Customer Reviews

Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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!

I have the Lotte Lenya/Sony recording from the 1970s on CD. The present version IMHO is an overall sonic and performance improvement over that original. The tempos are brisk, but never too fast. The orchestra is recorded close and clear, but never too close to overpower the singers. (In the Lotte recording, the tempos seemed a bit too relaxed, and the rhythm section sounded murky and formless--probably the work was recorded live in a large echo-y performance hall or studio.)

What keeps me from rating this performance 5 stars lie in the area of overall aesthetic intention. Although I hearily enjoyed this performance, I am haunted by the prospect of radically objectivist customers condemning the recording on the grounds that Brecht and Weill didn't intend to generate a "realistic" (therefore, illusionist) portrayal of these ruthless characters. It is obvious, that this performance relishes in dramatic/realistic vocalises and in some cases (especially, in the Wedding Song) seem to joyfully engage in some character editorializing, hardly adhering the prevailing practice of letting the words and the irony speak for itself. By the end of the opera, one can almost "feel" MacHeath's feigned regret and obvious rage during his trial and conviction ('Blasphemy! ' I hear the purists).

Personally, I admire the general pseudo-realism (and I am currently looking for a good English version of this fine work), but all in all, the licenses taken by Gruber, Hagen, et al. may be somewhat offensive to the average objectivist Brecht/early Weill syncophant.

First of all I'd like to comment on Dan Davis' remark about Nina Hagen. Calling her a 'punk rocker' is like calling Cher a 'TV star'. With a recording career spanning nearly 30 years to date, Nina has given us so much incredible music of many genres (yes, including some punk rock back in the 80's). She is a versatile, unpredictable, and brilliant performer. With that said, she is the reason I bought Weill: Threepenny Opera. I very much enjoy this CD. It is a very interesting piece of work. If you enjoy theatrical music and are open minded, then this is something you should buy.

I enjoyed this RCA recording (with one major exeption) until I heard the Decca Mauceri recording. It is a straightforward performance of the new Weill edition with the Lucy's aria appended at the end of the recording. One can understand why it was omitted from the original production. But it is nice to have. Most of the performers are well up to the task and enjoyable, if not inspiring. However, Hagen's Frau Peachum is so horrible I must conclude that her vocal production was an artistic (or inartistic) choice for the purpose of characterization. While Frau Peachum is not an admirable character she is not a monster. Hagen's throaty, abrasive screeching (I would prefer Alice Cooper) of this music does herself, the character, and the music nothing but disgrace. This character has some of the best music in the work and is intended for a low contralto who has to struggle for the upper notes. For a correct rendition listen to Helga Dernesh in the Mauceri recording. The discomfort is built into the music, but Hagen's rendition is only unlistenable. I don't listen to this otherwise enjoyable recording very often, because I anticipate the pain that is inflicted by this artistic mistake. The best description is vocal regurgitation. For completeness, quality of performance, and scholarly attention to detail of the new Weill edition, buy the Mauceri on Decca. That performance is truly difinitive. Gruber's RCA recording gives very little more except more dialog and takes two CD's. The Mauceri has all of the music plus one more musical inclusion (a reprise of Seerauber Jenny by the superb Milva as Jenny in Act 2 in addition to Lemper's equally superb but different Polly rendition in Act 1) as well as limited but sufficient dialog and on only one CD: a bargain as well as a subtle, musical and nuanced performance.

An overall excellent production of Threepenny with the inimitable Max Raabe as Mackie Messer. The other performers also good. Nina Hagen was a bit difficult to take, but I do get her approach and it was brave.

Weill and Brecht should be proud that artists still mine this 80 year old work for inspiration; and like all great works, there is no definitive version.

I long ago directed a very successful production of "Threepenny" and have kept abreast of the various recordings, this is of large interest because of it's truth to Weill's original orchestrations which still work beautifully. The orchestral reprises are also here, which I could have certainly used when I directed the piece.
The casting is largely very good. No one will ever replace Lenya, whether you listen to her early recordings or the seminal Columbia issue (criminally out of print - what is Sony doing?). This is the best recording of the orchestral score. Nina Hagen who I admire in her own work isn't right here (Trude Hesterberg, who played it early and recorded with Lenya hangs over her performance). Everyone else works and sounds like they would on stage.
Someday someone is going to record everything that is in the score with an adept band and an apt cast. Until then this is the best version that won't cost you a fortune. If they had cast Mrs. Peachum right and resisted a small cut or two here or there, this would have been it. But "Threepenny" won't allow a definitive edition. Brecht was rewriting it again when he died. If he was alive he'd be rewriting it now with some sly reference to computer vote fraud.