KURT WEILL NEWSLIITTER Volume 9, Number 1 Spring 1991

IN THIS ISSUE 7 Mahagonny .. . MPI AlhJ l- -· Only a Made-Up Word? Andreas Hauff 10 Weill a la Fran~aise Patrick O'Connor I: lA SEINE .. 14 Marie: Still Waiting . . . John Mucci and Richard Felnag/e

19 BOOKS

Kurt Weill: Musilc und Theater: Gesammelte Schriften edited by Stephen Hinton and Jiirgen Schebera Joachim Lucchesi The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey by Joseph P. Swain William Thornhill 21 PERFORMANCES

Mahagonny in Frankfurt Andreas Hauff Mahagonny in Halle Jurgen Schebera 22 RECORDINGS Four Historical Reissues David Hamilton Die Dreigroschenoper on Koch International Nicholas Deutsch ''Berlin im Licht" on Largo Giselher Schubert Concert works on Newport Classics Larry L. Lash

DEPOSITAI QES COM MUNS COLUMNS Letters to the Editor 4 EDITIQ\JS CODAS.A. 12RUE LAFAYETTE·PARl5 From the Archives 17 Recent Acquistions HaJGEL EDITEUR"AU MENESTQEL'' 2.... RUE'v1VIENNE·PAR IS New Publications 18 Selected Performances 27 NEWS

Love Life Best in 1990 Kim Kowalke Wins Second Music Theory Society and Deems Taylor Award Schoenberg Institute On 24 December, "America's newspaper," Sponsor Conference USA Today, named its list of the best shows ASCAP's president Morton Gould and produced in regional or Broadway venues managing director Gloria Messinger pre­ The Music Theory Society of New York during 1990. Among thebe~twas the ~ eill­ sented Kim Kowalke with his second Deems and the Arnold Schoenberg Institute are Lerner collaboration Love Life. Accordmg to Taylor Award on 10 December 1990 for his sponsoring a conference at C?lumbia Uni­ USA Today, the performance at the Ameri­ article "Accounting for Success: versity in New York on the music of Brahms, can Musical Theater Festival in Philadel­ Misunderstanding Die Dreigroschenoper," Mahler Wagner, Babbitt. and Schoenberg. phia "showed the world that what wa~ previ­ published in the spring 1989 issue of Opera 4-6 Oct~ber 1991. The papers will focus on The award is given for outstand­ ously considered second-rate Weill was Quarterly. the relationship between text and music, or perhaps the ultimate fusion of his Geiman ing contributions to print and _media_cover­ analysis and performance, in late nineteen~­ and American styles-as well as the father of age of music. Kowalke rec~1ved his first century and early twentieth-century music. Cabaret and Follies." Others included in the Deems Taylor in 1987 as editor of A New MiltonBabbittand Claudio Spies will be the top ten list were John Guare's Six Degrees of Orpheus: Essays on Kurt Weill, now avail­ keynote speakers. Leonard Stein will de­ Separation at Lincoln Center Th_eater,juan able in paperback from Yale Press. Oth~r vote a special session to the topic ofSchoen­ Darien by Julie Taymor and Elliot Golden­ 1990winners included Kathy J. Ogren, Wil­ berg and performance. Pi~nist and c~nduc­ thal at New York's Musical TI1eater Group, liam Rothstein, RobertN. Marshall, E. Eu­ tor Stein has recently retired after sixteen Mark Morris' Wonderland at Brooklyn Acad­ gene Hehn, Edward T. Cone, :i-nd Lloyd years as director of the Arnold Schoenberg emy of Music, EugeneO'Neill's The l~eman Schwartz. The awards are given m honor of Institute. Cometh at the Goodman T'heater in Chicago, Deems Taylor, a composer, critic, and editor, Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss at Broadway's who served as ASCAP's president from Those interested in attending should con­ Helen Hayes Theater, and John Ford's 'Tisa 1942-48. tact the Department of Music, 703 Dodge Pity She's a Whore at the Goodman Theater. Hall, Columbia University, New York, New New Recordings York 10027. A variety of recordings are planned for release this spring and summer. Decca/ KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER Philip Getter Joins Board of the Vol. 9, No. 1 ; Spring 1991 Kurt Weill Foundation London andThat's Entertainment Records will release separate, complete recordings O 1991 Kurt Weill Foundation for Music of Street Scene in early summer. Planned 7 East 20th Street On 22December 1989, theTrustee s of the for May issue is a double-bill recording of New York, NY 10003-1106 Kurt Weill Foundation welcomed Philip M. Der jasager and Down in the Valley by Tel. (212)505-5240 Getter to the Foundation's Board. Mr. Get­ Capriccio (60 020-1) and a remastered CD Fax (212)353-9663 ter is the first new member elected since recording of the original cast album of Lost 1980. He also serves on the boards of the in the Stars on MCA. In late spring, Koch­ The Newsletter is published to provide an open forum wherein interested readers may express a Lehman Center.for the Performing Arts and Swann will release the Four Walt Whitman Songs, for voice and orchestra, the Berli1~er variety of ideas and opinions. The opinions ex­ the Orchestra of Sl Luke's. pressed do not necessarily represent the pub­ Requiem, and Recordare on a commercial Philip M. Getter earned a Bachelor of Sci­ lisher's official viewpoint. The editor encourages recording made from one ofthe concerts of the submission of articles, reviews, and news items ence degree from Cornell University in 1958 tl1e 1990 North Rhine Westphalia Kurt Weill and bas worked extensively in the areas of for inclus[on in future issues. The submission dead­ Festival. Koch-Swann also plans a spring line for the next issue is 1 August 1991 . investment banking and portfolio manage­ release CD ofWeill's two symphonies per­ ment. He has been associated with Shear­ formed by the Cracow Symphony. Decca/ son Hammill & Co. (Partner); Devon Secu­ London has issued recently Die sieben David Farneth, Editor rities (Senior Partner); and is currently Todsunden and Mahagonny Songspiel (430 Mario R. Mercado, Associate Editor managing director ofLad en burg, Thalmann 168-2). Margaret M . Sherry, Photo E'!itor & Co., Inc., all members of the New York Anita T. Weisburger, Production Stock Exchange. Jn addition to his "W~ll Call for Papers John Wat son, Production Assistant Street'' responsibilities, Mr. Getter was Chair­ Brecht and Music Session at MLA man of Genetics Corporation of America Convention Board of Trustees and has written extensively for financial The International Brecht Society is spon­ publications. Kim Kowalke, President soring a session, "Brecht. and ~~rica~ Henry Marx, Vice-President Mr. Getter has produced a number of Music Musicians, and Mus1calTraditions, Lys Symonette, Vice-President Broadway plays and musicals involving shows at the Modern Language Association meeting Guy Stern, Secretary that represented the first professional or in San Francisco, December 1991.1-2 page Milton Coleman, Treasurer New York productions for their authors. proposals may be sent by 15 March or soon Philip Getter They include Shadow Box, Cheaters, A Day thereafter to Prof. Michael Gilbert, Depart­ Harold Prince in Hollywood/A Night i11 the Ukraine, Bl~o1 ment of German & Russian, Wake Forest JUiius Rudel Mood, Magic Man, Cotton Patch, Gemini, University, P.O. Box 7353 Reynolda Sta­ and Grease. tion, Winston-Salem, NC 27109. Proposals addressing the general topic of ''Brecht Foundation Staff Getter is married to actress Sue Anne and Music" are also welcome, and the Gershenson, who recently starred in The program is open to non-MLA members. Kim Kowalke, President David Farneth, Director and Archivist RothscHilds at Circle in the Square. His son, Gilbert and Prof. Vera Stegmann of Lehigh Douglas, is an attorney with De:9ey Bal­ Lys Symonette, Musical Executive Universitywillchairthepanel.Stegmannis Mario R, Mercado, Director of Programs lentine and his daughter, Laura, 1s a man­ also serving as the new editor of the JBS Margaret M. Sherry, Associate Archivist ager ot'children's books at Viking Penguin. publication, Communications. Anita T. Weisburger, Office Administrator John Watson, Secretary

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 1 2 NEWS

Foundation Welcomes New Staff and singing debut as John the Baptist in a ~! the 650 ait works shown during the Members production of Godspell. ongmal 1937 Munich exhibition. the Mu­ seU1n has displayed 100 paintings and sculp­ 'Three new staff members joined the Foun­ Brecht Newsletter Ceases ture~ and 75 ~phics borrowed from ninety dation in 1990: Margaret M. Sherry. Asso­ pubhc and pnvate collections world-wide. ciate Archivist (new position); Anita T. Weis­ The Brecht Zentrum newsletter notate has ceased publication with the October Three of the exhibition's seven rooms are burger, Office Administrator (new postion); devoted to music, film, and literature re­ and John Watson, Secretary. 1990 issue (vol. 13, no. 4). The difficulty of continuing publication in the face ofwither­ spectively, displaying works in those forms Ms. Sherry is responsible for the Weill­ ing state subsidies is given as the principal also on_ce targeted by the Nazis. Among the Lenya Research Center's technical proc­ reason. A "notate-Verzeichnis" or author­ recordings available for listening in the essing activities and the oral history pro­ index, to the complete thirte~n volumes music room is Brecbt's 1928 rendition of gram. Ms. Weisburger coordinates office 1978-1990, is available for 5 DM from th~ the "Mo1itat" from Die Dreigroschenoper sys!ems, executes desk-top publishing Brecht Zentrum, Chausseestraile 125, PF with the Lewis Ruth Band under the baton p_roiects, and assists in promotion, copy­ of Theo Mackeben. This and other record­ 205, 0-1040 Berlin, Federal Republic of ings are accompanied by documentation nght, and financial administration. Mr. Germany. Reportedly, the Center will con­ Watson oversees the Foundation's book relating to the 1938 Nazi-mounted "Entar­ ni:iue to function at the same address but tete Musik" ("Degenerate Music'? show sales, scheduling, reception, communica­ with a reduced staff. tions, and word-processing. and to the fate of composers. including "Degenerate Art" Weill and Schoenberg, who were forced to Margaret M. ShelT)', Associate Archivist flee Germany. Peggy Sherry comes from the New York Los Angeles County Museum of metropolitan area. She received a BA in Art 1n conjunction with the exhibition. cham­ ber musicians presented programs of re­ E~glish from Cornell University and ob­ In the late 1930s, the Nazis staged an ex­ ~med the M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative hibition entitled "Entartete Kunst'' ["Degen­ lated music at various locations in Los L1teraturefromTheJohnsHopkins Univer­ erate Art") to show the public what type of Angeles, and the Los Angeles Philhaimonic sity. Ms. Sherry also studied at the Freie art was deemed unacceptable by the Third presented a concert of Krenek's "Symphonic Universitat in West Berlin and at the Uni­ Reich. The Los Angeles County Museum of Elegy," Korngold's Violin Concerto, Weill's versity of Zurich. She taught at the college Art has reconstructed seven rooms of that Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, and Hindernith's level for eleven years, six of them as an 1937 exhibition, based on newly discovered Mathis der Maler symphony. The Philhar­ assistant professor of German at Princeton original installation photographs found in monic also sponsored a symposium on 23 University. She received her Master of archives in Germany and California for its Library Science degree from Rutgers Uni­ March entitled "Ali., Politics, and Music exhibition "Degenerate Art: the Fat~ of the Under the Nazis." Joseph Horowitz moder­ versity, where she was awarded a graduate Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany," which runs assistantship in archival science. Ms. Sherry's ated the 4-hour session, which included from 7 February to 12 May 1991. The event papers by Albrecht Dtimling, Christopher publications include articles on Brecht, Kleist, was made possible by grants from both the Nietzsche andfin-de-siecle Vienna. She has United States and German governments. Hailey, Stephen Hinton, and Will Odgon. also published a finding aid to the J.A. Symington Collection consisting of 19th­ ~nd early 20tb-centui-y literary papers and Collectors' Corner 1s currently working on documentation of th~ manuscripts of German-language women wnters. The government of Grenada recently is­ Anira T. Weisburger, Office Administrator su~d a Ku1t Weill Commemorative stamp, which features a decidedly equatorial ren­ Anita Weisburger came to New York via dering o! Weill, ea. 1923. A distinctly ma­ Lo_sAngeles and Washington, D.C. She re­ ture-looking Lenya shares the souvenir sheet ceived the B.M. in Music Theory and Piano of the $6.00 issue with a saxophone, violin from California State University. Northridge. and_ decorative musical notes. The stamp i~ where she prepared a thesis entitled "The available from philatelic shops. The Cambr­ Problem of Harmony in Arnold Schoen­ idge Essex Stamp Company, Inc. prices the berg's Twelve-Tone Compositions" and stamp at $7.50 plus $1.00 for a protective obtained a M.A. in International Affairs plastic sleeve (500 Eighth Ave., New York, with an emphasis on international cultural NY 1()018). It is also available from Shield exchange from George Washington Uni­ Stamp Company, P.O. Box 6238, Grand To celebrate Kurt Weill's 90th birthday versity, Washington, D.C. Ms. Weisburger Central Station, New York, NY 10163. Me) :-W-acks _will offer for sale up to .fi:ffy has been publicity coordinator for tl1e ~dditio~al artist proofs of the medal originally Department of Music at George Washing­ issued m honor of the Kurt Weill Conference ton University and project coordinator for held at Yale University in 1983. The medal international finance at the Council on For­ was sculpted on both sides by Marika So­ eign Relations, New York. mogyi, based on a design by Wacks. One John C. Watson, Secretary side de_picts Wei11 and Lenya, the other the streetsmger from Threepenny Opera. Each John Watson, a native of St. Joseph. Mis­ bronze medal is hand patinated measures souri, received the B.S. degree from Texas 411 x 4," weighs almost two pou~ds, and is Christian University where he studied com­ cast using the "ancient lost wax process." munications and music. Mr. Watson also The m~dals are numbered and initialed by studied Humanities atthe l nstitu te ofEuro­ th~ 3!1=1st. To order, send $145 plus $5 for pean Studies program in London, England. shippmg to Mel Wacks, 5189 Jeffdale Avenue, He has recently made his New York acting Woodland Hills, CA 91364.

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 1 3 LETTERS To the Editor: Thus Weill felt free to notate Polly and score of 1929 confinn that the G-G octave Mrs. Pea.chum in unison oo the same staff leap was the preferred interval; both also Nic;holas Deutsch's and Stephen Hin ton's in much of the First Fmale, and then divisi make clear that Weill intended tJ1e bass responses to Geoffrey Abbott's startling at "Und das ist eben schade," with Mrs. instrume nts to parallel the vocal line at the contention [in his essay 1ne Dreigroschen Pea.chum ranging a third to a sixth below octave below. Such a technique would have Sound" in the Cambridge Opera Handbook her daughter, yet a full octave above her seemed obvious to anyexperienced conduc­ ofDie Dreigroschenoper] that "Mrs. Peachum's husband. The evidence Abbott dtes to argue tor, composer, or orchestrator; elementary music.. .was intended to be s ung an octave that this passage should neve1theless be textbooks caution that one doubles a vocal lower than written" also sent me '·scurrying sung an octave lower than notated is the line an octave above or below, but only back'' toWeill's autograph full score, as well performance of Erika Helmke on the Tele­ rarely at pitch, as this creates severe bal­ as to the early recordings which Abbott funken recordings of December 1930. What ance problemsin performance. Weill almost finds so essential for reconstructing "au­ Abbottdoesn'tmentioo is that just as Lenya never made that mistake. (So much for thentic performance practice." But unlike sang the songs of both Polly and Jenny Abbott's vague third point, that "the pitch of Deutsch, I remain unconvinced by Abbott's Helmke took the parts of both Lucy and the instruments thatdm1ble Mrs. Pea.chum's argument, and what I discovered suggests Frau Peachwn. (fhere is, in fact, no surviv­ solos suggests the lower octave.'') little of the ambiguitywhich Professor Hin• ing recording of the 01iginal Mrs. Peachwn, ton., in his condensed and characteristically Rosa Valetti, singing any music from Die We are left, then, with the tattered shred diplomatic rebuttal, conceded Abbott in the Dreigroschenoper.) Helmke, who played one ofevi dence that Rosa Valetti had a low voice (but with no recordingsofhersinginganyof last Newsletter. of the prostitutes in the Schillbauerdarum Mrs. Peachurn 's music), and Abbott's more production, may indeed have been imitat­ Abbott's argumentation is entirely his­ ing the low-voiced Valetti when she sang general conviction that the contingencies torical (authorial intention andperformance her line in the First Finale; but more likely that dictated certain compromises in the record) rather than critical-aesthetic, and she was attempting to disguise the fact I.hat first production should take precedence over the score (even though Weill himself re­ each of its four components self-destructs the same singer was portraying both Lucy under scrutiny.No one seems to have noted and Mrs. Peacbwn on the recording. (In vised it after his experience of the pre­ miere). One need not imagine, however, that he himself admits thatMr s. Pea.chum's any case, Weill warns us that we shouldn't what sorts ofc ontortions an octave transpo­ music may actually have "to be transposed put too much stock in this recording, de­ up" if it was originally intended to be sung spite Lenya's participation; he considered it s ition of Mrs. Pea.churn's role would re­ quire. That is vividly documented in Trude an octave lower than written. Tn other words, one of the many arrangements which mis­ few perfonners (other than Rosa Valetti, represented his intentions.) Hesterberg's portrayal on tl1e 1958 com­ presumably) could actually sing it a full plete recording (Columbia 02L-257). Even octave lower; Weill, in essence, miscalcu­ None of Mrs. Pea.chum's other musical she can barely touch the required C's below lated the depths to which the female voice numbers occurs on records from the time. middle C, and she makes no attempt what­ could descend. If Mrs. Peachwn's role were Of course. the "Ballade voo der sexuellen soever at the "optional" G a fourth below. to be sung an octave lower than notated, Horigkeit'' had been cut from the stage (Remember too that Le.nya usurped the then she and Macheath would sing in al­ production dwing rehearsals. Yet it turns Second Finale on this occasion and thats he most the same range, and in the "Anstatt­ out to be the key to deciphering Weill's was then singing Jenny in a transposition dass-Song" Mr. and Mrs. Pea.chum would intentions. It was to have been Mrs. considerably below the range of Mrs. sing the same notes in the same ocl'ave. If Pea.chum's only solo number. Weill deemed Pea.chum's notated part.) Compare this Pea.chum's part was intended, as Abbott it essential: unlike Lucy's Aria, he orches­ rendition to Charlotte Rae's English-language states, for a mature actor's baritone, then trated Frau Pea.chum's, and insisted that it (MGM E3121) or Helga Dernesch's Ger­ does he think that Mrs. Pea.chum's was be published (in the 1929 UE Songbook in man (London 430 075-2 LH), where singing intended for a mature actress's baritone? the original key, too!), even after being at pitch results in two different but equally censored out of the production, lhe Bloch powerful "screechy-mezzo" characterizations That line of reasoning surely calls into Erben/UE rental script, and the published - surely the effect Weill intended for his question Abbott's admission that vocal range piano-vocal score. His intentions in this bourgeois matron. is an important means of characterization. number are unambiguous: at the first oc­ Normally, one could allow such compari­ One of his arguments against Mm. Pea.chum currence of the word ''Horigkeit.'' Weill singing at pitch is that her tessitura would wrote a descending leap of an octave, g 1-g, sons, coupled with a little common sense be inappropriate, as it would be higher than for the voice, doubled an octave below by and musicality, to suffice. Howeve r, I fear that Abbott's reckless speculation will gain Polly's • ao assertion that depends, by the the trombone and bassoon in successive credence by virtue of its place within the way, oo a very strange definition oftessitura strophes. Recognizing,however, t hat many authoritative which othe rwise (see footnote 12). He neglects to speculate, mezzo-sopranos capable ofs inging the rest Handbook, corrects so many misconceptions about the however, about the effects on relative char­ ofthe role might not have sufficient heft at piece.1 hope Hinton will include in a Second acterization if Mrs. Pea.chum's tessitura were the bottom end to make the G below middle Edition a counter-argument to Abbott's the same as Mr. Pea.chum's (actually hers C heard from the stage, he indicated a 1 1 assertion, which, if accepted by the un­ would be lower than his in the Third Finale) descendingfou1th,g to d , as an option for aware, will doom many a future Frau Pea.chum and her vocal range the same as Mach­ the voice (but not for the instruments, which lo a false eath's. He also seems to be unaware that otherwise had mirrored the vocal part ex­ Fach. such characte1izatioo is less a function of actly). This is conclusive, for there proba­ KIM H. KOWALKE relative range or tessitura as of vocal color, bly weren't four freakish women in Ger­ Rochester, New York size, and weight the very parameters which many who could have hit theG if Weill had differentiate so vividly the mezzo-soprano of indeed intended the line to be sung an Begbick from the soprano of]e nnyinMaha­ octave lower than written. And if they had To the Ed itor: gomzy (and countless other operatic roles) succeeded, they would have enjoyed the and cause no confusion between mother dubious distinction of having the lowest Having read with interest the reviews of and daughter whe n Helga Dernesch and vocal range of all the characters in Die Street Scene in London (vol.8, 110.1) and in Ute Lemper (transposing Polly) sing in the Dreigroschenoper. New York (vol. 8,no. 2),Iwondered if other same range on the Decca recording of Die Dreigroschenoper. The accompaniment in both the auto­ readers would be interested in some thoughts graph score and the published piano-vocal prompted by having seen both productions.

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 1 4 GRANTS

In the first place, while agreeing in gen­ eral with your two reviewers, what does not 1991 Grants Awarded come across from reading their pieces along­ side each other is the contrast: the Pount­ In December 1990, the Board of Trustees of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. ney-Fielding production attracted enthusi­ approved the recommendations of the Independent Grants Advisory Panel to award the astic notices in Glasgow (and I'm sureJohn grants listed below in the areas of research and performance. Mauceri must have done some justice to the score) but by the time it reached London it Research was directionless and drab. On the evening I was there, Carl Davis conducted the score Gunther Diehl, Altenholz. Research and travel grant to the Weill/Lenya Archive at Yale as if it were written to accompany a B movie, University and Weill-Lenya Research Center, New York, for investigations tied to work on his and although the performance contained dissertation: "Der junge Kurt Weill - Untersuchungen zur Deutung des kompositorischen some quite effective individual characteriza­ Werkes bis 1927," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kiel. tions (notably, as Patrick O'Connor says, David Drew, London. Research grant to complete "Kurt Weill: The Kaiser, Brecht, and from Meriel Dickinson and Bonaventura Neher Works" and research and travel grant to the Weill/Lenya Archive at Yale University Bottone), it never came anywhere near the and Weill-Lenya Research Center, New York, to undertake co1Tection and revision ofthe first sum of its parts. Jack O'Brien and Paul edition of Kurt Weill: A Handbook (1987) and corresponding emendation of a German trans­ Sylbert in New York, however, seemed to lation of his handbook. have breathed life into the work, enabling the City Opera to present a beautifully paced Werner Griinzweig, Berlin. Research and travel grant to Weill/Lenya Archive at Yale University and Weill-Lenya Research Center, New York, to prepare a study on the genesis of realization which was in turn enchanting, Four Walt Whitman Songs. heart-rending, and finally quite devastating. As William Thornhill says, this was true en­ Pascal Huynh, Berlin. Research and travel grant to Weill/Lenya Archive at Yale Univer­ semble playing. sity and Weill-Lenya Research Center, New York, to undertake investigations ofWeill's work Having said this, one interpretation did in Paris, 1933-35. stand out from the ENO-Scottish Opera co­ Gerd Rienacker, Berlin. Research and travel grant to the Weill/Lenya Archive at Yale production: Richard Van Allen's Frank University and Weill-Lenya Research Center, New York, for research connected with the Maurrant. William Thornhill states that issue of stylistic continuity in Weill's music. William Parcher "quite inexplicably" made thls character "sympathetic" in the City Opera Dissertation Fellowship production. Van Allen took this a great deal further, making Frank aggressive and sul­ David M. Kilroy,Arlington, MA To support expenses associated with research and travel len, yes, but not ultimately to blame for to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas; the Library of having married a girl whose aspirations he Congress, Washington, DC; Weill/Lenya Archive, Yale University; Weill-Lenya Research could never hope to fulfill. Presenting Anna's Center, New York. "Kurt Weill and the American Musical Stage of the Late 1940's," Ph.D. murder as the desperate and drunken, but dissertation, Harvard University. uncharacteristic, response of an inarticulate bruce mcclung, Rochester, NY. To support expenses associated with the writing of "Kurt and inadequate man to his humiliation atthe Weill's Lady in the Dark," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of hands of the man from down the street Music. ce1tainly gives much greater depth to "I Loved Her Too." More importantly, this Publication Assistance complexity strengthens the dramatic struc­ ture immeasurably. If Maurrantis presented Yale University Press. Subvention for English translation of Kurt Weill; Eine BiograPhie as victim rather than villain, Street Scene in Texten, Bildern und Dokumenten by Jurgen Schebera. becomes an objective but gripping portrayal of the vitality of immigrant life (and death). Performance If he is played as a boorish thug, it is a Chamber Ensemble of Colorado, Denver, CO. Happy End. threepenny melodrama. Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, OH. Street Sce,ie. The feature of the London production which most caught the critics' eye (includ­ Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. Street Scene. ing that of Patrick O'Connor) was the stag­ Kentucky Opera, Louisville, KY. The Czar Has His Photograph Taken. ing of"Moon-Faced, Starry-Eyed" (in which the Brownstone wheeled away to reveal a New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Albuquerque, NM. The Seven Deadly Sins. Manhattan Skyline). The intention here must, New Sussex Opera, Sussex, England. Lost in the Stars. I imagine, have been briefly to evoke the "Broadway" at the expense of the "Opera" Riverside Symphony, New York, NY. Concerto for violin and wind instruments, Op. 12. for the benefit of a West End audience, (and Sinfonia San Francisco, San Francisco, CA Berliner Requiem, Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, of course a quite respectable musicaljustifi­ Concerto for violin and wind instruments, Op. 12. cation for such an approach can be found in Weill's putting this number out to Ted Royal Recording-Broadcast for orchestration). The effect was, however, dramatically ruinous. TI1e New York City Voices International, New York, NY. Support of recording expenses and preparation of audiotape of Der Lindbergh/lttg for public radio broadcast.

(continued on page 19)

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 1 5 LETTERS BOOKS (Conti,tued from page 3) eludes biographical annotations and a dis­ cussion of selection criteria precedes each Opera production demonstrated that the section. In the case of Weill's contributions mainspring of the show is the cumulative to Der deutsche Rundfimk. the editors have claustrophobiagenerated bythestreetand limited their selection to eighty insightfully the lonely house, and to dissipate this for chosen articles out of the four-hundred­ thesakeofareferenceforward to West Side some-odd texts available. Therefore. tl1e Story is merely to play to the gallery. title "collected works" is not particularly ap­ propriate to this section.1l1ose lucky enough Finally, the NewYork production had an to have a copy ofDrew's out-of-prinl volume additional resonance. There seems to be willfind thatsome of the important German something of a trend al present for point­ radio writings included were, surprisingly, ing ways in which Weill either acted as a omitted from Hinton-Schebera; for instance, direct influence upon those who followed "Der Berliner Sender." "Der Mittelweg." or anticipated developments which came "Der 60. Geburtstag Maxim Gorkis," "Ver­ to fruition only after his death. Listening to fassungsfeiern" "Kommunisten-'Attentat.'" the rich, almost verismo perfo1mance of and "Wiederkehr des Revolutionstages." the City Opera Orchestra under Chris Nance, Readers may be irritated, therefore, by the I was struck by the similarity between need to page back and forth between the Street Scene and what! suppose one might two editions to compare and supplement call the American Lyric Opera tradition one with the other. Although Drew con­ which weaves (rather uncertainly) from cedes in the foreword thatMusik und Thea­ the Copland of The Tender Land through Kurt Weill: Musik und Theater: ter: Gesammelte Schriften replaces his the Bernstein of A Quiet Place to the schmalz Gesammelte Schriften: Mit einer Ausgewiihlte Schriften, those ofus who know of Menotti. Yet more research? Auswahl von Gesprachen und this body ofmate.rial from Drew would have SEYMOUR ADAMS Interviews. Edited by Stephen Hinton appreciated an appendix listing variants, ad­ London and Jurgen Schebera. Preface by David ditions, and omissions from the earlier edi­ Drew. Berlin: Henschelverlag Kunst tion. Passages in several essays in Drew's edition, for example, were omitted without To the Editor: und Gesellschaft, 1990. indication. whereas they appear in com­ plete form in Schebera-Hinton. May I restore a few words in my essay on In 1975 SuhrkarnpVerlag published a vol­ "Lucy's Aria," which were lost somewhere ume of selected writings by Weill (Ausgewiihlte The annotations for each selection are along the line between my typescript and Schriften) and a con~panion volume of writ­ conveniently printed immediately follow­ the final printing in the Newsletter (vol. 8, ings about Weill (Uber Kurt Weill), both ing the article (an improvement on Drew's no. 2)? edited by David Drew. Now, fifteen years endnote fonnat) . Unfortunately, the edi­ later. we have the collected writings of the tors' handling ofthe annotations is inconsis­ In paragraph 3, the third sentence re­ tent: some writings are carefully and com­ quires an indefinite article. and should read: composer in one volume. A comparison of Drew's edition with the new one, which co­ pletely annotated, while others lack notes ..... which implies there was a little time altogether; some individuals have merited before the opening night..." incided with Weill's 90th birthday, results in two clear-cut conclusions: first, Drew's se­ annotation while others have not For in­ In paragraph 9, two lines or so are miss­ lection sketched a fair enough portrait ofthe stance. information about the film music ing from the penultimate sentence. In full, European Weill so that the more compre­ pioneer Giuseppe Becce appears on page it should read: "One solution would be to hensive Hinton-Schebera collection ultimately 243, but nothing is included for the impor­ give the 2nd Violins a chain of repeated on­ provides a fuller and more subtle account of tant Berlin railio conductors Selmar Meyrow­ the-line Gs in the same rhythm as the lower what we already knew. (The most interest­ itz, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, and Weilhelm strings for the four bars beginning at "Hier!'', ing additions to the pre-1935 selections are Buschkotter. While the list of unidentified andthen getthem to double the 1stViolins various novelties unearthed in Weill's writ­ names is lengthy, I am less concerned with at the lower octave for the four final scales ings for German radio and a 1934 interview an endless commentary under the rubric of on C, D, E. and F which come between published in Copenhagen (p. 314).) Second, "Who was Mozart?" than with the lack of a Lucy's last sung or spoken lines." the real value of this new compilation de­ tight, precise, and above all, unified schol­ arly apparatus. The editors should not have 1must a lso apologize for a careless piece rives from the reprinting of writings and interviews from Weill's American period. assumed thattheir readers have at hand the of writing which repeats the mistaken be­ necessary sources to look up half-forgotten lief that "Seerau berjenny" belongs to Jenny Indeed the "American"Weill is anything but well-known, and the original sources are lore of the musical life of the Weimar Re­ and not Polly. J can only plead a sort of public. One also wonders at the disparate "Freudian" attack of amnesia after playing often difficult to obtain, not only in Europe. In that respect we owe much to the two treatment accorded Weill's writings occa­ my old Lotte I..enya record while writing sioned by particular inquiries or events. my essay! The history of I..enya's annexa­ editors for their attempts to give us a com­ prehensive offering. Whereas a full context is provided for his tion of the song is dealt with in some detail reaction to Trantow concerning Die Biirgschaft by Stephen Hinton in his Cambridge Opera Whereas Drew's edition had a strongly (pp. 107-8), Weill's often quoted letter to Haudbook, which had not been published thematic emphasis and organization, this Life magazine is reprinted without com­ when I wrote my essay nearly two years one aims for a comprehensive overview. ment (p. 149). ago. My carelessness, though, both in writing Three headings subclivide the book "Aufsatze and proof-reading, weakens the point I was und Essays," ["Articles and Essays"]. "Be­ This reviewer would have appreciated trying to make, since that extraordinary itrage fiir die Zeitschrift 'Der deutsche Rund­ references to modem reprints of writings song becomes even more unsettling when /tmk,"' {"Contributions to the Periodical 'The referred to in the annotations. For example, delivered by that "nice little girl," Polly! German Radio"') and "Gespracbe und Inter­ Brecht's and Eisler's "open letter" to lhe producers ofthe "Neue Musil< Berlin 1930 .. CHRISTOPHER SHAW views" l"Conversations and lnierviews'l The tex:ts are presented chronologically within is mentioned on page 90, and theannotation London each section. A brief introduction that in- quite properly indicates the primary source:

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 1 19 GRANT GUIDELINES

Types of Grants The Foundation will award up to ten grants, funding. The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, maximum $2,000 each, to colleges and uni­ 8. Proposals where the music serves an Inc. is a non-profit corporation which pro­ versities in support of general production incidental or background function will not motes public understanding and apprecia­ expenses for performances of Kurt W eill's be considered. For example, proposals tion oftbe musical works by Kurt Weill. To stage works. Awards will be made based which feature the use of the music to sup­ this end, the Foundation solicits proposals upon the work to be performed, geographic porta new dramatic property, or function as from individuals and non-profit organiza­ distribution, and the musical excellence background usage in films, video, etc. are tions for funding of projects related to the demonstrated by the application. All works not eligible for funding. must be presented in fully staged versions perpetuation of KurtWeill's artistic legacy. 9. In general. the Foundation does not For the 1992 funding period, the Founda­ using Weill's original orchestrations. Pro­ ductions of The Threepenny Opera are not consider proposals for retroactive funding. tion is accepting proposals in one or more of Evaluation Procedures the following categories: eligible for funding. In general, perform­ ances of Mahagonny Songspiel receive low After applications have beenreviewed by 1. Research Grants priority for funding. the Foundation's staff, additional support­ 2. Publication Assistance Concert Works ingmaterials (including recordings, recom­ 3. Dissertation FeUowships mendations, and samples ofprevious work) 4. Travel Grants. Assistance for performances of concert may be requested for consideration by the 5. Professional Performance and works is available in grants of up to $1,000 Advisory Panel on Grant Evaluations, which Production Grants to cover expenses including but not limited wiU make recommendations to the Board of 6. College and University Petformaoce and to increased rehearsal time, guest artist Trustees. The Advisory Panel on GrantAp­ Production Grants fees, royalty and rental costs, and promo­ plications shall be composed of independ­ 7. Recording Projects tion. ent, prominent members from the musical, 8. Broadcasts Recording Projects. Proposals request­ theabical, and scholarly communities. Grants Funding Period ing funds for artist and musician fees, re­ will be awarded on an objective and non-dis­ hearsal expenses, and mastertape produc­ criminatory basis. Grantee selection crite­ The project mustbe initiated dwing 1992 tion expenses will be eligible. Priority will ria will include: or the 1992-1993 academic year or cultural be given to works which have not yet been season to be eligible for funding. 1. Relevance and value of the project to recorded in their original form. Only proj­ the Foundation's purposes; Description of Categories ects with a commitment from a record 2. Quality of the project; company are eligible, and all .financial ar­ Research and Travel Grants. Funding 3 Evidence of the applicant's potential, rangements with the recording company in this category may be requested to suir motivation, and ability to carry out the proj­ must be disclosed. portspecific research expenses. Applicants ect successfully; must be pursuing a topic directly related to Broadcasts. The Foundation welcomes 4. Evidence of the applicant's prior rec­ Kurt Weill and/or Lotte Lenya and must proposals from producers and non-profit ord of achievement in the field covered by submit a detailed outline of the proposed broadcasters to support post0 production costs the project. project. Travel grants should be requested for special programs which feature primar­ Applicants will be informed of awards by to reimburse reasonable travel expenses to ily Kurt Weill and his music. A complete 1 February 1992. locations of primary source material. summary ofth e project must be submitted along with evidence of commitment for Application Information Publication Assistance. Funding in broadcast. tJlis category may be requested to assist in Applications for the 1992 awards must be expenses related to preparing manuscripts Funding Priorities received by 1 November 1991 and should for publication in a recognized scholarly 1. Research proposals that demonstrate contain the following information: medium Funds may be requested for, but the promise of publishable results are en­ 1. A detailed description of the project, not limited to, editing, indexing, design, couraged. along with the cover sheet provided. and reproduction fees. 2. Performance proposals that demon­ 2. An up-to-date curriculum vita or res­ Dissertation Fellowships. Ph.D. can­ strate musical excellence and authenticity ume for individuals, or a profile of pur­ didates may apply for dissertation fellow­ are encouraged. poses. activities, and past achievements ships to assist in research activities. The 3. For stage productions, performances (including a list ofreferences) for organiza. application must include a copy of the dis­ of complete works in their original versions tions. sertation proposal and two letters of recom­ receive priority. Newly compiled proper­ 3. Adetailed and itemized budget show­ mendation, one of which is from the faculty ties that simply useWeilJ's songs are not eli­ ing entire project expenses and income, in­ advisor. gible for funding. cluding income anticipated from other fund­ Professional and Regional Perform­ 4. Proposals for local productions or ing sources. ance and Production Grants. ProposaJs performances should demonstrate a previ­ 4. Performance GranlFact Sheet (if air from professional and regional opera com­ ous record of artistic excellence, evidence plying for a performance grant). panies, theater companies, and concert of comrnwlity support, and a potential for 5. Research proposals must specify other groups should demonstrate that requested influence beyond the immediate area. grants applied for and the date of determi­ funds will be used to improve the musical 5. Stock and amateur productions of nation for each. Applicants must notify tl1e qualities of the performance. Examples of The Threepenny Opera are not eligible for Foundation if other grants are awarded. recommended requests include funds for .funding. All applications and c01respondence should soloists, orchestra fees, and extra rehears­ 6. While performances ofKleine Dreig­ be addressed to: als. There is no restriction on the amount rosclummusik are nom1ally not eligible for Mario R. Mercado, requested. funding, programs of larger scope including Director of Programs College and University Performance Kleine Dreigroschenmusik as well as other Weill works may be funded. Kurt WeilJ Foundation for Music and Production Grants: 7 East 20th Street Stage Works 7. Proposals for script translations and New York, NY 10003-1106 musical adaptations are not eligible for

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 1 6