Lotte Lenya/ Kurt Weill – The Seven Deadly Sins

I posted one Brecht/Weill work before but I have never posted anything by Lotte Lenya, I believe.  Well, what better time to correct this than Anniversary April. This was $5.00.

Lotte Lenya, born in Vienna in 1898, was to Kurt Weill’s music what Dionne Warwick was to Burt Bacharach’s.  Plus Lenya and Weill were married twice.  Lenya first gained fame with Bertolt Brecht’s/Weill’s Three Penny Opera. From there she performed Weill’s work on stage across the world as well as on records. As with many performers at the time, she emigrated to New York to flee pre-WWII aggression.

 

In her later life, Lenya worked on film as well as Broadway.  Lenya would die in 1981 of cancer.  She is buried in New York, next to Weill.  Throughout her life, Lenya was quite faithful to her husband’s work, performing and promoting his pieces until the end.

Kurt Weill began work on The Seven Deadly Sins in 1933 after fleeing Germany and the rising National Socialist Party.  After landing in Paris as a refugee, he received a commission to compose a ballet.  The work was commissioned by a wealthy Englishman, Edward James.

James’ wife, Tily Losch was a ballerina and had a striking resemblance to Lenya.  Therefore, as it was just assumed that Weill would write the lead role for Lenya, James demanded his wife be given the role as Lenya’s dancing doppleganger.  Therefore, the split personality motif was in place before Weill gave the work to Brecht to write the libretto.

The work, known as a Ballet with Song, opened the same year in France and despite being  set in America and sung in German, was actually well received (EDITOR”S NOTE: Inital reviews were actually mixed.  And in terms of James bankrolling the production to win back favor with his wife, that failed as well).  The piece tells the story of two American sisters (or perhaps the same sister) who leave their home in Louisiana to gain fortune in the big cities of the US.  Along the way, they came face to face with the seven deadly sins, each in a different city.  Lenya took the main singing role of Anna I, while Losch was the main dancer as Anna II. Their family is sung by a male quartet which functions as a Greek chorus.   Incidentally, after France, the work opened at the Savoy in London as Anna-Anna.  Lenya revived the work in the 50’s and it has enjoyed a few major production ever since.  This piece of work, however, would mark the last collaboration between Brecht and Weill.

As far as the album goes, without a translation and with never seeing the work, I still found it quite enjoyable.  The singing and music are top notch.  I liked it but would probably like to see the performance live at some point.

For a sample, I went with “Zorn (Anger)”.  It this point in the production, the girls are in Los Angeles.  Anna I has a job in the circus when a horse she is riding starts bucking.  As the ringmaster whips the horse, Anna II becomes overwhelmed by anger, grabs the whip from the ringmaster, and begins to whip him.  Anna I reminds her sister that she must tolerate such brutality if they are to get ahead in life.  Anyway, I liked this song the best from the album.

Satisfactory record.  Will try to see a production of this if it ever comes my way.

New York Shakespeare Festival Cast- Three Penny Opera

DSCN4664 (800x787)A friend of mine who used to work at Half Price Books knew this was a good record and recommended it to me.  Before hearing this, my only point of reference on Brecht’s Three Penny Opera was a cast recording from the 50’s featuring Kurt Weil’s wife Lotta Leyna who also performed in the original. 2884123_1399136425

Threepenny Opera, written by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill, is a play with music and part of Brecht’s “epic theater”.  Adapted from John Gay’s 18th century Beggar’s Opera, Brecht tells the story of Macheath, one of the 20th century’s earliest anti-heroes, through a socialist perspective of capitalism.  Performed in Germany in 1928, it has been translated and performed throughout the world and is one of Brecht’s most popular works.DSCN4666 (800x795)

 

The first US production was in 1933 at the Empire Theater on Broadway.  Running two weeks at 12 performances, it was a disappointment.  Neither Weill or Brecht were involved in rehearsals. An off-Broadway version in 1955, translated by Marc Blitzstein and staring Weill’s widow Lotta Lenya as Low Dive Jenny, was a massive success, running 6-1/2 years and 2707 shows.  At the time, it beat out Oklahoma for consecutive performance of a musical. The album mentioned in the first paragraph was taken from this run.  In contrast, this album was taken from the next major US production, 1976’s New York Shakespeare Festival’ adaption, translated by Ralph Manheimm and John Willet.  It has been described as a “milestone in American Theater”. Some critics,however,  including Lenya were less enthused with the final result.  The production ran for 9 months and 307 performances.

Perhaps the most famous song from the play is the opening “Die Moritat” or simply “Mack the Knife”.  Oddly enough, this song was written as an after thought on the fly when the actor playing Macheath, Harald Paulsen, demanded an introductory song for his character.  It has become a jazz/pop  standard in the US thanks in part to Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin.   When Armstrong recorded his version, Lotta Lenya was present in the studio.  Armstrong added her name to the song when  listing floozies in Macheath’s stable.  It should be noted though that traditionally, the song sounds more like the version below, which is done by Roger Daltery of the Who.

Webpage on all things Threepenny Opera

The second most famous song from the production would be “Seeraberjenny” or “Pirate Jenny”.  It is a revenge fantasy song sung by Low Dive Jenny in which she plots the overthrow of the customers who look down on her.  Lenya performed excellent versions of this song both in German and in English.  My favorite version of this song, however, was down by Nina Simone.

This album’s production made a star out of Raul Julia, who played Macheath.  It also starred Ellen Greene, of Little Shop of Horrors fame. Below is a clip of Julia in a 1989 movie adaptation that sticks closer to the Blitzstein version.  I should have noted this but this is also where the Daltrey clip comes from.

The translation on this album is the real star in my mind.  Whereas Blitzstein softened up the text for 1950’s America, this version is more gritty and more true to Brecht’s original vision. It also has mild profanity.  I know that is cheap thrills but I like it.  My favorite song on the album has to be “Jealousy Duet”, which is shown below in the 1950’s version as a point of comparison.  Note that this features Future Golden Girl, Bea Arthur.

For samples, I went with what I felt showcased the difference between the two translations.  First off is “The Cannon Song” also known as “The Army Song”.  It is a song between Macheath and his old army buddy Tiger Brown, who is now chief of police. I greatly prefer this version to the one shown above.  Also as a sample, I went with “Jealousy Duet” which is my favorite song on the album.  It is sung by Polly and Lucy outside Macheath’s cell. Again, compare the MP3 to the video clip above and tell me otherwise.  Please note that this MP3 does have mild profanity.  Finally, I went with “Ballad of Gracious Living” to showcase Julia’s talent.DSCN4665 (800x797)

This is a top rated album. I should give credit to the other performers on the MP3’s.  Tiger Brown is played by David Sabin.  Polly is played by Caroline Kava.  Lucy is played by Blair Brown.