NEW PUBLICATIONS ARTICLES Porter, Andrew. "Road ofPromise. " The New Yorker, 19 October 1987, pp. 99-105.

Rich, Alan. "The Many Moods of Kurt Weill." Keynote, September 1987, pp. 18-19.

Rockwell, John. "The Enigma of Kurt Weill." New York Times, 13 September 1987, Arts and Leisure.

Rothstein, Edward. "Kurt Weill's Deadly Sin." The New Republic, 23 November 1987, pp. 25-32. BOOKS Brand, Juliane; Hailey, Christopher; and Harris, Donald. The Berg-Schoenberg Correspondence: Se/,ected Letters. New York: Norton, 1987.

A new album by Zebra, a DDR rock Cook, Susan. C. Opera for a New Republic: The Zeitopern of Krenek, Weill, and group Hindemith. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, [forthcoming December 1987) THE FAR SIDE By GARY LARSON Drew, David. Kurt Weill: A Handbook. London: Faber, 1987.

Eisler, Hanns. Fragen Sie mehr iiber Brecht: Gespriiche mit Hans Bunge. Darmstadt: Luchterhand, 1986.

Fuegi, John. Bertolt Brecht: Chaos, According to Plan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

Fuegi, John; Bahr, G.; Willett, J .; and Weber, C., eds. Brecht: Performance. The Brecht Yearbook, vol. 13, 1984. Detroit: Wayne State, 1987.

Ganzl, Kurt. The British Musical Theatre. New York: Oxford, 1986.

Green, Stanley. Broadway Shows: Show by Show. London: Faber, 1985.

Morley, Sheridan. The Great Stage Stars: Distinguished Theatrical Careers of the Past and Present. New York: Facts On File, 1986. RECORDINGS Egy Fursca Lany. Kishonti Ildiko. Qualiton SLPM 16711. (Broadway songs, in In the early days, living in their squalid apartment, Hungarian. Includes "Tangoballade.") all three shared dreams of success. In the end, however, Bob the Spoon and Ernie the Fork wound Live Rock: mit Brecht/Weill Songs und Balladen. Zebra. Amiga 8 56 245. [Issued up In an old silverware drawer and only Mac went on to tame and fortune. by VEB Deutsche Schallplatten, Berlin DDR] The Far Side. Copyright 1987 Universal Musik zwischen den Kriegen: Eine Berliner Dokumentation. Thorofon/Capella Press Syndicate. Reprinted with permis­ DTHK 341. [Includes "Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen."] sion. All rights reserved.

The final scene from the San Francisco City Summer Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City ofllfahagonny. David Parr, director; Judy Hubbard and Norman Wong, conductors.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 12 REVIEWS Kurt Weill Festiva l. should not surprise anyone now, yet a spirited, lightly jazzy piece that juxta­ which are reinforced whenever one of posed easygoing melodic material with Merk.in Concert Hall, New York, Weill's works is heard for the first time. the kind of sardonic accompaniment I New York, 17, 20, 26, 28, 30 Sep­ Beyond that, those who attended all of described above. The ''Elegy," by con­ tember 1987 the concerts could trace certain stylistic trast, boasts a melody through which a threads through the composer's early French musical accent peeks; and in the In the th.irty-sevf,:!n years since Kurt work. One of these musical fingerprints Finale, we get a stock marching figure, WeiU's death, there have been numerous that turned up in various guises was his transformed into something considera­ revivals and reassessments of his music, penchant for closely harmonized, accom­ bly more captivating by WeiJI's unusual complete with bursts of recording activi­ panimental figuration (usually in the approach to harmony and voicing. ty and new opera productions. Yet, the winds, where this trademark seems most Offsetting the exuberant Bastille full picture of this composer's varied out­ vivid and effective), often in either Music was a meditative group of Walt put only began to emerge over the last sharply jabbing dotted rhythms, or in Whitman settings, dating from 1942 and couple of decades, and it is still coming syncopation, and generally at brisk tem­ 1947. In these trenchant songs, Weill more clearly into focus, thanks to the pos. A related gesture involves synco­ conveys the swirl of wartime emotions as pioneering scholarship of musicologists pated bursts of wind chords harmonized eloquently in the picturesque piano part like David Drew and Kim Kowalke, aod with touches of dissonance, and voiced in as in the vocal lines. The changes of the efforts of a growing number of per­ a way that gives them an unmistakable mood in "Come up from the Fields, Fa­ formers who have become convinced that edge. Appropriately enough, these dis­ ther," for instance, respond to the text Weill deserves a place of honor in the tinctive effects burst forth most vividly with a sensitivity that is both eerie and pantheon of 20th-century composers. in the festival's opening and closing powerful, yet which actually create a During the last two weeks in Septem­ works - one of them, Bastille Music, a kind of suspense that one would not feel ber, the Hebrew Arts School presented a recent addition to the canon, and the when reading the text alone. A similar Kurt Weill Festival - apparently the othe1·, Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, a fa­ effect emerges in "Oh Captain, My Cap­ first organized cluster of events devoted miliar staple. tain," as the rumbling thirty-second to this composer in the United States - notes and dotted figures in the left hand at the school's intimate Merkin Concert of the piano part point up the contradic­ Hall. Actually, the series could have tions in Whitman's text: the ship is safe­ taken place at one of the city's lat·ger ly back in its home port, the crew victori­ venues, for not only were the concerts ous, and the people on the shore are jubi­ sold out, but upon arriving at the hall, lant; but the captain lies dead on the one encountered an unusual number of deck. The baritone William Parker, with people hoping to buy last-minute tickets. the pianist William Huckaby, brought The concerts focused largely on WeiU's these songs compellingly to life. lesser known works, including chamber The String Quartet, Op. 8 (1923) of­ pieces, chor al music, vocal settings and fered yet another side of Weill - the chamber orchestra scores (several of young composer reaching for (and occa­ these premieres), along with a touch of sionally grasping) a style of his own, the theater music. There was also a while reacting to the imposing influences day-Jong symposium on the connections of past composers. In the opening pages, between Weill (and his music} and the one had a fleeting sense of Haydn as a Jewish musical tradition. model, if only becau.se of the way Weill Adding to this festive mood, either by gave the first violin a soloistic line, set design or by coincidence, was the publi­ against a rhythmically unified and cation of David Drew's long-awaited clearly accompanimental grouping ofthe Kurt Weill: A Handbook - a volume other three strings. Structure quickly that served as a wonderfulJy informative evaporates though, and later in the companion to the concerts themselves. movement - long after the instruments Indeed, the peripherals seemed just The first concert, (17 September) have found a more democratic relation­ about as thoroughly attended to as the which featured the St. Luke's Chamber ship - there are faint echoes of Dvorak. performances. In Merkin's lobby one Orchestra, led by David Atherton, was Later, in the closing Choralphantasie could buy not only Drew's book, hot off far and away the most uplifting. The movement, there are glances back at the press, but several other volumes from six-movement Bastille Mu,sic suite, ar­ Bach, particularly in the cello line's solo• J the growing Weill-related library, and ranged by David Drew from the thirty­ istic snippets. In truth, this is not top­ n umerous LPs, cassettes, and CDs of his nine pages of music Weill supplied for a drawer Weill (or even top-drawer early } music. For those not in the market for 1927 production of Strindberg's Gusta.u Weill); but on one hearing I am not in­ any of these things, the program books lll, had its American premiere, and pro­ clined to be as harsh on it as Drew, who, proved suitable souvenirs, printed as vided a fine glimpse of the style that led, in his Handbook, calls it "an exception they were under a cover bearing a not long after, to tbe peak of his and an anomaly," and "the flimsiest youngish portrait of the composer, with a European theater style. Scored for vio­ score Weill had written since the Suite in page of his musical manuscript super­ lin, percussion, piano, accordion, trom­ E for orchestra" of 1918. imposed, and his signature at the bot­ bone, and pairs of piccolos, clarinets, Whatever one's impressions of the tom, and including notes by Drew plus horns. and trumpets, it spoke in very Quartet, the American Premiere of se­ complete texts and translations of the much the same accent that comes lections from Weill's incidental music for vocal works. through the scoring of Mahagonny and Marie Galante (1934), to which the sec­ The main thing the festival conveyed Die Dreigrosche11:oper. Yet, one could ond half of the first concert was devoted, was the breadth, variety, and freshness also glean something of the music's func­ was a real treat. Of particular interest of Weill's output, qualities that probably tion. The "Street Music," for'instance, is were t he vocal selections ("Les Filles de

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 13 PERFORMANCES

Bordeaux," "Le Roi D'Aquitaine," "Le Ronis, whose tenor was too light for the and Blythe Danner sang (and danced) a Train du Ciel,'' "Le Grand Lustucru," work (the score of which does call for a few solo songs and duets. Earl Wright­ and "J'attends un navire" - the last of baritone). son sang excerpts from Firebrand of which was heard twice more during the The choral program's real center of Florence and Loue Life. Jo Sullivan, ac­ festival, in quite a different guise}, sung gravity was the Rec01·dare (1923), a pow­ companied by a jazz quartet led by the delightfully and stylishly by the soprano erful, harmonically hard-edged a cap­ pianist Colin Romoff, recalled the 1954 Faith Esham. But the instrumental pella setting of a section from the Lam­ Theater de Lys production of The music certainly had its points of interest entations of Jeremiah, of which a very Threepenny Opera, and sang a few selec­ too, one being an echo of the "Moritat' ' in persuasive recording, featuring the Tan­ tions from it. And in one section of the saxophone part of the Introduction glewood Festival Chorus, has been is­ non-Weill material, composer John (as well as borrowings from Happy End). sued by Nonesuch. Musica Sacra was at Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb offered Unique to this performance, though, was its finest here, but the Boys Choir of Har­ very entertaining renditions of some of the Tango, rendered in virtuoso and, it lem was not thoroughly rehearsed, and the songs they wrote for Lenya in seems, rather freewheeling improvisa­ its contribution was not always as solidly Cabaret. tory style by the accordionist William on pitch as it should have been. The con­ Fascinating, too, were the film clips Schimmel. Schimmel may have de­ cert was prefaced by a pair of charming interspersed throughout the program - parted from the text by a goodly meas­ tum-of-the-century prayer settings (in among them, the jail scene from the 1931 ure, but his performance brought down German and Hebrew) by the composer's Die Dreigroschenoper film, and most re­ the house; and given the paucity of op­ father, Albert Weill. vealingly, excerpts from a PBS interview portunities the accordionist must have to A talented twenty-four-year-old Ger­ with Schuyler Chapin, who served as the display so dazzling a technique, who man t heater singer, Ute Lemper, evening's master of ceremonies. In the could begrudge him his moment in the presented a midnight recital of Weill's interview, Lenya amusingly recounted sun? German, French, and English theater her first meetings with Weill, and the In the second concert, (20 September) songs (26 September). That was a insistence of her second husband, George Richard Westenburg's Musica Sacra strange evening. Lemper's accompanist, Davis, that she return to the stage and Chorus focused on sacred choral and vo­ Jurgen Knieper, supplied deftly turned devote herself to reviving Weill's early cal works, most ofwhich seemed pale and piano reductions of the theater songs theater music. uneven by Weill's standards. His with the same finesse one would expect to The St. Luke's Ensemble returned for Kiddush (1946), for instance, is an odd hear in, say, a Schubert recital. But the festival's finale (30 September), un­ concoction of c antorial gestures, Lemper doesn't sing that way. At her der Julius Rudel's baton, and the focus Gershwinesque harmony, bold chro­ best, she is an attractive and communi­ shifted back to Weill's concert music. In maticism, and dashes of Hollywood glit­ cative singer. who clearly feels strongly the Concerto for Violin and Wind Or­ ter that bring a puzzled smile to the lis­ about the music on her program (much of chest'l'a (1924), Weill flirted openly with tener's face, but which render the work, which she has also recorded). She can atonality, but even so, his lyrical im­ in this reviewer's opinion, inappropriate sing softly and sensitively, and with pal­ pulse ultimately dominates. The perfor­ for use in any synagog\le not located on pable excitement. But she too frequently mance was rough and tumble at first, Sunset Boulevard. His two Hebrew folk­ lapses into a kind of Sprech-sbouting sloppy wind ensemble and a harsh violin song settings, contributions to Folksongs overdrive, derived, no doubt, from emu­ tone being the principal maladies, but by for the New Palestine (1938 ), are well­ lating aspects of Lenya's style without the end of the first movement the prob­ crafted but undistinguished. His set­ paying full attention to its application. lems disappeared, and the violinist tings of Biblical themes for The Eternal The effect, as such, isn't necessarily bad, Naoko Tanaka settled into a rich, lyrical Road (a 1937 Max Reinhardt production and towards the start of the concert it reading. The program's centerpieces t.o aid victims of Nazi oppression) were seemed quite effective, particularly in were vocal works, sung by Franz more characteristic, and at times quite the German songs. Yet, when it turns up Mazura, whose resonant bass was ideal beautiful. In "Miriams Lied," for in­ in virtually every song, it quickly grows for the program's two Brecht settings - stance, there are some nicely chromatic both predictable and tiresome. There the grim Vom Tod im Wald and the li­ settings for women's chorus, while were other problems, too. One was an centious ''Song ofMandelay" from Happy Miriam's lines are gently melancholy. arrangement of the Prologue from Die End. As a mid-program encore, Mr. And "Solomon's Lobeshymne" is set with sieben Todsunden that scarcely did the Mazura added " Das Lied von den striking intensity, while "Der Tanz um work justice. Another was between­ braunen Inseln," accompanied deftly by das goldene Kalb" sets the frivolous (and songs material. Most of her introduc­ Mr. Rudel at the piano. To dose the con­ errant) rejoicing of the text in a rollick­ tions began with either "After that... " or, cert, Mr. Rudel led the St. Luke's players ing way that recalls a little of Weill's "ten years later, Weill wrote.. ." One of i n a spirited, highly charged perfor­ earlier theater style. her decade leaps brought her seven years mance ofKleine Dreigroschenmusik - a I also found Ofrah's Lieder (1916) an beyond Weill's death, perfect way to end this fascinating series, appealing song cycle, and although the Ms. Lemper reprised five songs from and certainly one of its high points. temptation is there, I am not sure how her cabaret evening at the end of the necessary it is to make an a]lowance for fourth concert, "A Tribute to Lotte the fact that Weill was only sixteen when Lenya'' (28 September). An easygoing, ALLAN KOZINN he wrote it. Beverley Hoch, a soprano, celebratory evening devoted to Weill's New York sang these settings of Jehuda Halevi more popular side, the program featured poems sweetly, to John Van Buskirk's touching and often witty performances expert accompaniment. Her contribu­ and remi·niscences by several of Lenya's tions to the Eternal Road excerpts were and Weill's associates. Kitty Carlisle also notable, as were those by the bari­ Hart, for instance, recalled the re­ tone Paul Rowe. I wonder, though, why hearsals for the work on which her hus­ Rowe was not used for the cantorial solo band, Moss Hart, collaborated with Kurt -part in the Kiddush, instead of David Weill, Lady in the Dark. Alvin Epstein

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE14 PERFORMANCES Die sieben Todsunden. By contrast, Julia Migenes gave a Aufstieg und Fall der curiously lackluster performance at the Milva, Andre Previn, Royal Barbican Centre in the London Sym­ Stadt Mahagonny. Philharmonic Orchestra, Queen phony Orchestra's Gershwin Festival Opernhaus, Theater Dortmund, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Elizabeth Hall, London, 23 J une Like Milva, Migenes opted to use the Premiere: 11 April 1987. 1987 posthumous, transposed arrangement for low voice by Wilhelm Bruckner-­ Aufstieg und Fall der Ruggeberg - a surpTising choice Stadt Mahagonny. since Weill's original lines, no more than Grosses Haus, Stadtische Die sieben Todsunden. mezzo-soprano, are well within her Julia Migenes, Michael Tilson range. One could only surmise, to judge Buhnen Munster, Prerniere: 27 Thomas, London Symphony Or­ from certain mannerisms, that she has June 1987. been too much influenced by the "chan­ chestra, Barbican Centre, Lon­ teuse" tradition of performing Weill pio­ don, 2 July 1987. neered by Lenya late in life. On this evi­ Aufstieg und Fall der dence, Migenes has neither the voice, Stadt Mahagonny. even with the distorted assistance of a Stadtische Buhnen Hagen, Pre­ It promised to be a happy coincidence: microphone, nor the personality to pull it coming hard on the heels ofthe excellent off. (Significantly, Lenya, who of course miere: 5 July 1987. Camden Festival production of Der Sil­ was not a trained singer, sings the work bersee in March were two very different throughout in the famous CBS recording I have been attending performances of concer t performances i.n London of made in 1956, even if, on occasion, she Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny Weill's first work-in-exile. Die sieben strains the natural limitations of her (and reviewing them) since the first Todsunden. If, in the earlier work, voice.) post-war production in Darmstadt, when Weill's expanded language - an en­ Fortunately, there were compensa­ I was still in school. It is my view that the larged harmonic vocabulary, an ex­ tions to be enjoyed in the singing of the opera's final scene poses special chal­ tended yet tautly-drawn const·ruction male quartet, notably from Robert Tear, lenges and problems: I recall that at that makes considerable demands on who sailed above the orchestra in the Darmstadt, for example, this scene was both the singers and full orchestra - is tenor's marvelous melisma in "Hab­ made to represent an apotheosis rather not always well served by Kaiser's overly su cht" (Covetousness) with glorious, t han a fall of Mahagonny. Later, in elaborate play, the setting of Brecht's ringing tones. Less happy was the varia­ 1962, I witnessed an unforgettable per­ acerbic, ironic texts in the Sins surely ble and sometimes poorly balanced en­ formance in Heidelberg under the direc­ inspired one of Weill's most inventive, semble from the LSO under a lukewarm tion ofHans Neugebauer and with Marie concise, and dramatically expressive Tilson Thomas, who one sensed had Daveluy and Natalie Hinsch-Grondahl. scores. Drawing on the same large failed to get under the skin of the piece. Although I am no longer a professional palette as Der Silbersee to paint a canvas All the more dismaying, therefore, to critic, I still seek an ideal Mahagonny. In depicting human decadence and greed, learn that the same team has recorded terms of numbers of productions, if not in the 35-minute "spectacle in nine scenes," this work, presumably as yet another terms of quality, things are looking through-composed and at times sym­ version in the low voice, "wrong"-key, bright. For instance, although an ad­ phonic in its formal-harmonic concep­ transposition. mittedly rare example, consider the tion, is a far cry from the Berliner band A final note about language. If per­ three nearly simultaneous premieres in ambience of Die Dreigroschenoper or formers choose to sing to an English­ the Westphalian cities of Dortmund, Happy End. speaking audience in German, as in both Munster , and Hagen. Though these Clearly, Die sieben Todsilnden does cases here, then programs must provide towns are geographically close (all not demand a cabaret-style approach, translations of complete texts. An in­ within eighty kilometers of one another), and yet many interpretations seem to complete synopsis contributed to the their Mahagonn.y productions were far labor under exactly this misapprehen­ mystified reception at the Barbican, removed from one another ideologically. sion, not least these two unsatisfactory while at the Queen Elizabeth Hall the Having worked with the Dortmund readings by Milva and Julia Migenes. reproduction of just four songs plus Pro­ theater, I perhaps should not say any­ Anyone familiar with Milva's Weill (she logue and Epilogue - namely those thing bad abou t this quasi-operatic has recorded the Sins for Metronome re­ principal numbers sung by Mi Iva - cou­ Mahagormy (staged in the opera house); cords) will have found few surprises in pled incredibly with a program note however, I can not find much good to say the five performances she gave at the lending credence to this putative reduc­ about it, either. This staging did promise Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of Andre tion, was at once baffling and incompe­ to be successful, if for the wrong reasons: Previn's Selection Festival. With her tent. No matter. As Milva made her as the critic Holger Notze observed re­ shock of red hair, spray-on, low-cut, se­ dramatic entrance, the lights wen t cently, this Mahagonny sacrifices "the quinned dress, and raucous, forward de­ down, making the reading of any texts wit and bite of Brecht and Weill" to "an livery, she gave a no-holds-barred rendi­ superfluous. opera public that wants to be amused and tion of little subtlety or shading but one It all makes one yearn for Evelyn a stage direction which only too willingly of undeniable presence. Not only do Lear's spirited performance at the 1968 obliges." Dortmund displayed some lav­ Weill and Brecht take a back seat, but Promenade Concerts under Sir Colin ish scenery and a lot of stage business for the male quartet, positioned to one side, Davis - in E nglish and in the original the soloists and chorus. An enormous are left to fight it out in an unequal keys. Now there's a singer! curtain, decorated with a painting of a struggle with the brass complement. Idi­ city in ruins and a bird's head (after Max omatic, no; but this is unquestionably an PAUL MEECHAM Ernst), was dropped - sometimes in the irrepressible piece of Milva theater. London middle of a number - in order to facili-

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 15 PERFORMANCES tate scene changes. This proved quite a The work itself became more evident, distraction except in those cases when but so did its flaws, contradictions, and the action took place in front of the cur­ offenses. And Brecht's implicit yet po­ tain or in the auditorium itself, as in the tent philosophy persists even in such a entrance of the lovingly characterized sober interpretation, one which conse­ whores. During the finale, the cast was quently avoided allusions to the twenties arranged along the stage in a sort of or the eighties in favor of a parable-like Fidelio-like apotheosis, standing per­ "timelessness." One could almost de­ fectly still a nd joined by terrorists in scribe it as "abstract," i.e., the opposite of stocking masks, a few carrying Geiger the "pseudo-symbolic stylization." counters, apparently finding no radia­ Reginbogin was ably supported by the tion on the stage or anywhere else. The set designer (Gerard Howland), the cos­ orchestra played deafeningly loud, so tume designer (Gabriele J aenec.ke), and that most of the time one could not hear an unusually inspired ensemble. Hannes the singers, although they were singing Brock was very good as Jimmy, Carolyn rather loudly. Smith-Meyer excellent as Jenny. Will The "Crane Duet'' followed the "Man­ Humburg conducted sensitively and con­ delay Song," in Act II, and the "Benares tributed thoughtful remarks to the pro­ Song" was cut. Jimmy passed through gram notes, carefully assembled by Ma­ his trial as though he had been sedated; rion Grundmann. Humburg justified the reaching the electric chair, he asked cuts he had made (the "Crane Duet" and Begbick and company if they had any "Benares Song"), and he used the "oper­ respect for God. He was answered with a atic" version of"Ach , bedenken Sie, Herr rendition of"Gott in Mahagonny," before Jacob Schmidt." Rather than permitting his on-stage execution. the scenes to flow seamlessly from one to another, Humburg recognized a need for In Munster, things were much the Jimmy Mahoney (Keith Mikelson) pours abrupt and, conversely, slow fade-out same except for a greater number of cuts. himself a drink at the whiskey bar in the endings; thus, no great dramatic form Intermission came only after the second first act of the Munster production Aufstieg emerged, but rather an uncomfortable part of the Hurricane (Number 12); a und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. suggestion of one. Humburg also re­ large curtain, badly painted and washed spected Weill's tempo and dynamic out, sliced the action like the blade of a bordello scenes Reginbogin did not at­ markings, realizing that observing a guillotine. Here the scenery was far less tempt to create a specifically bordello­ slow tempo marking and a pi,ano nota­ impressive. This shabbiness was appar­ like atmosphere: the reactions of the tion could contribute to an alienation ef­ ently intended: a theater for the poor. men took focus, and to greater dramatic fect in which the mortifying and repel­ The singers performed on a runway in effect than the profusion of bare breasts lent nature ofthe situation became more front of the orchestra. None of the exhibited in Dortmund's production. clear. Humburg's adherence to this sen­ singers possessed "big" voices, but they Still, there was no lack of details (the sibility did indeed bri~much to the pro­ blended well with the orchestra. For horseshoe in Trinity Moses' boxing duction: in the "Alabama Song,'' the someone who had just finished h is stud­ glove), nor entirely new concepts, such as girls come not to have fun, not to play ies, Keith Mikelson came through quite the staging of the "Virgin's Prayer" games with their customers, but to keep valiantly, and Marina Edelhagen offered scene, which was depicted as a concert body and soul together, however a restrained and attractive Jenny, capa­ attended onJy by the men ofMahagonny, wretchedly. Similarly, the entrance of ble of generating great tension. Hilmar and among them J immy, as the only one the men (Number 4) became pure slap­ Vehse. an old theater professional, who did not react with romantic stupe­ stick, corresponding to Walter Ben­ presented an overwhelmingly obsequi­ faction. As the song played, Jimmy jamin's essay on Mahagonny (which was ous Fatty the Bookkeeper - and thank moved to one side and eventually walked printed in Klaus-Edgar Wichmann's goodness, because he had to stand up to away, whereupon Begbick and then the program notes for the Munster produc­ Karl Schreiber, whose Trinity Moses is women stormed onto the stage. Thus, tion). unparalleled hereabouts. something about the character ofJimmy As explained by Benjamin. and as To me, the strike at the finale has al­ and of Mahagonny was revealed even stipulated in the piano-vocal score, the ways lacked terseness; in a dramatic before the hurricane. number "God in Mahagonny" takes place sense it seems agonized. Director In a similar manner, many dramatic after Jimmy's execution. In one of the Frank-Bernd Gottschalk, aided by con­ aspects were brought into focus and few directorial liberties of this produc­ ductor Hiroshi Kodama's tempi and fer­ pared down to their essences. Reginbo­ tion, Jimmy was neither electrocuted nor vor, found a convincing solution for the ,gin avoided any sort of visible intrusion, hanged but - as in Durrenmatt's The finale: to the strains of Weill's frighten­ such as entrances through the auditori­ Visit - strangled by the citizens of ing funeral march, the ensemble per­ um. The distinct yet never pictorial, Mahagonny. Even with this basically formed a great tango of death, a dance­ almost ''neo-Bayreuthian" scenery sup­ effective idea, the motives of those who of the ignorant and unteachable - set ported this approach: a sloping turntable bring about Mahagonny's downfall re­ not on a volcano but in the twilight of built into a raked stage facilitated the mained unclear. Neither was the nature Pompeti-Mahagonny. use of multiple sets and changes. No cur­ of the city of Mahagonny - supposedly In the Hagen premiere production tains were needed, a nd, wisely, there the central "character" of the piece - Brecht's final scene, faithfully and care­ was no attempt to make the scenes "flow" ever made clear. Also, Alas ka, th e fully presented, again struck me as prob­ into each other. Even so, some of the "grossen Stadten," Havana, and Benares lematic. In all scenes. Kurt Reginbogin transitions took too much time, but this (even by its omission), too, remained took Brecht at his word and avoided all might have improved in subsequent per­ mere references, indistinct, if exotic bits superficial effects. For example, in the formances. offiller .

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 16 PERFORMANCES

For thirty years I have wished to see The entire production was directed an ideal production of Mahagonny, how­ with a loving eye toward authenticity by ever, now I feel that it may never be ful­ Ben Levit and produced by Goodspeed's filled. Perhaps the score and libretto con­ Executive Director Michael P. Price. tain more than can ever be executed ade­ One hopes that Messrs. Price, Levit, and quately on the dramatic stage. Still, this Crigler wi II look at other American writer continues to chase after a com­ works by Kurt Weill, such as Love Life, plete realization of Mahagonny. Lady in the Dark, Lost in the Stars, JOSEF HEINZELMANN Knickerbocker Holiday, or even Johnny Mainz Johnson, with an eye toward production. A theater company with Goodspeed's One Touch of Venus. resources and capabilities could hardly do better than to present a selection of Goodspeed Opera House, East these works over a period of a few sea- sons. Haddam, Connecticu t, April­ GARY S. FAGIN July 1987 New York Every city should have a Goodspeed Opera House, a theater in which one can Die Dreigroschenoper, feel "the pounding feet" as well as see the actors' faces and hear the music and lyr­ Happy End, Lost in the ics clearly - without amplification. The Stars. Princeton Festival, acoustics and intimate nature of the Prin ceton, New Jersey, 10-13 Goodspeed Opera ,House added a touch of charm to the recent production of One J une 1987. Touch ofVenus. Venus (Lynnette Perry) brought to life The sly, sophisticated wit of S. J . from a 2,000-year statuesque repose by Three works with music by Kurt Weill Perelman (book) and Odgen Nash (book Rodney Hatch (Michael Piontek) in the received concert performances during & lyrics) still sparkles, although more as Goodspeed Opera House production of Une the Princeton Festival, 10-13 June: a vintage wine than as nouvelle cuisine. Touch of Venus . Photo by Diane double bill of Die Dreigroschenoper and One winces, though with pleasure, when Sobolewski. Happy End, and Lost in the Stars. Savory Whitelaw, the effete millionaire Princeton University's newly renovated and self-styled art connoisseur, remarks of the score, which includes "Speak Richardson Auditorium provided an at­ after waking from a drunken sleep, "all Low," ''That's Him," "Foolish Heart," tractive setting for the cast of talented my teeth have little sweaters on," or, in and the ballet, "Venus in Ozone young singers under the spirited guid­ the song, "How Much I Love You," Rod­ Heights," reflects Weill at his American ance of Victor Symonette. ney Hatch, Venus' erstwhile suitor. best. Moreover, it was a revelation to Lost in the Stars (11 J une) was staged, sings, "As a dachshund abhors revolvi.ng hear "Speak Low" in what I assume to be and narrated movingly, by Alan Ander­ doors, that's how much you are loved by its original arrangement. The support­ son (son ofMaxwell Anderson, the book's me." ing rhythm of author). With a minimum of telling ges­ The Goodspeed production succeeded tures, the singers recreated their charac­ as a wistful reminder of a period in ~ J r N NI J r j ii I ters. Coleman Hawkins brought com­ Broadway's history when sophistication provided an odd accompaniment to the manding physical stature and a rich bar­ (the upper-class, American kind) had a sustained vocal line - seemingly awk­ itone to the part of Stephen but did not foothold on the American stage. But ward, but curiously exotic. muster sufficient intensity in his acting. more than that, the score by Kurt Weill, The music was performed with verve Tenor Barrington Coleman, on the other with the immediacy of expression and and with an emphasis on intelligibility hand, stood out as leader of the chorus, freshness that marks his artistry, in­ by the cast of twenty, choreographed conveying strong emotion with his voice jected a spirit into the show that allowed smartly by Rodney Griffin and ably sup­ alone. the production to rise above the status of ported by an orchestra led by Lynn Cri­ Mezzo-soprano Cheryl Freeman beau­ being merely a revival. In particular, gler at the piano. Michael Piontek, as tifully projected the part of Linda, espe­ the performance and allure of Lynnette Rodney Hatch, the male lead, was the cially in her big number, "Who'll Buy," Perry as Venus made the whole experi­ picture of "tenor-ic" innocence, and, and soprano Ivette Vanterpool was a ence even more enjoyable. along with Richard Sabellico as White­ touching Irina. Special mention should As is often the case in his Broadway law Savory, Dale O'Brien as Taxi Black, be made of young Clinton Chinyelu In­ scores, Weill borrowed from himself. The and Nick Corley as Stanley, handled the graham who acted and sang his turn in male vocal quartet, "The Trouble With gentlemanly vocal duties capably. In the "Big Mole'' to the evident delight of the Women," is a re-working of "In der Jug­ performance I attended, Freyda Thomas audience. end gold'nem Schimmer" from Happy snapped, crackled, and popped as Savory Even in as skillful a staging as thjs End. Perhaps more surprising is the Whitelaw's female sidekick and neme­ one, a concert version of Lost in the Stars striking simjlarity between Venus' ethe­ sis, Molly. But the delight of the show lacks the drama that action and dialogue real entrance and exit music and Anna's was Lynnette Pe rry as Venus. She can supply in a fuJly-staged production. leitmotiv in Die sieben Todsi1nden. Al­ floated through the performance with Nothing static, however , was felt when though one might fault Weill for suc­ regal ease and grace, yet also projected the first notes of the overture to Die cumbing to topicality and sentimentality an earthly charm when needed, as in her Dreigroschenoper (heard 12 June) rose in such songs as ''Way Out West io New saucy rendition - sung while lounging out of the pit. Musical and dramatic ac­ Jersey" and ''Westwind." most of the rest on a divan. natw·ally -of"That's Him." tion fuse in thls ever-fresh work.

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 17 PERFORMANCES Outstanding was soprano Stephanie Weill and Brecht, also worked well, if not Die Dreigroschenoper. Myszak, who alternated between the as consistent.ly as the stage setting. roles of Polly and Jenny. She changed Kramer hit upon an explosive opening J6zsef Attila Szinhaz, Budapest, not only costumes but also histrionic and for the play: Berlin policemen of the late Premiere: 27 March 1987; J6zsef vocal personalities most affectingly. 1920s, evoking the period of the play's varosi Szinhaz, Budapest, Pre­ Theodore Schorske sang well as Mr. genesis, broke up a bloody streetfigh t Peachum but did not seem entirely com­ between Communists and Nazis. Berlin miere: 20 February 1987; Kis­ fortable portraying the smarmy charac­ was also brought to mind through the fa]udy Szinhaz, Gyor, Premiere: ter. Mr. Coleman's Macheatb was fine, consistently "homey" dialect of Mac• as was Barbara Leifer's Mrs. Peach um. heath (Martin Reinke) and the repellent 6 March 1987. There have been three new produc­ The same cast capably performed the pre-Nazi get-up of a pig-tailed Lucy (An­ t.ions of Die Dreigroschenoper (Kol­ music of Happy End, but it really re­ gelica Mann), The incongruous inter­ dusopera) staged in Hungary during the quires a fully staged performance to in­ linkage of London and Berlin succeeded fuse some theatrical life into this farcical in suggesting a timeless validity of spring of 1987. Having seen all three, I piece. Matthew Cowles, as narrator for theme and thesis of Die Dreigroschen,­ believe none of them lives up to Weill's original i ntentions, and this is mostly Happy End as well as for Die Dreigro­ oper, underscored by Weill's iridescent schenoper, pushed rather hard to con­ music. But the device worked less well because of the poor singing ability of the actors {with four or five notable excep· vince his audience and evidently had not when Kramer inserted Brecht's (or other made himself fully conversant with his lyricists') verses of a much later date, as tions). Jn Hungary, Die Dreigroschen­ microphone. he did in the "Salomon-Song;" they oper is still regarded as "Brecht's play," and, therefore, directors show little con­ The poise and skill of the young cast jarred as much as the anachronistic assembled by Mr. Symonette for these shiny plastic raincoat flauntingly worn cern for the music. At Jozsef Attila Szinhaz i.n Budapest, performances were remarkable. The by Jenny (Ingrid Jarens). a revolving stage was used for the scene conductor had coached them during a Withal I wish the other two innova­ briefrehearsal period both in their music tions had been as successful! As ifto add changes. The orchestra played more or and in German. These performances temporal terseness to the spatial corn• less correctly, but only one actress sang well: Eva Szabo, as Mrs. Peachum. A marked the first time that the pit was pactness of the set, Kramer snipped lines used in the renovated hall, and Mr. Sym­ from the book and whipped through the remarkable and effective idea was real­ ized immediately before the end of the onette managed to overcome most of the play without intermissions. However, acoustical problems that evidently still the finales to each act, representing play: on the final chorus of the "Drittes need to be solved. His orchestra of free­ Weill's and Brecht's moral dicta, Lose Dreigroschenfinale," a group of old and impoverished people joined the cast, lance instrumentalists contributed nobly much of their impact if they are followed to a musically most satisfying Princeton by other stage action. In Die Dreigro­ coming on stage in their street clothes, carrying bags and lunchboxes. Festival. the intermissions, intended as schenoper At J6zsefvarosi Szinhaz, also in Buda­ FRANK LEWIN pauses for reflection, are truly integral to pest, the role of J enny, played by Ildik6 the work, all the more essential here as a Princeton, New Jersey Pecsi, assumed the primary focus. this foil to Kramer's rapid pacing. In version, J enny became the narrator of Finally, there was the wrong-headed Die Dreigroschenoper. the play and appropriated some of the idea of "doubling" the role of Jenny and songs of the other characters. Priest Theater des Westens, Berlin, the street singer. There is precedence for Kimbal] wore a cross on his chest and a May-July 1987. this. One night, during the long run of rabbi's cap on his head. This obvious The Threepenny Opera at the Theatre de Two adjectives describe last summer's attempt at humor was ridiculous and Lys, in New York, Lenya likewise dou­ revival of Die Dreigroschenoper at the tasteless. One of the gang members, bled, when Tige Andrews, the street Theater des Westens in West Berlin: Walter, was tranformed into a comical, singer of that production, had taken ill. brilliant and flawed. Gunter Kramer, homosexual stereotype. P ecsi sang well, She earned thunderous applause for her bringing his Bremen Ensemble to the as did Peter Beregi as Macheath, and rendition of "The Ballad of Mack the city where the play with music pre­ Attila Tyll <1s Mr. Peachum displayed Knife." "But," she told me, "I'll never do miered almost sixty years ago, startled strong acting. that again! It denatures [verfalscht] the his audience with four fundamental in­ While there was not a "best" among play." Indeed, it does. The effect of a novations. Instead of conventional stage play-withi n-a-play, suggested by the these productions, there certainly was a settings, he erected a precipitous iron "worst," and that distinction goes to the introductory "Moritat," with its intended staircase, running the height and alienation effect, is dissipated by allot­ production by the Kisfaludy Szinhaz in breadth of the entire stage. The actors the town of Gyor. The theater is modern ting the song to one ofthe principal cha1·­ ran., walked, danced or cavorted up and and the stage is one of the largest in acters. down, clustered and dissolved their Wei11 and Brecht also argued that Hungary. The performance, however, groupings, chased or were chased, and djd not match in scale. The orchestra their songs should be sung by singing occasionally declaimed from the upper played wrong notes and exhibited a poor actors, and not by acting singers. Some reaches of the stage. Highly imaginative ensemble. Further, the actors lacked of the performers, especially Mrs. Pea­ - if somewhat reminiscent of Piscator­ both presence and conviction; their sing­ chum (Grete Wurm), with a voice that Kramer's innovation worked brilliantly. monotonously barked forth impreca­ ing scarcely eJ1isted. Combined with the I have never seen a Dreigroschenoper disadvantage of the immense stage and which developed greater fluidity and tions, embodied neither. I left the thea­ ter with some sadness that a brilliantly the evident ineptness of director Ferenc dynamism: scenes flowed into one Sik, the result yielded a colorless and conceived production resulted in a very another at a speed that left the audience boring interpretation. good performance instead of the great gasping along with the performers. one it might have been. Hence, the inventive and provocative For once, a subtle shift of locale and music of Kurt Weill still awaits proper historical setting, in the past an invita­ GUY STERN treatment in Hungary.MIKLOS GALLA tion to theatrical disaster in the case of Wayne State University Budapest

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE18 BOOKS poser's comments on the musical culture that interaction have been with those of his time and the personalities with correspondents, who, unlike Schoen­ whom he came into contact. Typical of berg, repaid Busoni's investment with his keen insights is rusjudgment of Kurt interest. It would be unfortunate if the Weill, set forth in a letter to Philipp appearance ofthis volume closed the door Jarnach of7 October 1923: to the publication of the integral cor­ I don't know Weill's Frauentanz. respondences with such major personali­ Considering his reserved vein and ties or close friends as Volkmar Andreae, painstaking efforts, this young­ Edward Dent, Hugo Leichtentritt, Phi­ ster's productivity is surprising. lipp J arnach, Egan Petri, Henry Petri. or Fl'rtlJ\.."\·tn Hehas any amount of"ideas," - as Gisella Selden-Goth. Such reservations lll'SO'.\"I you say - but they are concealed or aside, Beaumont's edition is an invalua­ ,dt.Lf~J inferred, so that only "the likes of ble cornerstone for future Busoni schol­ I ~·un us" can discover and admire them. arship and a timely contribution to our hm 1d continuing reassessment of early twen­ duh1 ✓ I" He - Weill - does not seem to be \ JU11n conscious of when he has arrived at tieth-century music history. f(.. 1u1111•n1 the right place; instead, he passes CHRISTOPHER HAILEY over it as if over sand and rocks New Haven between which beautiful, individ­ ual flowers grow, which he neither tramples on nor plucks, and over which he does not linger. His Ferruccio Busoni: Se­ wealth is great, his selectivity at present inactive. One envies him lected Letters. Translated and would like to help. But he will and edited by Antony Beaumont. come to the right thing of his own New York: Columbia University accord! The eternal question: is he still developing, or has he already Press, 1987. reached his peak? Following upon his study of Ferruccio Beaumont has subjected the letters to Busoni's music (Busoni the Composer; some abridgement and omitted opening see review in Volume 3. Number 2), An­ and closin g greetings in order to elimi­ tony Beaumont has now presented a nate repetition and matters of purely handsomely produced and clearly organ­ ephemeral interest. However, such for­ ized collection ofBusoni letters spanning mal gestures and seemingly extraneous over fifty years from 1872 to 1924. This information are an inextricable part of selection provides the English-speaking letter writing and are often no less neces­ reader the most wide-ranging view of sary to a satisfactory whole than caden­ Busoni since the 1938 trnnslation of the tial formulae are to music. Beaumont composer's letters to his wife. Here, as may have employed such space-saving there, Busoni emerges as a man of pro­ editorial practices in order to distiJI the vocative contradictions: a grand vir­ essence of Busoni's considerable episto­ tuoso who preferred the salon to the con­ lary talents, but he has thereby dimin­ cert hall, a creature of the nineteenth­ ished the leters' immediacy as personal century and a prophet of the twentieth documents. We are not told, for instance, who might well have felt more at home in where Busoni uses the formal or familiar the eighteenth, a legendary figure of form of address, and Beaumont's anno­ Caspar Neher: Brecht's great charm and physical presence and tations, though generally informative, Designer. By John Willett. yet so very private, so devoted to his fam­ provide little context for the individual London and New York: Methuen, ily and friends, and of such innate re­ exchanges. In choosing to omit the let­ serve and moral integrity that for aJI his ters to Busoni, Beaumont is following a 1986. [141 p.] celebrity he led a life eschewing sensa­ time-honored custom of presenting a Caspar Neher's stage designs for tion and bordering upon austerity. "great man" in a kind of lonely vacuum. Bertolt Brecht's productions of "epic the­ There is variety and substance in One wonders whether this peculiarly ater" abandoned scenic practices predi­ these letters and Beaumont's transla­ nineteenth-century attitude does justice cated on extravagant visual effects and tions do justice to Busoni's gifts as a styl­ to a man so partial to the civilized dis­ illusions common to the nineteenth- and ist with a propensity for word play, liter­ course of the eighteenth. The dimension early twentieth-century Continental ary allusions, and the bon mot. The let­ lost by such a one-sided approach is all stage. Instead, Neher created a struc­ ters touch upon virtually all of Busoni's the more apparent in the appendix in tural landscape which visually accentu­ major interests and professional activi­ which Beaumont presents the whole of ated harmonious or dissonant tensions ties, including reports about his concert the Busoni-Schoenberg correspondence, between the epic actor and the theatrical career and the ambivalence with which as well as selected letters to Schoenberg's objects of epic the.aler production. Rather he regarded performing and teaching, Viennese publisher, Emil Hertzka. This than creating architectural perspectives insights into his editing and composi­ is no doubt the jewel ofthe collection, and of skillful scenic replication, Neher in­ tional work, observations about his trav­ even though Schoenberg is the principal troduced a vital visual relationship els, and reflections upon the dilemma the topic of conversation, one 1·eceives, which originated from the life of a specif­ First World War created for this ltal­ through this interaction, a clearer sense ic Brechtian character. In Schrifien zum ian/German cosmopolitan. Perhaps of ofBusoni the man than in all the preced­ Theater Brecht commented that Neher's most immediate interest are the corn- ing pages. And how much greater must scenic landscapes were imprinted with

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 19 BOOKS the "fingerprints" of people inhabiting products for political purposes. Un­ know of only one previous effort along those environments; his landscapes were doubtedly for artists such as Neher the these lines (/3roadway Repertoire, edited created from tangible objects whicb dem­ integrity of one's own system of aes­ by Gregory Boals, New York: Chappell, onstrated the social behavior of charac­ thetics comes into question, but Willett 1979) - a publication that, despite some ters in the play. allows the artist's work to speak for itself interesting alternative choices, comes John Willett's study of Caspar Neher's rather than speculating on his struggle nowhere near this one in terms of com­ scenic work for Brecht, curiously subti­ of conscience. The production sketches of prehensiveness. t led "Brecht's Designer," offers the Neher's designs for Coriolanus. rendered Editor Richard Walters has managed reader an introduction to the collabora­ before, during, and after the fall of the to include approximately 40 songs in tor responsible for shaping Brecht's epic Third Reich, clearly demonstrate the each of the four solo volumes (the fifth vision. Published on the occasion of the suffocating effect tyranny has upon the contains 21 duets), encompassing selec­ 1986 exhibition of Neher's work organ­ artist. Yet, if Willett's concern is with tions by Kern, Loewe, Porter, Rodgers, ized by the Arts Council of Great Br itain, how historical events shaped Neher's Sondheim, Weill, and many others. Willett's book includes over seventy artistic vision, this deserves a more thor­ Walters' choices will satisfy those vocal­ black and white reproductions of ough investigation th an the several ists in need of a source for their obliga­ sketches and photographs which illus­ pages of his introduction. tory standards-a bass or baritone look­ trate Neher's contributions to Brecht's Willett includes several articles by ing for "If Ever I Would Leave You," production style. Most notably, Willett Neher and Brecht, but many of these es­ "Soliloquy," "The Impossible Dream," selected reproductions of Neher/Brecht says are undocumented, frustrating the "01' Man River," and "Some Enchanted collaborations which testify to his claim reader who wishes to investigate their Evening" will find them all - and they that "Brecht's influence was. .. not mere­ sources. Those interested solely in include a few well-chosen rarities as ly stimulating but conducive to Neher's Neher's designs will be disappointed by well. All are presented substantially as own particular genius." By comparing the limited and exclusive selection of they appear in the standard published actu a l production photographs t o black and white reproductions. There vocal scores (which means that the num­ Neher's sketches for the same dramatic are also a number of disturbing mis­ bers from Show Boat and most ofthose by moment, Willett provides evidence of statements and unsubstantiated claims: Rodgers and Hart appear in later, re­ Neher's directorial instinct at visualiz­ Seven Deadly Sins is dismissed as an "es­ vised editions). ing the dramatic juxtapositions among sentially minor work" (p. 21); Willett However, Walters' claims that these actor, text, and object. Of particular in­ seems unaware ofand fails to explore the are "authentic" versions and that this terest are reproductions of those designs very close ties between Weill and Neher collection represents both a "performing" for the productions which Brecht acted as , after the 1931 production of Mahagonny and a "critical" edition need to be taken Regisseur: with Erich Engel on the No­ in Berlin; he dismisses A Kingdom for a with some caution (Walters hedges a bit, vember 1949 Berliner Ensemble produc­ Cow as a "relatively trivial theater saying that ''in many ways" one "could" tion of Herr Puntila und sein K necht work" without any indication of famil­ view this edition as such, as if aware of Matti and with Oskar Homolka on the iarity with Der K uhhandel (p. 22); he the problem but unwiJli.ng to relinquish February 1926 production ofBa al at the avoids fu.lly crediting E1isabeth the claim). Composers of American mu­ I 1tsches Theater. Neher's sketches for Hauptmann for the "book" ofHa ppy End sicals have usually written their songs these productions clearly indicate that (p. 51). The 16-page "Neher Ohronicle'' for voice and piano, knowing that an or­ his role as designer was not merely to contains surprising errors: April 13, chestrator will transform it into the set­ create decor but to interpret visually the 1933: "The Threepenny Opera opens at ting that will be used in the show. Until action of the play for Brech t. the Empire Theatre, New York, with 1950 or so, published vocal scores tended Unfortunately, reproductions of the Lenya and Louis Armstrong; Spring to be based on the composer's piano score, February 1931 production of Man,i ist 1933: Constant Lambert conducts The not so very different from what would Mann at the 2 erlin Staatstheater Seven Deadly Sins in London." Most per­ appear in the separate sheet-music edi­ (Brecht aga1n co-directed with E rich plexing, however, is the restriction of tion (though the latter would be reduced Engel) are missing from the volume, Willett's interest in Neher to his work for to a single refrain, transposed into a even though Willett recognizes that it Brecht, which comprises rather a limited medium range and with the melody in­ was this production which "most strik­ view of the contributions and importance variably present in the piano part). The ingly" helped Brecht to visualize the ac­ of this influential designer. following years saw the evolution of the tion of the play's episodes; in its place are TOM BLOOM published piano-vocal score into an an­ found reproductions of the 1926 Darm­ University of Michigan, Flint notated orchestral reduction usable by a stadt and 1928 Berlin Volksbuhne pro• conductor , a practice which has· pre­ ductions. Willett also neglects to include vailed ever since (except in the most re­ any production sketches of the March The Singer's Musical cent Sondheim scores, which have re­ 1924 production of Leben Eduard.~ des Theatre Anthology. In turned - regrettably, to my mind - to Zweiten uon England at the Munich five volumes: Soprano, Mezzo­ the older practice). What, then, is most Kammerspiele, although he does provide authentic? The composer's initial man­ an illustration for the published text of Soprano/Alto, Tenor, Baritone/ uscript? The song as performed in the Leben Eduards, demonstrating how Bass, Duets. Winona, MN: Hal show? The orchestral score? A piano Neher's designs affected the stagings. reduction of that score? The sheet mu­ Willett cannot avoid linking Neher's Leonard, 1986. sic? The concept of a critical edition is work to the politics of an era which forced This collection represents an impor­ hard to apply to music created for such a a break in the collaboration with Brecht. tant attempt to provide for the popular fluid performance tradition. My point is Since Neher elected to continue practic­ musical theater of our century what tbe that such claims would be better left ing his art under the Nazi regime, Wil­ standard operatic anthologies have pro­ unmade and the anthology offered-and lett questions the extent to wruch the vided for opera: famous vocal solos and accepted - for what it is: a convenient aesthetic of the artist accommodated the duets, exactly as they appear in complete and inexpensive way to acquire a selec­ propagandistic conservatism of a politi­ piano-vocal scores, convenien tly ex­ tion of solo repertoire in piano-vocal ar­ cal regime which used artists and their cerpted for study and performance. 1 rangements not otherwise separately

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE20 RECORDINGS available (consider that each of these volumes costs considerably less than one 1917 because he believes in the senti• vocal score at current prices). ment of"a war to end war." After sparing a German sniper and surviving a wound, About half of the selections duplicate he invades the headquarters ofthe Allied the relevant pages of the original High Command, armed with a tank of piano-vocal score sources; those that re­ laughing gas, and nearly succeeds in quired ed.iting to remove choral or purely preventing a gruesome battle. As a re­ instrumental passages, to supply ward for hls "peace mania," he is ar­ endings where none existed, or to remove rested and sent home to spend nearly small-note orchestral cues have been twenty years in an asylum, from which newly printed (relatively few of the edi­ he emerges to find a crazed world once torial changes are documented, by the again arming for war. way). All indications of instrumentation have been deleted, leaving the accom­ The script, a North Carolinian's coun­ paniment to stand as purely pianistic terpart to Hasek's The Good Soldier writing - with varying success depend­ Schweyk, is self-consciously allegorical: ing on goals and skill of the original simplistic, frequently implausible, yet transcriber. Some of the earlier scores, rich in comic and tragic ironies. Its which include the melody in the piano as structure is unusual; as a rule, each of a matter of course, will stiJI need some the twenty-one songs is sung by a differ­ thoughtful editing from a pianist, as may ent character - including eerie the more fanciful of the orchestral reduc­ warnings from the Statue of Liberty. tions. Burgess Meredith poses with Johnny Green's song lyrics, though scarred by Johnson. Phof,0 by Robe-rt MaCum1 flawed rhymes and odd turns of phrase, The assignment of the four solo vol­ are often as haunting as Weill's music. umes according to the classical vocal ranges has been carried out about as well Kurt Weill: J o hnny And what music! ln 1936 the pun­ as could be expected, considering the gency of Weill's Berlin style had not left applicability of these nebulous cata­ J ohnson. Studio cast with him: Johnny J ohnson is full of gories to show-writing. In particular. chorus and orchestra, Samuel characteristically ingratiating melodies and acrid harmonies, a blend the New even songs that we associate with a "so­ Matlow sky, conductor. Poly­ prano" or "tenor" timbre wilJ generally Y ork American aptly described as "slyly remain within the operatic mezzo or bar­ Gram 831 384-1 (record),831 parodying, cruelly insinuating, curious­ itone compass (of the composers repre­ 384-4 (cassette), 831 384-2 (CD). ly corrosive." WeilJ's musical language sented in this collection, only Gershwin had been expanded, yet streamlined, in Porgy and Bess and Weill in Street Questioned about his role in the strug­ during his year in America; and he pro­ Scene truly exploit the possibilities of the gle for world peace, songwriter Irving duced a masterpiece that stands between higher voices). The classic, indeed the Caesar replied: "I think it should be the Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny only, analysis of these vocal practices lifelong concern of every human being." and Lost in the Stars. remains Conrad L. Osborne's "The No fictional character ever embodied Johnny Johnson might have shared Broadway Voice'' in H igh Fidelity (Janu-­ that point of view more completely than the fate ofFirebrand ofFlorence - a fos­ ary and February 1979), to which I direct the hero of Johnny Johnson, Paul sil dimly remembered but never resur­ readers interested in this important yet Green's satirical "story of a common rected - if Edward Cole had not pro­ little-understood matter; for the present, man" - the first American theater piece duced a record of extended excerpts in suffice to say that a singer will want to with music by Kurt Weill. 1956 (MGM E3447). This album, well­ consult both volumes relevant to his or John J ohnson was the most common known among Weill enthusiasts, refuses her voice. name among the 4,700,000 who enlisted to stay buried. In 1966, the performance in World War I. In the play, J ohnny is a was reissued on the short-lived Heliodor The Weill excerpts are as follows: four small-town pacifist (and profession al label, primarily in a synthetic-stereo songs from The Threepenny Opera tombstone carver!) who joins the army in edition (HS 25024). Now, thanks to the (Blitzstein adaptation); "Surabaya Johnny" from Happy End (Feingold translation); two from Knickerbocker own orchestrator. Even so, the piano­ accurate, seem less than ideally helpful Holiday; four Crom Lady in the Dark; one vocal arrangements of Weill's songs do in the present context: specifics about from Love Life ("This is the Life," a pleas­ not, for the most part, reflect the com­ the characters giving rise to each song ant surprise); three from Street Scene; poser's own accompaniments. would probably benefit a performer more and four from Lost in the Stars. Although The ser ies has generally been well than background on the original produc­ the enthusiast will always wish for more, produced (some minor typographical er­ tion, which is usually easy to find else­ these represent a respectable proportion rors have slipped through. and my copy where. But these minor problems, like (more than one tenth) of the total items of the baritone/bass book had sixteen those mentioned earlier, do not diminish included. Further, Weill shares with pages missing). All volumes provide the value of this anthology and the over­ only one other writer in the collection, brief historical information about each of all success with which itha s been carried the Gershwin of Porgy and Bess (all the shows, with Stanley Green acknowl­ out. right, include Andrew Lloyd Webber too edged as a contributor for this reprinted JON ALAN CONRAD if you want), the distinction of being his material. These paragraphs, though University of Delaware

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 21 RECORDINGS

personal interest of prod·ucer Larry L, nered for that of the ingenue ("Oh, Heart record, starting with the so-called over­ Lash, it has resurfaced on PolyGram re­ of Love"). ture - a tranquil arrangement of the cords, cassettes, and compact discs, a11 in Lotte Lenya is seemingly miscast as "Branntweinhandler" song from Happy unadulterated mono, (Dare we hope for the flirtatious French nurse. Though End, which Weill had also adapted for more Weill reissues, particularly the "Mon Ami, My Friend" is transposed Marie Galante - and progressing MGM recording ofDerJasager?) down a third., she stiH cannot reach the through the disturbingly evocative bat­ The new issue is handsomely pro­ higher notes; she changes the flavor by tlefield sequences and the ingenious duced, with original-cast pictures and dropping an octave for the last two lines. jazz-age chaos of the "Laughing Gener­ ample program notes (though somewhat Yet, this little song represents one ofher als" scene. less ample in the cassette edition), The most expressive recordings. Note the The "Song of the Guns" should really cover is a cleverly "aged" photo of the subtlety of her shift from light-hearted be sung by three voices, and Joseph Lie­ soldier-hero passing Miss Liberty on his charm to dramatic pathos - twice - in bling's chorus is larger than thal - but way to war. Unfortunately, the instru­ the course of two minutes. not much larger. Why this anemic en­ mentalists and some cast members are Jean Sanders's almost matronly con­ semble was reduced to a few feeble solo still uncredited, and Cole is never men­ tralto is appropriate for the "Song of the voices for the asylum inmates' "Hymn to tioned, And Mr. Lash would seem to Goddess," and Jane Connell passably Peace" remains a mystery. The ragged have no justification for basing his performs old Aggie's "Sewing Machine little group is most convincing when rep­ printed plot synopsis on the two-act ver­ Song." Yet the solemnity of the former resenting a pathetic procession of sion of the play, as revised by Paul Green and the queer Schubertian beauty of the wounded French soldiers. At the end of in 1971 (the basis for an ill-fated Broad­ latter numbers could be heard to better the song, we most strongly sense the way revival, presented just once on advantage as part of the instrumental record's need for a dramatic coach. Easter of that year). suite, as on Kurt Weill's "Music for the "Lafayette, we are here!" cries Johnny - Like MGM1s earlier Trouble in Tahiti, Stage," arranged by Edward Cole (four the newly arrived soldier - not with the the record is marred by wild 11 uctuations Johnny Johnson songs made up the heart "grim and stern emphasis" the scri.pt in volume level from one section of the of this collector's item, MGM E 3334). demands, but in jarringly excited and score to the next; during ensemble num­ Scott Merrill, fresh from the Theatre exultant tones. bers, everyone seems to be fifty feet from de Lys Threepenny Opera pr.oductfon, Johnny Johnson is played by Burgess the microphone. The reissue engineer serves up "Captain Valentine's Tango" Meredith, a veteran ofthe first American evidently made no effort to compensate with more emphasis on wry sex appeal production of The Threepenny Opera in for this defect in the master tape, nor for than musicality. The parodistic "Cow­ 1933. In the recording, apart from his the restricted bass response. Of course-, boy Song," a perfect marriage of Weill's farewell speech to the Statue of Liberty little can be done to correct the faulty expanding harmonic vocabulary, is one - dreamily sincere and thoroughly na­ balances and abrupt changes in acous­ of the album's best features, freely but ive-his principal contribution comes at tics. In other respects, the sound is clean agreeably interpreted by Bob Shaver. the end., "Johnny's Song." After his dis­ and vivid - at least on the CD, which is But, for strength of characterization, the charge from the asylum, Johnny is disil­ exempt from pitch waver and surprising­ one who steals the show is the actor lusioned, having lost everything he ever ly free of tape hiss. Hiram Sherman, first as trigger-happy dreamed of gaining: home, livelihood, Changes in technology do nothing to Grandpa Joe ("Up Chickamauga Hill") friendship, love, and faith in a peaceful affect the emotional impact of the record­ and later as the mad Dr. Mahodan ("The world. Against the background of a ing. Lee Strasberg's original 1936 Group Psychiatry Song"). Incidentally, the military-preparedness rally, he tries Theatre production had been populated asylum songs from Act III have been peddling handmade toys on a wintry with non-singers (including Russell Col­ shuffled into the correct order for this street. Johnny's sweetheart has married lins, Phoebe Brand, Morris Carnovsky, reissue. his unscrupulous, prosperous rival; un­ Luther Adler, Lee J. Cobb, and Robert Samuel Matlowsky was hardly a Weill recognized, Johnny sees her and her son, Lewis). Some songs were cut - no one purist (later serving a.s conductor for the who under different circumstances seems quite sure how many; others were Capalbo production of Mahagonntf), but would have been his own. But he can not poorly sung. There was also quite a bito[ he directs the ebb and flow with a meas­ interest the boy in his wares, because he double-casting (one actor in several ure of sympathy that is all the more re­ refuses to sell any toy soldiers. So he parts). The record follows the same tra­ markable considering his evident Jack of turns up his collar and sings philosophi­ ditions, with a completely different, proper rehearsals. And he retains cally, "we'll never lose our faith and hope slightly more musical cast who some­ Weill's colorful instrumentation, which and trust in all mankind." times take great liberties with the pitch calls for a theater ensemble of about a The. words of Johnny's song have been and rhythm of the songs, yet produce dozen musicians - including prominent rewritten half a dozen times; for exam­ memorably theatrical results. parts for saxophone, banjo, guitar, and ple, Edward Heyman's unauthorized For the most extreme example, take Hammond organ. Apart from Lenya's lyric, designed to help popularize the the chilling sequence, "In Times ofWar song, the original keys are preserved. tune when it was new ("To Love You and and Tumult." Amid the carnage, an Alas, none of Weill's other American to Lose You"), and the changes intro­ American and a German priest voice scores has received such an "unre­ duced by Timothy Gray and Paul Green prayers in their respective languages, touched'' recording in the past thirty in 1971. Here, Burgess Meredith pre­ each begging God for victory over the years. serves the original version, rendering other. Rather than singing, Thomas There are serious cuts, most notably the number with tenderness and com­ Stewart and William Maiten declaim the British soldier's "Tea Song," two of passion. Listen to the loneliness in his nearly every phrase. The mayor's speech the songs cut in 1936 (the "Sergeant's voice when Johnny reaches the words, ("Over in Europe") and a drasticaUy Chant" and the "West-Pointer Song") "As up and down I wander, My weary abridged Allied High Command scene and a considerable amount of instru­ way and long.. ." In 1936, sensitive lis­ receive the same unmusical treatment. mental music. Under the circumstances, teners wept at his sopg - they still do. Stewart's wife, Evelyn Lear, does sing, we must be grateful for the amount of GLEN BECKER but her voice seems too heavy and man- incidental music that is-preserved on the New York

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE 22 SELECTED PERFORMANCES

ARGENTINA Die sieben Tod.~iinden, Staatstheater, Kassel, 8 Janua.ry 1988 Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Teatro Col6n, Buenos Aires, Rock Concert, Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, Sting, Gianni Nannini, Jaime Cogan, dir.; Antonio Tauriello, cond., 24, 27, 29 November, Jack Bruce, 1 May 1987 1, 4 December 1987 Street S cene. Cologne, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Harald Banter, prod.; Donald Arthur, dir.; Jan Latham-Koening, cond., 3-5 May AUSTRIA 1987 Die Dreigroschenoper, Landestheater, Salzburg, K.J. Schildknecht, War Play, Judisches Gemeindehaus, Berlin, Ensemble Modern, dir.; W. Pillinger, oond., 9, 15-18, 23-24 Sept 15, 16, 18, 20 Oct 1987 Richard Pittman, cond., 5 September 1987

AUSTRALIA GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC Happy End, Perth, Western Australian Academy, 1-4 October 1987 Concerto for violin & winds, Leipzig, DDR-Radio orchestra, M. Pom­ The Seven Deadly Sins, His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, West Austral- mer, cond., 29 September 1987 ian Ballet Company, Verdon Williams, cond.; Jill Perryman, sop., 3-7 July 1987 NETHERLANDS Das Berliner Requiem, s'Hertogenbosch, s'Hertogenbosch Mens' CANADA Chorus, FASO Wind Ensemble, 17 May 1987 Happy End, Margaret Greenham Theatre, Banff, 24-27 February Berlin to Broadway, Amsterdam, American Repertory Theater, 7-19 1987 July 1987 Happy End, New Westminster, Douglas College, 20-28 November 1987 NORWAY Mahagonny Songspiel, Statens Operahoyskole, Oslo, 21-24 May 1987 CZECHOSLOVAK.IA Die Dreigroschenoper, Brno, Alois Hajda, dir., 17 April 1987 SCOTLAND The Threepenny Opera, Music Hall, Aberdeen, Aberdeen Festival DENMARK Players, 8-10 October 1987 Das Berliner Requiem, Copenhagen, 25 June 1987 Mahagonny Songspiel, Copenhagen, 25 June 1987 SWEDEN Symphony no. 1, Norrkoeping, Symfoniorkestern Norrkoeping, John ENGLAND Carewe, cond., 5 July 1987 Das Berliner Requiem, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, John Cross­ ley, cond., 31 October 1987 SWITZERLAND Mahagonny Songspiel, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, The London Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Stadttheater , Lucerne, Sinfonietta, Paul Daniel, cond., 1, 3, 7, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21 August Markus Imhof, dir.; Marcello Viotti, cond., November 1987 1987 Die sieben Todsunden, Royal Festival Hall, London, Elise Ross, so­ UNITED STATES prano, The London Sinfonietta, 24 January 1988 Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, San Francisco, City College Die sieben Todsunden, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, Royal of San Francisco, Norman Wong, cond., 17-19 July 1987 Philharmonic Orchestra, Andre Previn, cond.; Milva, 23 June 1987 Concerto for violin & winds, Waco, TX, Baylor University, 5 Novem­ Die sieben Todsunden, Barbican Hall, London, Julia Migenes, sopra­ ber 1987 no; London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, cond., 2 Down in the Valley, Paul Mazur Theatre, New York, NY, The Blue July 1987 Hill Troupe, 18-22 November 1987 The Threepenny Opera, Oxford, Music on Stage, 5-9 May 1987 Lost in the Stars, New York, NY, York Players, 18 May-4 June 1988 Lost in the Stars, Aaron Davis Hall, New York, NY, Opera Ebony, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Henry Miller, dir.; Warren G. Wilson, cond., 12, 14, 22 November Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, SUidtische Buhnen, 1987 Munster, F.B. Gottschalk, dir.; Hiroshi Kodama, cond., 27 June, 4, Mahagonny Songspiel, Cinncinati, OH, Cincinnati College-Con­ 10 July, 5, 8, 9, 16, 26, September 1987 servatory of Music, John Eaton, dir., 8 January 1988 Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Stadtische Buhnen Hagen, Der neue Orpheus, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, Lucy Hagen, Kurt Reginbogin, dir.; Will Humburg, cond., 4, 9. July, 20, Shelton, soprano; Brooklyn Philharmonic, Lukas Foss, cond.; 22 September 1987 Yuval Waldman, violinist, 14 January 1988 Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Musiktheater, Dortmund, From Weill to Sondheim, Kaufman Theatre, New York, NY, Julie Igor Follwill, dir.; Kurt Weise, cond., 11 April, 8, 12, 16 May. 26 Wilson, 20 October-20 November 1987 June 1987 The Threepenny Opera, Kresge Auditorium Little Theatre, Cam­ Das Berliner Requiem, Berlio, Berliner Liedertafel, Bobeth, cond., 1 bridge, MA, MIT Musical Guild, 4-6. 11-13 September 1987 November 1987 Vom Tod im Wald, Waco, TX, Baylor University, 5 November 1987 Die Dreigroschenoper, Landesbuhne, Hannover, September 1987 Der Zar liisst sich photographiereit, Philadelphia, The Academy of Die Dreigroschenoper, Schauspielhaus, Krefeld, Max K. Hoffmann, Vocal Arts, 25, 27, 30, 31 October 1987 dir.; Alex Kagan, cond., 19 September 1987 Berlin to Broadway, Farifield, CT, Fairfield University, 19-24 Happy End, Stiidtische Biihnen, Regensburg, 29 April 1988 Ocotber 1987 Happy End, Staatstheater, Oldenburg, 22 May 1988 Ballet, "Pudique Acide" and "Extasis.'· Bessie Schoenberg Theater, Knickerbocker Holiday, Stii.dtische Biihnen, Munster, 4 February New York, NY, Mathilde Monnier, Jean-Francois Duroure, Joel 1988 Luecht, 1-4 October 1987 Kleine Dreigrosche11musik, Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, Eric Leinsdorf, cond., 10-11 October 1987 USSR Der Lindberghfl.ug, Cologne, Westdeustscher Rundfunk, 19-21 Octo­ Die Dreigroschenoper, Moscow, Guest performance by Schauspiel­ ber 1987 haus Essen, FRG, 19 May 1987 Mahagonn,y Songspiel, Werkstattbiihne, Darmstadt, 7 March 1988

KURT WEILL NEWSLETTER PAGE23 NEWSLETTER RESPONSE FORM Name - -- Add my name to mailing list Institution ___ Delete my name from mailing list Address ___ Update listing

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Detach and mail to: Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, 7 East 20th Street, New York, NY 10003-1106; or call, (212) 260-1650. BOOK ORDER FORM The Foundation has a limited number of the following books to offer for sale. Please send this form, marked appro­ priately, along with a check payable in U.S. dollars, to the Foundation at the address given below. All books will be shipped by UPS in the United States and by surface rate to Europe. New York residents, please add sales tax.

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) Marx, ed. Weill-Lenya. Exhibition catalog. New York $10.00 (Pbk) Public Library, 1976. Weill. Vocal Selections from The Threepenny Opera. $10.00(pbk) Eng. adaptation by M. Blitzstein. Warner Bros., 1984 Postage and Handling: $2.50 per book (USA, Canada), $6.00 per book elsewhere

TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED: Detach and mail with payment to: Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, 7 East 20th Street, New York, NY 10003.

THE KURT WEILL FOUNDATION FOR MUSIC Non-Profit Org. 7 East 20th Street U.S. Postage New York, NY 10003-1106 PAID Phone: (212) 260-1650 New York, NY Permit No. 893