By Steven Suskin
Kurt Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper/O Moon of Alabama [Capriccio C5061]
The first disc is filled with two dozen pieces of Die Dreigroschenoper, which is to say The Threepenny Opera. Here is Harald Paulsen, who created the role of Mackie Messer; the Polly of Carola Neher; and, of course, Lotte Lenya as Jenny. It is exhilarating to hear these songs in their original settings, which are generally briskly paced and frenetic played. These are the same Weill orchestrations we are accustomed to from most subsequent productions, but they sound especially vibrant here despite the sonic antiquity.
Weill's later, Broadway orchestrations are more staid; these, especially the Threepenny charts, are hot. Eleven selections with original cast members are followed by six tracks of Threepenny for wind orchestra, two from original conductor Theo Mackeben and the others from the orchestra of the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Otto Klemperer. These instrumentals are just as lively as the others. Then come three 1931 singles from Paris and one from Copenhagen, plus two that are described as Dance Arrangements. Everything sizzles. Granted, after a while this might be slightly too much Threepenny; we hear the same songs again and again, mostly in German. But it is all authentic Threepenny, circa 1928-31.
04 Sep 2011
Cover art for Kurt Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper/O Moon of Alabama
O, that moon of Alabama is here once more. Capriccio, the Vienna-based label that has given us a whole shelf full of Weill recordings both vintage and new, now sends forth a two-CD set featuring 46 early recordings. These are mostly from pre-War Germany, full of scratches and pops that have been gently doctored into improved condition. The value is that we get to hear these songs the way they sounded when they were written, as opposed to later interpretations. What's more, we get many original cast performances, with what seems to be the pit band. Some of these tracks have appeared on prior compilations, including those from Capriccio. Many are appearing on CD for the first time, at least according to the liner notes.
|
|
 |
|
| Kurt Weill |
Just when I thought that I was reaching my fill of these old singles, the folks at Capriccio gave me a surprise: the "Six Songs by Kurt Weill" album that Weill (at the piano) recorded with Lenya in New York in 1942. Here are the songs (in English) from the abandoned musical Ulysses Africanus, which Weill and Maxwell Anderson wrote as a vehicle for Paul Robeson in 1939. "Lost in the Stars" and "Lover Man" both reappeared in the 1949 musical Lost in the Stars, the latter retitled "Trouble Man." Here they are, years earlier; two songs in search of characters to sing them. This set also includes one of my favorite Weill songs, "J'attends un navire" from Marie Galante, which Weill wrote in 1933 in Paris en route to America. I have heard this song somewhere in an English translation, and it sounds way better in French. Especially with Lenya singing it.
This Weillfest ends with two propaganda songs (in German) recorded by Weill and Lenya for short-wave transmission to Germany by the U.S. Office of War Information in 1943-44.
(Steven Suskin is author of the recently released updated and expanded Fourth Edition of "Show Tunes" as well as "The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations," "Second Act Trouble" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He also pens Playbill.com's Book Shelf and DVD Shelf columns. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)
Visit PlaybillStore.com to view theatre-related recordings for sale.
