Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Die Dreigroschenoper (1928; suite arr. Max Schönherr, 1949)
Die sieben Todsünden (1933)
Suite panaméenne (1934)
September Song, from Knickerbocker Holiday (1938)
Surabaya-Johnny, from Happy End (1929)
Serena Wey (soprano), Martin Müller (tenor), Basel Sinfonietta/Mark Fitz-Gerald
rec. 1991/1993, Stadtcasino, Basel, Switzerland
First Hand Records FHR140 [66]
During the 1990s Kurt Weill had one of his periodic revivals. The Capriccio label recorded a valuable series of his German theatre works and there were contributions from others as well. This recording dates from that time, and provides a representative sample of the European side of his career, with one American work.
Die Dreigroschenoper (the threepenny opera, a free adaptation of John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera) remains his best-known work. Here we have an orchestral suite from it, consisting of six numbers. These were assembled by the conductor Max Schönherr and scored for full orchestra rather than the theatre band for which Weill originally wrote. He did this in 1949, according to the Kurt Weill Foundation, and it was published in 1950, not 1956 as noted on the sleeve here. Weill gave his rather grudging approval. It should not be confused with the better-known Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, which was arranged by Weill himself for a slightly different ensemble from that of the opera itself. The contents here are also different, dropping three numbers and adding Polly’s song. This orchestral suite is a real rarity and it is played with verve, though actually the Kleine Dreigroschenmusik is to be preferred.
Die sieben Todsünden (the seven deadly sins) is, I think, Weill’s finest work. It is a ballet with songs, which dramatises the adventures of two sisters, Anna I, a singer, and Anna II, a dancer, as they work their way through the seven deadly sins with the aim of earning enough to establish themselves in a little house. The work has all the bite of Weill’s best work, plus good tunes and a haunting sense of melancholy. Weill originally wrote the part of Anna I for high voice, but in the 1950s Lotte Lenya, his widow, recorded it unforgettably in a downwards transposed version, and this is what Serena Way uses here. I have to say that she is somewhat overparted in this extremely tricky work, and resorts occasionally to Sprechstimme and, in the finale, to unpitched shouting. The orchestra and the small group of male singers representing the family are fine.
The Suite panaméenne from the incidental music to Marie Galante is a real rarity, though some songs from that work have become well-known. In the play, by Jacques Deval, based on his novel of the same name, Marie is forced into prostitution, wants to return to France but is murdered when about to do so. The suite of four instrumental numbers uses popular dance forms, but the music is weak, largely echoing earlier and better works. The orchestra do what they can with it.
Finally we have two songs. September Song is probably the best-known song from Weill’s American period, but is here sung in German by Martin Müller, competently but unremarkably. The haunting and tragic Surabaya-Johnny is sung by Serena Wey, who exhibits the same weaknesses as she did in Die sieben Todsünden.
These seem to be the only currently available versions of the suite from Die Dreigroschenoper and the Suite panaméenne. However, the first is not actually arranged by Weill and the second is hackwork. Only Weill completists will want these. As for Die sieben Todsünden, Lenya’s own recording is hors concours or, if you want the low voice version in a more recent recording, there is Gisela May. If you would rather hear it in the original high voice version there are Brigitte Fassbaender and Anne Sofie von Otter. Any of these is preferable to Serena Wey. I am rather surprised that this recording was thought worth reissuing.
Stephen Barber
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