SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

 

New Production.

 

Director: Thomas Schulte-Michels.

Sets: Thomas Schulte-Michels.

Costumes: Tanja Liebermann.

Lighting: Rolf Essers.

 

Cast:

 

Jim: Wolfgang Schwaninger.

Jenny: Elaine Ortiz Arandes

Begbick: Marianne Larsen.

Fatty: Cornel Frey.

Moses: Stefan Sevenich.

Jack: Adrian Xhema.

Bill: Gregor Dalal.

Joe: Martin Hausberg.

Tobby: Adrian Sandu.

 

 

This work by Kurt Weill, with its libretto by Bertolt Brecht, is not performed much in opera houses and the reason may be that it’s probably not an opera. While the boundaries between opera, operetta, zarzuela and musicals are not well-defined, anyone who knows this work will not have much difficulty in considering it a musical. That being so, Mahagonny tends to be played in what might be considered alternative theatres, like Munich’s Gärtnerplatz or the Komischoper in Berlin. High prices are not great idea for musicals, even if the works themselves are good pieces, so it is all slightly odd that Madrid’s Teatro Real has decided to offer Mahagonny next season at its usual charges.

 

 

It’s the staging that’s most important for this kind of show and here we had production by Thomas Schulte-Michels, who also designed the so-called sets. It is a colourful production on a very low budget, a long way from the last one that I saw which was by Harry Kupfer. The sets are in fact nothing else but large numbers of chairs (small, medium, large and huge) all in shades of yellow which change position for the different scenes. The narrator who usually gives a lot of life to any Mahagonny production is also missing, and the beginning of the piece consists only of having some lights focused to the audience, miles away from the spectacular helicopter that Harry Kupfer used. In Thomas Schulte’s hans Mahagonny becomes essentially a cabaret show and is not much better than effective: even the boxing match is not particularly sparkling or funny.

 

David Stahl conducted and his reading was fine, particularly in the last act. The orchestra was not exactly brilliant but there was a good performance from the chorus.

 

Sadly, the vocal cast did not have too many attractions either, although the singers were generally well suited to their roles. Jim Mahoney was played by Wolfgang Schwaninger, a good actor but a tenor better suited to Mime than Jim. Elaine Ortiz Arandes sang Jenny and did not seem too comfortable with her part, but Marianne Larsen was an acceptable Leocadia Begbick, again a better actress than singer. Cornel Frey in the part of Fatty was very good though and Stefan Sevenich made a very decent Moses.. Although were some empty seats in the theatre, the audience included lots of young people and all the artists received a warm final reception.

 

José M Irurzun