The very brief and
inadequate leaflet information accompanying
what is a seminal recording of this
work states, of Weill’s first collaboration
with Brecht (1928), ‘Both are clearly
influenced by what was then modern jazz
and by the then entirely original and
unacademic style of Kurt Weill, who
went his own way in the choice of instrumentation’.
The leaflet goes on to devote a mere
six and one half lines to a synopsis
of the plot! This is compounded by the
fact that the track listing omits any
names of the characters singing.
For many people the
name Weill is more associated with the
‘Cabaret Songs’ sung by Ute Lemper (on
Decca). In fact Weill studied composition
with Humperdinck, and later, Busoni,
getting stage experience as a chorus
director and later as intendant at the
small theatre at Lüdenscheid. The
composer’s first stage works involved
various librettists prior to his collaboration
with Brecht which commenced with ‘Mahagonny’
(1927), essentially a singspiel, and
continued with ‘Die Dreigroschenoper’
(The Threepenny Opera) of 1928 and which
topically transferred ‘The Beggars Opera’
(1728 by John Gay) to the Berlin of
two centuries later. This work was a
pointer to the future of the Weill/Brecht
collaboration into the moral and political
operas of ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt
Mahagonny’ (1930), ‘Der Jasager’ (1930)
and ‘Die Bürgschaft’ (1932). Forced
out of Nazi Germany, Weill settled in
America in 1935, after which he wrote
some musical comedy and light opera
of which ‘Down in the Valley’ (1948)
and ‘Street Scene’ (1949) are the most
notable.
The ‘City of Mahagonny’
is really a development of the ‘singspiel’
of three years earlier and concerns
the love affair of Jenny and Jimmy,
which is based on cash as well as affection.
It takes place in Mahagonny, a place
where material pleasure and hedonism
rule, but with all money taken from
the men’s pockets. When Jimmy cannot
pay for his drinks he is tried and sentenced
to death. It is not long before the
anarchy destroys the inhabitants of
the city. The importance of this recording
is the link of the performance of Jenny
by Lotte Lenya (b.1898) who became Weill’s
wife. A considerable actress rather
than a trained singer, her links were
with the style of Berlin in 1930, and
Weill’s requirements for the part, are
reflected in her performance. Her mezzo-ish
timbre has come inextricably to define
so much interpretation of the composer’s
work. Her characteristic voice can be
heard (CD1 tr.3) rendering ‘Rasch wuchs’
(Oh, show us the way’ or Alabama song)
where she transposes down; but not,
I hasten to add, to the extent she did
as Jenny on the recording of ‘The Threepenny
Opera’ of 1952, a part that she created.
Like so much of the rest of the ‘sung’
pieces, this is part ‘parlando’, or
sing-speech. Critical comment on the
singing skills of the cast is irrelevant
in this idiom as long as they convey
the moods and moments of the work; they
can and do!
The 1956 mono recording
is rather restricted and boxy with the
voices well forward. The original issue
was one of those that CBS made of Weill’s
work in the 1950s featuring Lotte Lenya,
and can be considered of historical
importance to the recorded archive.
After that period, Weill’s works were
largely neglected as far as recordings
were concerned until a clutch of issues
on Decca and TER in the early nineties.
These have their strengths but this
issue has an authenticity that makes
it essential listening for those interested
in the genre. Pity though about the
poor leaflet information.
Robert J Farr
Jenny, Lotte Lenya (mezzo); Jimmy, Heinz Sauerbaum
(ten); Mrs. Begbick, Gisela Litz (mezzo); Fatty,
Peter Markwort (ten); Trinity Moses, Horst Günther
(bar); Joe, Sigmund Roth (bass)