Lys Symonette 1914–2005 Volume 24 in This Issue Kurt Weill Number 1 Newsletter Spring 2006
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Volume 24 Kurt Weill Number 1 Newsletter Spring 2006 Lys Symonette 1914–2005 Volume 24 In this issue Kurt Weill Number 1 Newsletter Spring 2006 Lys Symonette, 1914–2005 Letter to the Editor 3 ISSN 0899-6407 © 2006 Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Note from the Editor 3 7 East 20th Street Woman with a Mission 4 New York, NY 10003-1106 Kim H. Kowalke tel. (212) 505-5240 fax (212) 353-9663 Tributes to Lys Symonette 6 Lys, in Her Own Words 9 Published twice a year, the Kurt Weill Newsletter features articles An Addition to the Family Correspondence 11 and reviews (books, performances, recordings) that center on Kurt Weill but take a broader look at issues of twentieth-century music Weill-Lenya Research Center: and theater. With a print run of 5,000 copies, the Newsletter is dis- Recent Acquisitions 12 tributed worldwide. Subscriptions are free. The editor welcomes the submission of articles, reviews, and news items for inclusion in future issues. Books A variety of opinions are expressed in the Newsletter; they do not Libretto im Progress: Brechts und Weills “Aufstieg und necessarily represent the publisher's official viewpoint. Letters to Fall der Stadt Mahagonny” aus textgeschichtlicher the editor are welcome. Sicht 13 by Esbjörn Nyström Joachim Lucchesi Staff Elmar Juchem, Editor Carolyn Weber, Associate Editor Performances Dave Stein, Associate Editor Brady Sansone, Production Die Dreigroschenoper in New York 14 William V. Madison Kurt Weill Foundation Trustees Der Kuhhandel (Arms and the Cow) in Bradford 17 Kim Kowalke, President Paul Epstein Patrick O’Connor Philip Getter, Vice-President Walter Hinderer Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny Guy Stern, Secretary Welz Kauffman in Saarbrücken 18 Milton Coleman, Treasurer Julius Rudel Ricarda Wackers Mahagonny Songspiel and Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt David Drew and Teresa Stratas, Honorary Trustees Mahagonny in Dessau 19 Harold Prince, Trustee Emeritus Andreas Hauff Internet Resources Recordings World Wide Web: http://www.kwf.org E-mail: Symphonies nos. 1 & 2 on Chandos and Naxos 21 Information: [email protected] Matt Baumer Weill-Lenya Research Center: [email protected] Violin Concerto on Hyperion 23 Annegret Klaua Kurt Weill Edition: [email protected] Topical Weill 1a–8a Cover photo: Lys Symonette standing behind Lotte Lenya, 1976. Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 3 Letters Note from the Editor In her review of essays from the 2000 Vienna Weill In this Newsletter I have the sad duty of Symposium (Newsletter, vol. 23 no. 2, p. 16), Ricarda informing readers of the passing of Lys Wackers draws attention to “light [shed] on the connec- Symonette, Weill’s former musical assistant, tion between Weill and Zemlinsky. [Eike] Rathgeber Lenya’s confidante, and a much-loved, long- tells us that it was during the rehearsals for Mahagonny time mainstay of the Kurt Weill Foundation. in 1931 that Zemlinsky began work on a new opera (Der Lys’s consummate musicianship and her Kreidekreis after Klabund) that showed Weill’s influ- inexhaustible knowledge of all aspects of ence.” Such an influence, though undeniable, needs to musical theater had a profound impact on be evaluated in the context of Zemlinsky’s own prefer- both performers and scholars of Weill’s ences, as articulated in an interview for the Neues Wiener works. On the following pages, several Journal on 12 October 1932: “[In Austria] three com- friends and colleagues honor her legacy with posers strike me as being particularly distinguished in personal observations and recollections. All their respective fields: Berg, v. Webern . and Krenek. of us here at the office on 20th Street sorely . Of the German composers, Hindemith is in my miss her daily presence. opinion the most individual, the greatest, and can hence justifiably be described as the most outstanding. And Elmar Juchem Weill of course is an original figure who also ranks amongst the foremost.” But admiration does not neces- sarily imply influence. More plausible, if less tidy, is the concept of pollen flying in all directions on changing winds of the zeitgeist. So which came first: the plant or the seed, the chick- en or the egg? “One could well believe,” wrote Adorno, “that Zemlinsky, who certainly knew the Threepenny Opera, finally came under its sway. But if one considers Zemlinsky’s complete line of development, one comes to realize the injustice of such conclusions. The process of reducing everything to its most concise form of musi- cal characterization . is already clearly detectable in Kleider machen Leute [1907–09]. A small adjustment to the stylistic procedure suffices to achieve results similar to those of Brecht and Weill—almost as if Zemlinsky had been the first to evolve the style of the Threepenny Opera.” Finally the question of chronological plausibility: Zemlinsky began work on the particell of Der Kreidekreis on 3 July 1930 and completed it on 8 October 1931—eight weeks before the Berlin production of Aufstieg und Fall went into rehearsal. During the process of orchestrating his opera, in 1932, he made only minimal changes. “Be rigorous in checking . sources,” admonishes David Drew on p. 8 of the same Newsletter. Those words should be graven on the heart of every scholar. ANTONY BEAUMONT Bremen Antony Beaumont is the author of Zemlinsky, published by Weill, Zemlinsky, and Brecht during rehearsals for Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Cornell University Press in 2000. Mahagonny in December 1931 4 Volume 24, Number 1 Kurt Weill Newsletter Woman with a Mission by Kim H. Kowalke Lys Symonette in the Dessau Stadtarchiv in 1999. Photo: Bernd Helbig “Make way for the Duchess,” the “blackamoor” page was supposed world graces to match her brains, talent, and loyalty,” as Hal Prince to sing in The Firebrand of Florence as Lotte Lenya made her grand described her. Although whenever possible avoiding direct con- entrance (which also heralded her debut in a Broadway musical) in frontation and conflict, once Lys had chosen to engage in battle, she 1945. But when the young Billy Dee Williams couldn’t hold pitch, defended Weill’s music tenaciously, especially against those who a boyish-sounding soprano, the general understudy for all female wanted to adapt it for their own purposes. chorus roles, sang his part from the wings. Credited in the program When Lys and I met in 1975, at a concert by some of her Curtis only as the rehearsal pianist, Lys Bert was making her own students at Lincoln Center in celebration of Weill’s 75th birthday, Broadway debut—in fact, it would be her only such “appearance.” struggles for priority and proximity within Lenya’s inner circle Nevertheless, it was an auspicious debut. She would eventually were already apparent. Initially Lys deemed our shared allegiance marry the Hangman from Firebrand, Randolph Symonette, and to Weill’s music, evinced in my “academician” case by an incipient thereby complete the transformation from the Mainz-born Bertlies doctoral dissertation in musicology at Yale, sufficient for a tentative Weinschenk to Lys Symonette. With tireless energy and commit- alliance at the periphery. She answered my numerous inquiries and ment, as well as extraordinary warmth and kindness, Lys would requests for materials, sometimes on her own (but on Lenya’s devote the remaining six decades of her own long and productive behalf, she said), sometimes ghostwriting letters over Lenya’s sig- life to the composer whose songs she had loved as a teenager in nature. By the time we both joined the Board of Trustees at Lenya’s Germany and whose devotion to his adopted country and its musi- invitation in 1979, we trusted each other enough to share our con- cal theater she passionately shared. cerns for the future of the manuscript collection and the In retrospect, Lys’s offstage introduction into Weill’s and Foundation. The intrigues swirling around Lenya’s deathbed and Lenya’s theatrical world would prove to be an apt metaphor, in that the ensuing court battles over the administration of Weill’s legacy she consistently and conscientiously shunned center stage and the (which, Lys suggested, would make a gripping tragic opera entitled spotlight. No prima donna, she preferred to work behind the scenes “The Last Days of Lenya”) cemented our friendship in many a in a collaborative capacity. Yet such self-effacing modesty masked a strategic planning meeting over Kuchen at Eclair on 72nd Street. fierce commitment to musical excellence and nearly unassailable But the shared intimacy of sifting through the contents of Brook belief in her own aesthetic judgment. She was anything but a House for archival materials awarded the Foundation by the “pushover” when it came to Weill’s music. Perhaps that rare com- Surrogate’s Court (even finding a letter to Otto von Pasetti between bination of personal humility and artistic authoritarianism accounts Lenya’s mattress and box spring) and the hard labor of carting for her effectiveness as a custodian of his musical legacy—“old boxes filled with books and scores up and down two narrow stair- Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 24, Number 1 5 cases in the dog days of August strengthened our bond: she dubbed underlying pulse in the accompaniment steady so that the singer’s us “the two Schleppers.” The pair named in Lenya’s will as her suc- liberties make their expressive points without bogging down.” And cessors in administering Weill’s legacy became an indissoluble she managed to teach all of us these basics without any condescen- team. sion, always motivating us to do better and instilling us with confi- After the Foundation found its financial footing and an evolving dence that we could and would! staff abetted our efforts, Lys relished the opportunity finally “to get Lys joined the Kowalke family while we worked on the edition back to the music,” editing, translating, and making annual promo- of the Weill-Lenya correspondence.