If you are tempted
to think of Kurt Weill as nothing more
than a Sullivan to Bertolt Brecht’s
Gilbert, and that his contribution to
music starts and finishes with Mack
the Knife, then I beg you to listen
to this outstanding disc.
Here are two remarkable
symphonies, written when the composer
was in his twenties and thirties. As
a ‘dessert’ (though not a sop!)
we are also treated to a suite of his
music from his Broadway musical Lady
in the Dark, orchestrated in glorious
technicolor by Robert Russell Bennett.
When he came to compose
the Second Symphony, Weill already had
the achievements of the operas Mahagonny
and Dreigroschenoper (Threepenny
Opera) under his belt. There is
little in the symphony, however, of
the demotic flavour so successful in
those operas. Though quite short, and
in just three movements, this is a substantial
and highly serious work. The first movement
has an introduction in which a tense
rising phrase, given out by the violins
at the very start, gives way to a Mahlerian
trumpet solo. In fact, the spirit of
Mahler frequently hovers over this music,
though Weill’s sense of scale is quite
different; there are plenty of individual
Mahler movements longer than this whole
symphony.
The Allegro molto
which follows alternates between
driving motivic development and long
winding lines in strings or woodwind
– often of great expressive beauty.
The central Largo – the longest
of the three movements - builds up an
overwhelming intensity at times. It
has an almost funereal tread, and is
dominated by the terse rhythmic pattern
heard immediately at the outset (track
2). There are many memorable solo passages,
particularly for cello near the beginning,
and, a little later, a magnificent one
for trombone - which I found simply
solemn, not ‘mock-solemn’ as reported
by Richard Whitehouse in his booklet
notes.
I have to say at this
point that the playing of the BSO on
this disc is absolutely outstanding,
to my ear the best they have yet achieved
under Marin Alsop. She seems to be taking
the orchestra from strength to strength,
enabling them to turn in totally convincing
performances of unfamiliar, demanding
music such as this. Marin shapes and
characterises the music with a sure
hand, allowing it full expressive rein,
but never exaggerating its gestures.
The finale is enormous fun, and is the
one place where the Weill of the stage
works is closely felt – for example
in the rollicking tune initiated by
horns and woodwind (track 3, 0:58).
This is hugely entertaining stuff, and
a fitting conclusion to this small masterpiece
– surely one of the outstanding 20th
century symphonies.
The First Symphony
is more of an apprentice work, having
been composed when Weill was still in
his early twenties and yet to complete
his studies. Nevertheless, its one-movement
plan is handled well by the young composer,
and great structural impact is made
by recurrences of the massive dissonant
chords heard in the opening bars. What
I found most fascinating to hear was
the widely varying stylistic character
of the music, from an atonality that
brings it close to Schönberg and
Berg, to an unbridled lyricism that
foreshadows the later stage music -
e.g. the great melody at track 4 10:05.
The work may be too eclectic for its
own good, but what an achievement for
a twenty-one year old!
After all this rigour,
the sweeping melodies and catchy rhythms
of Lady in the Dark come as pure
delight, though there is no sense of
the composer ‘writing down’ here. Bennett’s
orchestration is just fabulous, and
Marin and her players do it full justice.
This whole CD, superbly
performed and recorded, is typical of
Naxos at its very best – a very special
issue.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
see also review
by Kevin Sutton
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop
