Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera [Import]

Kurt Weill (Composer), Wolfgang Stryi (Performer), Jorgen Ruck (Performer), Noriko Shimada (Performer), Eva Bocker (Performer), Roland Diry (Performer), Thorsten Johanns (Performer), Nina Hagen (Performer), Thomas Fichter (Performer), Ensemble Modern (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Wolfgang Stryi, Jorgen Ruck, Noriko Shimada, Eva Bocker, Roland Diry, et al.
• Composer: Kurt Weill
• Audio CD (October 11, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: RCA Victor Europe
• ASIN: B00001R3MQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,724 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #97 in Music > Imports > Opera & Vocal

Track Listings

1. The Threepenny Opera: Prologue: Overture

2. The Threepenny Opera: Prologue: The Ballad Of Mac The Knife

3. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: Peachum's Morning Hymn

4. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: The 'No They Can't' Song

5. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: Wedding Song

6. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: Pirate Jenny

7. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: The Cannon Song

8. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: Love Song

9. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: Barbara-Song

10. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: Dialogue

11. The Threepenny Opera: Act One: First Threepenny Finale

12. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Melodram

13. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Polly's Song

14. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: The Ballad Of Sexual Obsession

15. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Ballad Of Immortal Earnings

16. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Pirate Jenny

17. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Ballad Of Good Living

18. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Jealousy Duet

19. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Lucy's Aria

20. The Threepenny Opera: Act Two: Dialogue

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Threepenny Opera is Kurt Weill's most popular work. Its signature song, "Mack the Knife," is a cultural artifact, sung and played in virtually all musical genres. Many of us are permanently imprinted with Lotte Lenya's Sony recording of the opera, so redolent of the decadent, world-weary spirit of the Weimar Republic. This new recording misses some of that spirit but has other, compensating virtues. One is the restoration of the original score in the new Kurt Weill Edition that uses the original instrumentation, adds or deletes numbers, and includes Bertolt Brecht's plot summaries prepared for a 1940 concert version. Other pluses include Max Raabe's oddly sympathetic Macheath and H.K. Gruber's Mr. Peachum, both well-sung characterizations, and Ensemble Modern's virtuoso performance, full of drive and enthusiasm. The sound is wide-ranging and impactful. With one exception, the rest of the cast ranges from good to acceptable. But punk rocker Nina Hagen's Mrs. Peachum is truly awful, with cackles and shrieks galore--a monumental piece of miscasting. So while this recording cannot displace the Lenya version, it's a welcome supplement, adding new dimensions to a familiar and beloved work. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly decadent..., March 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera (Audio CD)

Actually--and contrary to the reviewer above--I found this a throrougly decadent version of this seminal work. It is also sonically, aesthetically, and textually superior to the Decca and Sony versions. As to Ms. Hagen, obviously she is not every listeners cup of tea. I very much liked her performance as well as that of the other cast members. In short, this is the finest version of the "opera" presently available.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Weill, January 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera (Audio CD)

Ignore the reviewers who find fault with Nina Hagen's Mrs. Peachum, this is a perfectly balanced cast & a beautiful recording, much closer to Brecht's & Weill's aesthetics (and political intent,) than the "classical" appropriations that some of these folks seem to prefer. Perhaps the real meaning of this masterpiece grates a little on their comfy caste dependent nerves! This recording is just as it should be. Bravo, Ms. Hagen!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the Kurt Weill edition!, July 20, 2000

By 

Sean "jjpeachum" (LOOK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera (Audio CD)

This recording is of the definitive version of THE THREEPENNY OPERA, the masterpiece of the musical theatre, the antiscendant of the modern book musical. The Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt gives a refreshing orchestral performance, and a lot of what they do is very revealing to the original intentions of Weill's music. As for performances . . . Max Raabe has a very refreshing tenor voice, and -- oddly enough -- he is assigned the "Moritat von Mackie Messer" to sing, but he sings it well, so all is forgiven. Everyone criticsizes Nina Hagen's singing on this album, but really, was Brecht known for casting good singers in his shows? No, he looked for strong actors and exciting performers, and Ms. Hagen is definately one of those. H.K. "Nali" Gruber is just about the only performer that I can recognize as being brilliant. He is just as brilliant here as he is on the RCA release of Weill's DER SILBERSEE. And given the fact that he also had to tackle conducting the Ensemble Modern, we known that this one multi-talented individual. Polly is also very talented. The one performer that I have a problem with on this recording is the actress playing Spelunken-Jenny. She seems unsure of herself in her singing, and her voice wobbles and crackles. Obviously, no great singer is needed to play Jenny (i.e., Lotte Lenya and the actress from the 1994 Donmar Warehouse production), but their performance skills or acting always make up for this. But as this is just a recording, this Jenny leaves me cold (but maybe that is okay -- Brecht is not the type to leave you with a warm, runny feeling inside after you leave the theatre). One thing that irritates me: With all of this stage music that is included, and since this recording is on two discs, it really irritates me that the third verse of the "Ballade von der Sexuellen Hoerigkeit" was omitted. They obviously had enough room, as the second disc clocks in at just about thirty minutes. Maybe if they hadn't sung the "Hochzeitlied" three or four times we would have been able to hear the third verse. And Peachum's narration to the "Galgen vom Gallows" is missing. However, everything else is there, and it is stupendous. This recording is a must to own, but to me, so is every other recording of THE THREEPENNY OPERA that's available!