also imprecise: in 1939. Brecht for the investigation of this idea has not The authors' comprehension of the de­ compared the logistics of Piscatorrs stag­ come from Brecht research but from re­ tails ofBrecht's musical practice is wanting. ings to a Stravinsky score. This text is also For example, the collection of "lieder zur seatch dealing with Dessau, Eisler, and Weill. missing. Klampfe" is explained by the growing num­ Pioneering work in this area has been writ­ In an introductory essay, one can scarcely berof songs, but not by the growing_num ber ten by Fritz Hennenberg, Gerd Rienacker expect a complete treatment of the subject of collaborators. working in collectivity. If and David Drew. as well as the Munich Still, it is astonishing that in this comprehen­ Brecht had continued to sing bis songs alone publisher Helmut Kindler. who has edited sive work there is not one mention of the several books dealing with this subject (1977: and not in a group, he would not have put M. Wyss, Brecht in der Kritik. Resenzionen name MarcBlitzstein. At least Ronald Shull, together a bookletand could have continued who received his doctorate on the subject of aller Breclit-Uraufjuhrungen, mit verbinden­ to make do with mere musical sketches on ''Brecht and Music" at an American univer­ den Texten von H.Kindler; G. Wagner. Weill loose leaves. Also, in order to understand sity in 1985, should have known of this bis attitude toward music (for example, the und Brecht, 1980: R Sanders,Kttrt Weill; H. composer. Blitzstein was the most impor­ Jhering, Berl Brecht hat das z.iterariscl1e polemic against musical entertainment or Antlitz Deutsch/antis verandert. Gesammelte tant American composer-dramatist to carry opposition to musical pleasure), the authors on Brecht's musical-theatrical impulse. His Kritiken; 1985: A. Dlimling, Lasst euch nicht would have had to deal more thoroughly opera The Cradle Will Rock was inspired by verfiihren. . Bree/it und die Musik) In 1984, with his writings. Seldom has a Brecht book the playwright and was, in fact, dedicated to the Brecht Conference in the German been published in which politics and history him. Blitzstein's adaptation of Die Dreigro­ plays such a secondary role. Democratic Republic's Brecht Center had as its motto "Brecht and Music." schenoper enabled its success in New York Thevalue ofthe book is in the chronologi­ All of this can be found in my 1985 book It is all the more surprising that the musi• cal catalogue. 1l1e collection of the 269 about Brecl,t, which Lucchesi and Shull have A.ussenmgen zur M1isik. which range in size cologist Joachim Lucchesi and the theater entirely ignored. Because other important specialist Ronald Shull describe the subject from a s ingle line to several pages, is hoped books that were published before 1986 - "Brecht and Music" as academic terra incog­ to be complete. A few unfamiliar texts from nita. They claim that, because oflimitations such as the lyrics volume to Jan Knopfs the Brecht Archive, for example the notes Brecht-Handbttclt, the Argument-Sonder­ in the method and scope of publications on the "Mahagonny" opera (No. 84ft) or No. band Hanns Eisler'', Reinhold Brinkmann's prior to May 1986, previous authors had not 99 ("Uber die gesellschaftliche Funktion Eisler essays, the "Lukullus" essay by Hans produced the definitive work - one which derMusik"),arequiteinteresting. Oneasks Mayer, Die1rich Stem's studies ofKurt Weill, would necessarily utilize as many sources as oneself, however, how "Jetzt spiele ich noch or the memoirs of Paula Banholzer - have possible. By devaluing their precedessors. Gitarre mit Hartmann" was included, while not been worked into this work. one can the authors raise expectations for their own Brecht's essential thoughts about the use of hardly call it a "comprehensive study." work. Is their book really the long-awaited Wagner in German fascism are omitted; comprehensive study? Despite these serious omissions. the fac­ instead. they are bidden in a footnote (p. 76). The introductory essay describes, with tual material in the introductory essay is for The chronological ordering of the texts is extensive reference to sources, Brecht's own the most part carefully researched. In ad­ particularly helpful because itbighlights the musical development and his cooperation vance of its publication, David Drew put the development of Brecht's process-oriented with composers. Still, Brecht's personal, as typescript of his Weill handbook at the dis­ thinking. Unfortunately, the discussion lacks well as pedagogical, cultural. and general posal of the authors. Interviews with con­ a thorough system of cross-references. Only political motivations arefor the most partl eft temporaries of Brecht have not brought any occasionally do the authors supply a brief significant new insights. Unfortunately, the out of the picture. Similarly, a discussion of commentary to previous observations and questions of genre - for example. the pro­ presentation of the material is not comple­ never to subsequent remarks. A subject gression in the generic structure from Lied mented by considerations arising from re­ index is also lacking. Therefore, for ex­ to operetta, and. finally, to Agitprop theater cent research on Brecht; on the contrary, ample, the only way to locate Brecht's and didactic play, or a critical discussion of one senses a certain intellectual distance thoughts aboutjazt is to scan the entire text; the works in the context of music history from such research. We learn that aestheti­ the related texts 161, 173. and 175 do not and musicallanguage-is nottobe found. In­ cally diverse types of music are found in the even refer to each other through cross-refer­ stead, thereisspecu1ation. For example, the playwright's works but not why. To answer ences. A mention of Beethoven's Ninth description ofan early text from 1912 which this question. one would have had to consid• Symphony in No. 180 seems to have been is deemed by the authors to deal with Wag• ered in a more profound way his path-break­ forgotten. ner, in fact, deals not with Wagner himself ing ideas about the social. pedagogical, and The Musikverzeichnis (music catalogue) but with the attitude of the Wagnerians. political functions of music than the authors takes up the largest portion of the book and have done. Instead they have worked with a is limited to Brecht's often sketch-like musi-

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 21 BOOKS

ea! ideas and his collaborations with com• The topic "Brecht and Music" is so di­ the audience into a unified experience. His posers. Musical settings which are not by verse and multi-faceted, that it cannot be unusual attention to design and stage tech­ the "classical" Brecht composers Weill. surveyed in one book. Obviously the result nology became hallmarks of the Weimar Eisler, "ll.nd Dessau and those developed of an immense effort, Lucchesi and Shull directors. Meanwhile the Social Democratic without contact with the playwright were have produced a useful reference book, but Volksbiihn.e (People's Theater) Movement excluded. This is understandable consider­ not the definitive work which was promised. created an institutional basis for socially ing the impressive scope and volume of the ALBRECHT DUMLING engaged and workers' theater. Willett finds material. The combination ofchronological Berlin (West) in these two exemplars that uncanny union and a1phabetical order, however. makes of the Republic's theater-a dual synthesis much less sense and is rather confusing; it Translated by Michael Hoexter and expansion of, on the one hand, the aes­ obscures the process bywhich thework was thetic media of the theater, and, on the produced withoutfacilitating the search for other, the theater's relationship to its social specific titles. For example, the Badener and political context-that made the explo­ Lehrstuck vom Einverstandnis is placed be­ sive work of Brecht, Piscator, and their circle fore Der Lindbergh/lug, although the latter The Theatre of the possible. was composed before the former. Groups of In the Second Part, Willett organizes his works such as "Ruhrepos" or the "Holly­ Weimar Republic. By John discussions of the major theatrical move­ wood-Elegien" have been separated because Willett. New York: Holmes & ments of the Republic in relation to four of this question.able a1phabetizing. The Meier. 1988. 350 p. socio-political periods: Expressionism-the purely phi1ologica1 ordering frustrates the revolutionary upheaval (1918-1922); Neue reconstruction of practical contexts and John Willett's prolific output on the thea­ Sachlichkeit and popular realism - disillu­ pushes Brecht's reactions to contemporary ter and culture of the Wcimar Republic makes sionment and stabilization (1922-1924); big events into the background. him an appropriate authority for the daunt­ budget experiments in entertainment, op­ The commentary is for the most part lim­ ing task of presenting an overview of this era, and technological theater - late 20's ited to short enumerations of the date of topic in a single readable volume. His unique prospe1ity (192&-1929); and revolutionary composition, composer, instrumentation, career, combining extensive self-motivated collectives and agit-prop - economic crisis editions, location of manuscript, and the scholarship, creative work in the theater, and political polarization (1929-1933). The premiere performance. Information about and cultural journalism enables him to bridge compartmentalization is notused in a reduc­ the character of the text, the music, or the the arcane tendencies of German aesthetic tionist or heavy-handed way: although this practical context in which it originated is theory and the pragmatic approach of An­ format may give theimpression ofa series of more scarce. Although this book does not glo-American theatergoers and artists. distinct periods, Willett breaks the chronol­ preswne to replace Hennenberg's Brecht Willett movesiamiliarly between social and ogy in Part III to reexamine the period as a songbook or Knopfs Brecht handbook, I political events, institutional structures, ar­ whole from the perspective of theatrical would bave boped for explicit reference to tistic problems, and personality cults - questions: major innovations, direction, the hymn ''Nearer my God!" in No. 70 admittedly, the elements of any period in acting style, design, music, and journalistic ("Tahiti"), the quotation of Eisler-Weinerts theater history, but an especially complex criticism. The chronology is then resumed ''Heimlicher Aufmarsch'' in the fourth and controversial approach for the Weimar to trace the torturous paths of the Weimar Wiegenliedjur Arbeitermutter (No. 176), or period. He has a good command of this sub­ theater movement into the Third Reich and reference to the composer Roger Sessions. ject. One aspect of the task, however, of exile. The "Liturgie vom Hauch" was not inspired particular theatrical significance appears to Willett does a remarkable job of synthe­ by Goethe, but by the petit-bourgeois ele­ have escaped both the author and the pub­ sis. He presents the continuum of inter­ ment in the workers' movement Under the lishers: who is the potential audience for relationships that made the work of Max heading "Plane und Projekte," one finds such a survey - the specialist, the student, Reinhardt as instructive to the mainstream such finished works as "Berlin im Licht," the general reader? 'Jrus question points up intendantl.eopoldJessner, as to the Expres­ Happy End, Dreigroschenroman, and the play both the book's strengths and weaknesses. sionist designers, Brecht and Piscator, and Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar. Willett follows a cultural-historical format, even the revolutionary collectives. After all, This voluminous book, with its bewilder­ presenting chronologically the major per­ as Willett emphasizes. the Weimar theater ing profusion of information, is notsuited for sonalities and influences within their socio­ world integrated low and high culture, radi­ a broad readership. $pecialists and research­ political context. The wea1th of dramaturgi­ ca1ism (political and aesthetic), and a decen­ ers, however, will, despite all criticism, profit cal theory from this period, or the relations tralized network of theaters in the provinces from this work. The discography is rela­ between economic and political crises and and capital into a broad innovative main­ tively comprehensive and several chtono­ the theater during the Republic, are a1ways stream. At the same time, he recognizes the logica1 and alphabetical indexes make the anchored to their effects on theatrica1 prac­ discomfort of the aristocratic circle around abundance of information more manage­ tices, giving the book a clear and appropri­ Reinhardt in the new context of the Repub­ able. If a new edition were prepared, the ate focus. lic, the limits of Leopold Jessner and the music section should be put entirely in Part I presents two semina1 achievements Expressionists, and the very different, al­ chronological order and the latest research of the pre-1914 German theater. Max Rein­ most contradictory approaches to political should be worked in. In addition, the "Lied hardt's innovations in "total theater'' -truly. theater pursued by Brecht and Piscator. von der Stange'' composed in 1942 by Theo­ a director's theater-established a synthetic Likewise, Willett captures the complex dor W. Adorno and the German Peasant approach to the aesthetic elements of the impact of the advent of Nazism; even while War opera project with Rudolph Wagner­ theater, developing and integrating voice, discerning the threads ofcontinuity running Regeny should be included. gesture, lighting, scene, music, and even through the theater of the Third Reich and preserved in the various exile communities,

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 22 RECORDINGS

he makes us feel the devastating effects of briefly noted ... Kleine Dreigroschen­ those years, indeed with a genuine pathos for the careers, friendships, and lives bro­ The "Golden" Twenties: Art musik. London Symphony ken by the collapse of the Republic. and Literature in the Weimar Orchestra members, Michael Til- Despite the realization of these difficult Republic. By Barbel Schrader son Thomas, cond. Die sieben tasks in such a brief volume, the intended and Jurgen Schebera. New Todsiinden. Julia Migenes1 audience for this book remains unclear. Haven: Yale, 1988. 271 p. Willett has a journalist's penchant for get" soprano; Robert Tear, tenor; ting all the names down, even if it means Damals im Rornanischen Cafe: Stuart Kale, tenor; Alan Opie, detracting from descriptions and analyses of Kiinstler and ihre Lokale im baritone; Roderick Kennedy, bass; productions, scripts, and ideas. This density Berlin der zwanziger Jahre. London Symphony Orchestra, of proper names is no stumbling block to the By Jurgen Schebera. Berlin informed amateur or specialist-in fact, the Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. thoroughness of such naming expresses our (West): Westermann, 1988. CBS Records (CD: MK 44529). own and Willett's sense ofloss and remem­ These two books, both originally pub­ brance for those people - still these same lished in the GDR and intended for a general Kleine Dreigroschen­ readers would be quick to pass on to his readership, provide a pictorial and textual focused monographs on Brecht and Pisca­ introduction to artistic activity in the Weimar musik. Orchestra ofSt . Luke's, tor, or his more controversial and specula­ Republic. In both volumes, the wealth of Julius Rudel, cond. Concerto tive survey Art and Politics in the Weimar photographic reproductions of fine art, post­ for Violin and Wind Or­ Period. But if the book is meant to be, as ers, photographs, and documents gathered suggested in the opening chapter, "a short from archival repositories and publishers chestra, Op. 12. Naoko textbook" serving to introduce the period to located in East Berlin and Leipzig (most Tanaka, violin; Orchestra of St. students of theater history or general read­ notably theADN/Zentralbild, Berlin) offers Luke's, Julius Rudel, cond. Mu­ ers, then the wealth of names will prove off­ the main attraction for scholars. Both vol­ sicmasters (cassette: MMC- putting and thelucidity of thestyle will seem umes include a serviceable bibliography and 40164F). spoiled by pedantry. The Frankfurt theorist an index of prominent artistic and cultural Theodor Adorno, for example, is only men­ figures. tioned in a passing reference which cites his The Golden Twenties, originally published Kleine Dreigroschen­ approbation of the 1931 perlormance of Ma­ in German by Edition Leipzig and translated musik--Nos. 2, 4, 5a, 6. Berlin hagonny ("the best Mahagonny production for Yale Press by Katherine Vanovitch, pres­ State Opera Orchestra members, yet, in Theodor Adomo's view"). This su­ ents an interdisciplinary approach to cul­ perficial tidbit can alternately point up the tural life in Germany from 1918-1933. The Otto Klemperer, cond. [from relative lack ofattention to the rich theoreti­ authors attempt to delineate a paradox of Polydor 2417'})3 (matrixes 27 431/2/ cal work of the Weimar theater for the in­ cultural activity in the Republic: "artistic 4/6/5 BH II), recorded 1931]. formed reader and provide another obscure masterpieces alongside a reactionary flood Symposium (CD: 1042, with reference for the uninformed (sharing a page, of chauvinistic mass production; important as itdoes, with over 30 other proper names!). aesthetic innovations alongside routine orchestral works by Auber, The Theatre of the Weimar Republic also perfectionism; the influence of the Soviet Beetho:ven, Debussy, Offenbach, includes extensive appendices (one-third of avant-garde alongside ambitious imitations Ravel, Wagner. the text) listing the main German-language of American show biz.'' Organized chrono­ theaters, a thirty-year chronology of theater logically, the book touches upon art move­ Whereas only a single movement in Die seasons, and other facts. The lists are far too ments, architecture, cinema, radio, litera­ sieben Todsunden bears a metronome mark­ detailed to clarify the text for the novice, ture, and the performing arts, all set within ing (No. 6, "Unzucht":J = 66), every section while the specialist is warned by Willett "the scientific and technological context of the Kleine Dreigroschenmusik has one, himself to beware of the incomplete and against which they evolved." To this end, and with minimal exceptions they corre­ inexact nature of the data, necessitating fol­ the appendix provides a tabular "synchronol­ spond to the markings in the original stage low-up checks for scholars in any event. li1 ogy" which juxtaposes concurrent events in work. ('The major divergence is the "Lled either case, the appendices give the unpleas­ the areas of politics; science and economics; von der Unzulanglichkeit," which in the ant impression of "padding" to justify the literature, theater, music; and art, architec­ suite's second movement is joined to the large-format hardcover edition. This re­ ture, film. "Moritat'' under a single tempo - the latter's viewer hopes that plans are being made to Dama ls im Romanischen Cafe ... provides 66 rather than the fonner's original 85. The bring out an inexpensive paperback of the a discussion ofthe various meeting places of markings for the first two tempos of the "short textbook," which Willett's terse, in­ artists and writers in Berlin: the Romanis­ F'male differ insignificantly.) You might think fonnative survey represents, along the lines ches Cafe (and its predecessor Cafe Grossen­ that this precision on Weill's part would of the Grove Press Modern Dramatists Se­ wahn), the Schwannecke and Mutter Maenz, have resulted in some consensus about ries. Such a volume would serve an audi­ the restaurant Schlichter, and the hotels tempos among _performers. Not so. Even in ence as broad as the theater it describes. Adlon, Eden, and Kempinski. The book the partial recording made a couple of years HARRIS L. GRUMAN contains over 100 photographs of the estab­ after the premiere by Otto Klemperer, who Baltimore, MD lishments and of the artists who frequented commissioned the arrangement from Weill, them. two tempos (No. 4, ''Die Ballade von D.F. angenehmen Leben," and No. 6, "Kanonen-

KURTWEILLNEWSLETIER PAGE23 RECORDINGS

Song") are measurably faster than the mark­ ductor's detachment remains, but his posi­ sionally even picky; irony is reduced to bland ings. What's more, the haste is not a result tion in the musical universe has shifted-not geniality. Some may find here a nostalgic of78--rpm side limitations: these two sides, at merely geographically and chronologically, reminiscence of the "real thing"; to my ears, 2: 17 and 2:05, are in fact significantly shorter but hierarchically, from rebellious outsider it is rather a cosmeticization, into mere U11- than the other two (2:32 and 2:41), so slower to pillar of the Establishment: not any Jess terhaltimgsmusik. tempos would have easily been feasible. his own man, butsurely regarded differently The CBS recording under MicbaelTilson More recent recordings diverge variously by the players (themselves a Jong distance Thomas shares the tendency to spotlight and conspicuously in tempo, even more from the Berlin opera pit of the 1931 bands­ lines, to suppress detail and clarity of tex­ significantly in character. men). In consequence, the Philharmonia ture, downplaying the contrapuntal bias Strikingly, KJemperer's nearly complete version provocatively balances the profes­ characteristic of the music and its tinJe, and 1961 recording of the Dreigroschemnu.sik sional respect paid an acknowledged mas­ in some way romanticizing it I like the with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Angel, terpiece by experts against a dryness and fading end of the "Moritat" and the agogic out of print) takes No. 6 at Weill's metro­ edginess of spirit still in touch with the accents in the Tango, but No. 4 drags badly, nome, and No. 4 even more slowly (118 in original setting. We must hope for an early and the rmale is rather vulgarly accelerated 1931,80thirtyyearslater, vs. thescore's96). and well-engineered CD reissue of this up to the entrance of tl1e Chorale (during Aside from No. 4, the 1961 recording more important recording (coupled with some which the faster-moving inner voice is so consistently matches Weill's tempos than highly original performances of Johann stressed as to distract from the overall line).

" 4 OTTO Kl.EM Pl1.R PR

I)/I KROi I - I.\/ IHI

do either of the new ones listed above (or Strauss, plus a waltz of the conductor's own This combination ofgood and bad ideas is David Atherton's with the London Sinfo­ composition). further rendered non- essential by its cou­ nietta, recently reissued on DG CD 423-255- In later recordings, the subject of the pling, a version of Die sieben Todsunden that 2). Yet the difference between Klemperer's performers' discourse gradually shifts. disappoints on fundamental textual grounds two performances is more than a matter of Atherton and the Sinfonietta are steady and (asforecastinPaulMeecham'sreviewofthe tempo. In the earlier one, the conductor's accurate. and fortunately also fairly aggres­ same performers' 1987 London concert characteristically relaxed steadiness guides sive about the work's leanness and vernacu­ performance, Kurt Weill Newsletter, vol. 5, playing of an unself.consciously vernacular larity (perhaps because they came into the no. 2, p. 15). From Julia Migenes, a singer flavor, with accents ofboth the modish palm studio fresh from extensive immersion in a who can encompass the tessitura of Berg's court and the sleazy beerhall. The stolid, wide range of Weill at the 1975 Berlin Festi­ Lulu, and Thomas, a conductor who is known punchy stride of tuba and bass drum, the val). While several earlier tempos are on the to interest himself in editorial niceties, one timbral nuances of solo players, even the fast side, the finale is consistently below might have expected the authentic version occasional lapses ofunanimity (especially in Weill's markings. Atherton's occasional of this score, not the posthumous partial the Tango) are all communicative, and viv­ tendency to "layer" the textures, to clarify by transposition made to accommodate Lenya idly registered in a recording that seems letting other lines recede behind a primary in her later career. (The only recording to astonishing for its date. (The Symposium melody, makes for less interesting listening date in the original keys, Angel 37981, by dubbing is remarkably clean, from a source than Klernperer's subtler balancing. Elise Ross and Simon Rattle, is vocally quite with quieter surfaces than an earlier LP Rudel's performance, also recorded in the inadequate.) edition, Past Master PM-31. Nothing else on aftermath of a Weill festival (in September Down in the Lenya basement, Migenes this CD sounds as good, but both repertory 1987 at New York's Hebrew Arts School) is frequently resorts to a Broadway belt that and performances make fascinating listen­ more prone to fast tempos, including the eventually, in the march of No. 8, under­ ing to those raised on the post-war Klem­ most rapid Overture ofa ll (at 130, vs. Weill's mines her intonation. She knows what she perer. Symposium's attention to theniceties 84), and espouses an unwarranted tempo is singing about on a locallevel (her slightly of CD presentation is inadequate, however: articulation in No. 3, the "Anstatt-

KURT WEILL NEWSLE'ITER PAGE24 PERFORMANCES able· the orchestration is presented with som~ precision and care. (The English lli1er note is unsigned, altl1ough its translators into German and French are credited. A literal English translation, rather than the Auden-Kallmann singing version, is supplied for Die sieben Todsiinden.) The second fruit plucked by Musicmas­ ters from the New York Weill festival, the Violin Concerto, is distinctly more valuable than its coupling. The opening pages are unpromising: the two clarinets are so close tllat we can hear keyclicks during the trills. In general, the soloist-a fleet, vigorous, and Projection slides for "Pride" from the Sacramento Symphony production of The Seven virtuoso player - has been made more con­ Deadly Sins. Artist: Robert Doucette; ©Robert Doucette 1988. Photo: Jeffery Autt sistently audible than in the other available recording (Nona Liddell and the London The Seven Deadly Sins. Anna Il taking the stand before the House Sinfooietta under Atherton, on the DG CD Sacramento Symphony, Carter Committee on Un-American Activities. (This mentioned above). The penalty is a rather might have been an ideal opportunity to congested tutti sound, everyone pressed Nice, cond; Angelina Reaux, make more of Brecht's own appearance against the front of the soundstage, en­ soprano; Marc Jacobs, dir.; before that committee, but there is only one shrouded in a positive dearth of ambience. Sacramento Community Center, brief allusion; moreover, the poet is curi­ This problem abates, if only thanks to the 21 October 1988. ously absent at the outset of Jacobs's slide light scoring, in tlle tripartite middle move­ series in which matching photographs of ment, where soloist and band come closer Weill face each other across the stage). 11ie Seven Deadly shares with many than did Liddell and tlle Sinfonietta to evok­ Sins In any stage or concert production of the ing-and justifying - tlle designations W~ill of Weill's works a stubborn resistance to "Ballet with Song," at least one of its vital categorization, a circumstance which has gave its outer sections, as well as shapmg components-dance, text. music-is likely to tlle central cadenza fleetly and logically. In proved an obstacle to its finding a place in be compromised. Here, Jacobs readily sac­ any standardized repertoire. Recordings the "Nottumo." tlle solo xylophone concen­ rificed dance for tlle play of images on the trates on bell-like tone rather than clatter, have helped ease tlle pieceinto thecorp us of screen, where Anna Il could most often be Weill's popularly known oeuvre, but there and the last pages have a suspenseful antici­ found. Unfortunately - at least in Sacra­ pation, while tlle "Serenata" is compellingly has yet to develop any accepted perfom1- mento's large Community Center concert songful. ance tradition. Stage director Marc Jacobs hall - text intelligibility was notwhat it should has taken a bold step in that direction with a In both recordings, I.be expressive char­ have been. Though sung in English and acter of the first and last movements is less witty and imaginative concert staging, whlch amplified, it is doubtful that the audience clear. This relatively short-lived phase of was given its premiere by the Sacramento understood more than half ofthe text. which Weill's musical language is still unfamiliar to Symphony on 21 October 1988. is especially regrettable in a production as performers (and listeners) - as, indeed, are Jacobs, in collaboration with artist-anima­ finely tuned as this one. On occasion, in the aspects of Busooi's language to which it tor Robert Anthony Doucette and photogra­ venerable epic theater tradition, Jacobs is indebted. Instead. we are likely to focus pher-projectionist Jeffery Ault, has designed makes effective use of captions; these might on tlle occasional signposts pointing to a colorful multi-media event in which two have been employed more consistently to Hindemitll and Stravinsky (as well as tlle sets of slides - in a medley of styles vee1ing help delineate the action. It would likewise occasional pre-echoes of later Weill stage between Georg Grosz and Jules Feiffer and have been helpful if the text - or at least a works); tlleir expressive import has become drawing upon modern icons ranging from detailed synopsis-had been included in the firmly established, at least in partby tlle use Degas to Bogart-projected on raised screens program. This production desetves a wider on eitller side of the stage provide a rapid­ of their languages in well-known vocal and hearing and with slight modifications for theatrical works. But these are in fact pe­ fire commentary on the texts sung by Anna, local conditions it could find a place on the ripheral to the Violin Concerto's central style, stage left. and the male quartet representing programs of orchestras around the country. her family seated on rocking chairs, stage and we will all benefit from its further "play­ Concluding a program consisting of Co­ ing in'' by a variety of musicians. The Mu­ right An occasional prop or costume change pland's suite from Billy the Kid and Haydn's sicmasters recording takes us some part of Jent realism to the characterizations and Symphony No. 91, the Weill-Brecht work the way. (The annotations in the cassette gave the concert setting the necessary t~uch was well-received by an attentive and re­ edition lengthily rehearse the familiar Weill of theatrical illusion. Jacobs's generally light­ sponsive audience. Minortechni cal gaffs on avant- garde/Broadway dichotomy but ten­ hearted gloss of the work's text conjures up the first night were eliminated in two subse­ der little information about the specific an eclectic assemblage of associations in­ quent performances, which likewise met works; preposterously, instead of a biographi­ cluding Germany's Weimar culture (Sloth), with a wann, enthusiastic reception. The cal note about the excellent soloist, we are Film 11oir of the fifties (Lechery). and Wall Sacramento Symphony under Music Direc­ given one about the annotator.) Street's merger mania (Greed). More pro­ tor Carter Nice played with verve and preci­ vocative-and perhaps more in keeping with sion. Angelina Reaux, who replaced Geor­ DAVID HAMILTON the work's biting tone - is the McCarthy-era New York gia Brown in the role of Anna, struck a context given the Hollywood portion of the delightful balance of insouciance, melan­ sisters' odyssey (Anger) in which we see choly, and worldly cynicism. She was in fine

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE25 PERFORMANCES

vocaJ form as was the excellent male quartet rather flirtatious and did not overload "Sura­ and dramatic aplomb. In Lionel Salter's consisting of tenors Mark Daniel and Ed baya Johnny" with excessive Weltschmer.z; translation, the farce played breezily to a Betts, baritone Tom Hart and bass Mark and the Bill Cracker of this well-known large and appreciative audience. Keller. . Wagnerian tenor offered a thoroughly fetch­ A significant corps of the University of CHRISTOPHER HAILEY ing performance. Houston School ofMusic participated in this Occidental College Jan Latham-Konig, familiar as thecond uc­ admirable effort to realize two very diverse tor of last year's Street Scene, led his impec­ pieces; the distinctions between them are cable ensemble in a dashing first perfonn­ indeed greater than their time difference. A Happy End. Westdeutscher anceofGary S. Fagin's newedition ofWeill's rapid metamorphosing of style is of course Rundfunk, Jan Latham Konig, score. The "Hosiannah Rockefeller" finale, the hallmark ofWeill's brief career, and .it is conductor. Cologne Radio a wonderful climax to this hour-long per­ to the credit of the students that they spanned Orchestra, Cologne, 29 October formance, had notbeen included in previous this aesthetic distance. German _productions. It was in this particu­ SAUL FISHER 1988. lar part, ofcourse, thatJohannes Homberg's Houston Pro Musica Kolo Choir could best demon­ Between two radio, productions of Street strate all its fine ensemble and verv~. The Threepenny Opera. The Scene (May 1988) and Der Siloenee (March STEFAN KRUGER Canadian Stage Company and J:989), the Westdeutscher Rundfunk Cologne The BanfI Centre, St. Lawrence presented Happy End in a late-night per­ Centre, Toronto. 9 March-1 April formance broadcast from the Koiner Mu­ briefly noted. .. 1989. sikhochschule on 29 October 1988. Weill took pride in his musicaJ contribu­ The Seven Deadly Sins and The tions to this collaboration with Brecht, as­ Tsar Has His Photograph To assert that the Banff-Canadian Stage serting that, for example, the "Matrosen­ production ofThreepenny Opera is one ofthe Taken. University Opera best I've ever seen is not to deny that it Tango" and the "Heilsanneelied" exceeded Theatre, University of Houston by far his fonner Songstil in seriousness and nevertheless is largely miscast and misdi­ expressiveness. Good music, Weill claimed, Symphony Orchestra, and rected. Rather, it is to acknowledge the had been wasted on a bad play. Appropri­ University of Houston Concert extreme demands ofthe piece and the rarity ately, shortly before his emigration in 1933, Chorale, Niklaus Wyss, of occasions in the post-1945 era on which Weill had contemplated the rearrangement Conductor. 3 March 1989. they have been mel ofhis material into a Songspiel. Attracted by Fortunately the director, designers, and the advantages ofa version for sixactors and most of the cast in Toronto recognized that Performances of two Weill works pro­ the plciy is, above all, a comedy. The central eleven musicians, he nonetheless shied away vided the primary musical fare at the Univer­ from having to take up again his increas­ problems with the production are the incon­ sity of Houston symposium on Gennan lit­ sistencies in style and execution of that ingly strained relationship with Brecht and erature and music, held 1-4 March. Under eventually abandoned his p]an. lo 1975, comedy. With stunning post-modem re­ the direction of Niklaus Wyss, Associate workings of constructivist-<:um-commedia David Drew prepared a "Songspiel" version Conductor ofthe Houston Symphony, three of the music which was performed by the sets and costumes, Kelly Robinson has U of H student ensembles gave spirited chosen to play the comedy so broadly thatall London Sinfonietta at the Akademie der accountings of The Seven Deadly Sins and Ktinste inWest Berlin and which was subse­ but the mostadroitindividual performances The. Tsar Has His Photograph Taken, works deteriorate into caricature. LocaJ Toronto quently recorded for Deutsche Grammo­ which revealed notably distinct sides of phon (2740 153). actresses Nora Mclellan and Shirley Weill's European years and the correspond­ Douglas, who respectively _play Jenny as a Now, almost 60 years after the premiere ing diversity of his interests. ofHappy End, WDRproducer Harald Banter stock, brazen horror and Mrs. Peach um as a The Tsar has been staged very few times tip-toeing, Canadian honker, were especially presented a new radio version that included in the United States and only sporadically in all the songs as well as some radically short­ disappointing in light of Banffs commitment the United Kingdom. The libretto, written to high musical standards. Except for a ened dialogue scenes to provide a narrative by Georg Kaiser, relates the story of the link. The production's dramaturg, Josef voiceless Tiger Brown-Messenger, the rest urbane Tsar who is visiting Paris. He is of the cast could sing their roles, with Lucy Heinzelmann, provided the actors with lines scheduled to sit for a photographic portrait which, while not straining for absolute plau­ and Polly particularly impressive. The biog­ and becomes the target of an assassination raphy of the actor playing Macheath con­ sibility, did indeed get across Hauptmann's plot. A substitute photographer- the false and Brecbt's highly sarcastic commentary fumed that he had recently playedthe Lead­ Angele - is committed to loll the Tsar but is ing Player in Pippin; I thought he still was. on money and morals. However, the fact unable to carry out her task, and jnstead, that the singers had been double-cast did Precariously lowered from the flys and sus­ falls victim to the Tsar's considerable charm. pended mid-air in a cage, conductor Wyn not make matters easy for those unfamiliar The alternately ingenuous and ardent, but with the storyline. Davies conducted the seven-piece orchestra seemingly humble, antics of the Tsar pr~ stylishly in an accurate iflimp account ofthe Karin Ploog (Sister Jane and The Fly) and vent the murder from taking place. baritone Steven Kimbrough (Mammy) cer­ score. The opening night audience cheered Buck Ross's clever staging of The Tsar enthusiastica1ly at the final tableau. tairtly came across well on the broadcast. but came as an expected surprise after an under­ it was their colleagues Walter Raffeiner and rehearsed and under-staged Sins. The or­ KIM H . KOWALKE Gabriele Ramm in the lead roles whose chestra played the more difficult score far Kurt Weill Foundation for Music charming andwitty perfonnance moved the better than it bad the Sins, and most of the live audience. Cologne's Hallelujah Lil was principals dispatched their roles with vocal

KURf WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE26 SELECTED PERFORMANCES

AUSTRIA NEfHERIANDS Happy End, Jura Soyfer Theater, Vienna, Ilse Scheer, dir.; Rudi Stodola, Der Silbersee, Amsterdam, 24 December 1988 cond., November-December 1988 War Play, Amsterdam, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, 20,27,29 November, 20 December 1988 AUSTRALIA T11e Threepenny Opera, Brisbane, QI.D, La Boite Theatre, 9-11, 15-18, 21-25 SCO'llAND March 1989 Street Scene, Glasgow, co-production, Scottish Opera and English National The 11zreePenny Opero, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin Theatre Group, Opera, David Poutney, dir.;John Mauceri, cond.; 23,25,27,31 May, !June 23, 26--30 September. 3-7 October 1989 1989, tours to Llverpool, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Edinburgh during June. CANADA Der jasager, Banff, ALB, The Ban.ff Centre, School of Fine Arts, includes SOlITH KOREA tour to Carunore and Calgary, 24, 27, 29 February 1989 Die DreigroschenoPer, Seoul, Goethe-lnstitut. October 1988 johnny Johnson, Banff, ALB, The Banff Centre, School of the Arts, 23-25 March 1989 SWEDEN Mahagonny Songspiel, Edmonton, ALB. Alberta College Music Depart­ Tolvskillingsoperan, Stockholm, The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden, ment, 15 October 1988 Karin Betz, dir.; Peter Langdal, setdesign;Jean Billgren, cond.; October The Threepenny Opera, Vancouver, BC, Touchstone Theatre, 11 February 1988 - 5 March 1989 The Threepenny Opera, Bluma Appel Theater. Toronto, ONT, co-produc­ SWITZERIAND tion, The Banff Centre and Canadian Stage Company, 9 March-1 April Johnny Johnson, Zug, Jnstitut Montana, March 1989 1989 11.JRKEY ENGIAND Uf Kurusluk Opera, Istanbul, Turkish State Theater, 1988-89 season The Threepenny Opera, Chichester, Chichester Festival, 1989 Street Scene, London Coliseum, London, co-production, English National USA Opera and Scottish Opera, David Poutney, dir.; Carl Davis, cond., 11 Das Berliner Requiem, Urbana, IL, University of Illinois, Champaign­ October-25 November 1989 Urbana, Alexander Ringer, cond, 7 April 1989 Down in the Valley, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brookline, MA, Brookline FRANCE Opera TheaterWorkshop, Hanni Meyers, dir., 26--27 January 1989 Der Jasager, Valenciennes, Conservatoire de Musique, February 1989 Happy End, Milwaukee, WI, Marquette University, 12-15, 19-23 April 1989 Happy End, Rochester, NY, University of Rochester, 28 April-7 May 1989 FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Happy End, Chicago, lL, CourtTheatre, University of Chicago, 9 March-9 A,efstieg 1tnd Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Augsburg, Staatstheater, 1989-90 April 1989 season Happy End. Urbana, lL. University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Alexan­ A,efstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Kampnagel-Fabrik. Hamburg, der Ringer, cond., 7 April 1989 Hamburg Staatsoper. Gunter Kramer, dir.• June 1990 Kleine Dreigroschettmusik, Cedar Rapids IA, Cedar Rapids Symphony, 19 Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Hof, Theater-Hof, 6 May 1989 November 1988 Concerto, violin & winds, Cologne, Musikhochschule, 20 October 1988 Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Reading. PA, Reading Symphony Orchestra, 13 Die Dreigroschenoj,er, Stadttheater, Aachen, Dieter Loebach, dir.; Joseph November 1988 Thelken, cond., October 1988 Mahagonny Songspiel, New Haven, CT, Yale University Ensemble, 1 Janu­ Die Dreigroschenoper, The.ater des Westens. Berlin. July 1989 ary 1989 Die Dreigroschenoper, Schauspielhaus, Wiesbaden, December 1988 Mahagonny Songspiel, Urbana, IL, University of Illinois, Champaign-Ur­ Happy End, Stadtische Biihnen, Bielefeld, December 1988 bana, 8 November 1988 Happy End, E.T.A.-Hoffmann-Theater, Bamberg, Peter-Christian Gerloff, Mahagonny Songspiel, Buffalo, NY, SUNY, Buffalo, 1 February 1990 dir.; Gloria Roberts, cond., October 1988 Mahagonny Songspiel, Brooklyn, NY, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Peter Happy End, Cologne, Westdeutscher Runclfunk;Jan Latham-Koenig, cond., Sellars, cond.; Craig Smith, c-0nd .. 30 March-2 April 1989 29 October 1988 Mahagonny Songspiel, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin, School of Der jasager, Augsburg, Geoffrey Abbott, cond., February 1989 Music, 7-8 October 1988 Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Stuttgart, Stuttgart Philharmonic, 2 February Mahagonny Songi,-piel, Florence Hollis Hand Chapel, Washington, DC, 1989 Mount Vernon College. 8,11,12,14 March 1989 Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Freiburg, Musikverein, 26 November 1988 The Seven Deadly Sins, Cullen Auditorium, Houston, TX. University of Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Frankfurt, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchesters Frank­ Houston, Buck Ross, dir.; Nicklaus Wyss, cond., 3,5, March 1989 furt, Erich Leinsdorf, cond., 10-11 November 1988 The Seven Deadly Sins, Sacramento Community Center, Sacramento, CA, Mahagonny S071KSPiel, Dortmund, Ko1ner Collegium Vocale, 6 October Sacramento Symphony, Carter Nice, cond.; Marc Jacobs, dir.; Angelina 1988 Reaux, sop.; 21-23 October 1988 Die sieben Todsiinden, Stadttheater, Remscheid, Guest performance by the Sy,nphonyM. 2, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, Bard College Orchestra, 28-29 Oberhausen Stadttheater, 2-4 December 1988 October 1988 Der Silbersee, Kellner Philharmonie, Kelln, Westdeutscher Rund.funk, Jan The Th.reepenny Opera, Milwaukee, WI, co-production, Skylight Opera and Latham-Konig, cond., 18 March 1989 Opera/Omaha, 25 January-19 February 1989 11ie Threepenny Opera, Arts Center, little Rock, AR, Arkansas Opera GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Theater, 24, February 1989 Die Dreigroschenoper, East Berlin, PuppeotheaterBerlin.September.Octo­ The Threepenny Opera. Omaha, NE, co-production, Opera/Omaha and ber 1988 Skylight Opera, March-April 1989 Die sieben Todsiinden, Weimar, Deutsches Nationaltheater, Gunter Kahler!, The Threepenny Opera. Berkeley, CA, Theatre of the Blue Rose, 4-13 cond.; Udo Wandtke, chor.; 1 April 1989 November 1988 The Threepenny Opera, Cleveland, OH, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, ITALY Gerald Freedman, dir., Fall 1989 Die Dreigroschenoper, Bolzano, Siidtiroler Theater Ensemble, 2-5, 9, 12 The Tsar has his photograph taken, Cullen Auditorium, Houston, TX, May 1989 University of Houston, Buck Ross, dir.; Nicklaus Wyss, cond., 3,5 March Die Dreigroschenoper, Teatro Bellini. Naples, Cooperative Teatrale Nuova 1989 Commedia, Tato Russo, dir.; Antonio Sinagra, cond., 15 October-31 Vom Tod im Wald, Urbana, n. University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. December 1988, tour throughout Italy during 1989 Alexander Ringer, cond., 7 April 1989 Ballet, ".Zircus Weill," Seattle Opera House, Seattle, WA. Pacific Northwest JAPAN Ballet, 15-18 March 1989 Die Dreigroschenoper, Kokoshuko-Tent, Tokyo, October 1988 The Threepenny Opera, Tokyo, Parco Theatre School, 2-3 November 1988

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No. of copies Title Price Total Drew. Kurt Weill: A Handbook. Faber, 1987. $30.00 Kowalke, Ed. A New Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill. $28.50 Yale University Press, 1986. Kowalke. Kurt Weill in Europe. UMI Research Press, $20.00 1979. $10.00 (Pbk)

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