Weill - Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera)

Facts

Studio	CBS
Release Date	January 1, 1982
UPC Code	074644263725

Tracks

1. Die Dreigroschenoper: Overture - 'You Are About To Hear An Opera For Beggars'
2. Die Dreigroschenoper: Act I : The Ballad Of Mack The Knife - 'First You Will Hear A Penny-Dreadful Ballad About The Bandit Macheath'
3. Die Dreigroschenoper: Mr. Peachum's Morning Hymn - 'Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum Has Opened A Store'
4. Die Dreigroschenoper: Instead-Of Song - 'Polly Peachum Hasn't Come Home'
5. Die Dreigroschenoper: Wedding Song For Poor People - 'Deep In The Heart Of Soho'
6. Die Dreigroschenoper: Cannon Song - 'In Reminiscence Of The Time They Spent Together In Their Youth'
7. Die Dreigroschenoper: Love Song - 'Do you See The Moon Over Soho'
8. Die Dreigroschenoper: the Song OF No And Yes (Barbara Song) - 'By Means Of A Little Ditty'
9. Die Dreigroschenoper: The Uncertainty Of Human Conditions - 'Mr. And Mrs. Peachum Advise Their Daughter'
10. Die Dreigroschenoper: Act II : The Stable - 'Mackie has To Flee'
11. Die Dreigroschenoper: Polly's Farewell Song - 'He Will Never Return'
12. Die Dreigroschenoper: Intermezzo - ;All Right, Now, If You Should See Mack The Knife'
13. Die Dreigroschenoper: The Ballad Of Sexual Dependency - 'There's A Man Who Is Very Satan'
14. Die Dreigroschenoper: Pirate-Jenny Or Dreams Of A Kitchen Maid - ' Song OF A Little Barmaid
15. Die Dreigroschenoper: The Procurer's Ballad - 'Macheath And Jenny The Whore'
16. Die Dreigroschenoper: the Ballad Of Pleasant Living - 'Gentlemen, You Be The Judges'
17. Die Dreigroschenoper: The Jealousy Duet - 'The First Clouds In The Skies'
18. Die Dreigroschenoper: Fight About The Property - 'Jealousy, Rage, Love And Fear'
19. Die Dreigroschenoper: Ballad About The Question : 'What Keeps A Man Alive?' - 'You Gentlemen, Who Teach Us'
20. Die Dreigroschenoper: Act III : The Song About Inadequacy - 'What On Earth Is That?'
21. Die Dreigroschenoper: Song Of Solomon - 'You Saw Sagacious Solomon'
22. Die Dreigroschenoper: Call From The Grave - 'The Whores Have Betrayed Macheath'
23. Die Dreigroschenoper: Ballad In Which Macheath Asks Everyone For Forgiveness - 'Fellow Citizens, Herewith I Take Leave Of You'
24. Die Dreigroschenoper: The Riding Messenger - 'Esteemed Public, We're At That Point'
25. Die Dreigroschenoper: Threepenny Finale - 'Do Not Prosecute Too Much Transgression'
26. Die Dreigroschenoper: The Final Verse Of The Ballad - 'And Now At This Happy Ending'

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User Reviews

In Vino Veritas

Fancy gloves has Macheath, dear, so there's never a trace of red...... A totally great recording!! December 29, 2007

One of the Crowning Achievements of Recording Art

For those who have not found a copy of this now difficult to find CD of an early recording of Kurt Weill's DIE DREIGROSHENOPER with the finest cast ever assembled for the work, take advantage of Amazon's search machine and add this gold standard recording to your permanent collection post haste! This is one of those rare recordings that withstands time and scientific advances in recording techniques and remains absolutely perfect.

Weill's exquisite score for pit band and small ensemble is here recreated under Lotte Lenya's supervision, the original Jenny and who recreates her role in this performance. The ensemble is under the careful conducting of Wilhelm Bruckner-Ruggeberg with the Sender Freies Berlin Orchestra. The lead roles are all impeccably performed by Wolfgang Neuss (Moritatensanger), Erich Schellow (Macheath), Trude Hesterburg (Frau Peachum), Willy Trenk-Trebitsch (Herr Peachum), Joanna von Koczian (Polly Peachum) and of course Lotte Lenya (Jenny).

The recording is bright and witty and wily and wonderful, surely the finest ever made, and thankfully it is sung in the idiomatic German in which it was composed. The only lacking feature is a libretto with the CD but there are so many copies of this important work available that surely most listeners will have a copy on their shelves. This is a must for lovers of opera, of 20th century music, and of theater. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 24, 2006

A lotta Lenya

A classic that you must own and a true testament to the genius of the 20th century's most important work for the musical theater. November 10, 2001

The Ultimate Threepenny Opera

Kurt Weill was once quoted as saying "there are only two kinds of music - good music and bad music". This is great music whipped into a frenzy - the Threepenny Opera as true opera and not as a musical play. The casting is superb, a direct reflection of Lotte Lenya's musical supervision of the project. It is one of the few complete recordings of the work, including both the "Jealousy Duet", often omitted because of the vocal demands placed on the performers, and the Ballad of Sexual Dependency, usually omitted because of its frank content.

Lotte Lenya steals the show. Pirate Jenny has an almost maniacal lilt in the final verse. The Tango Ballade hits its full stride only after Lenya's voice takes over the lead. Her delivery of, perhaps, Brecht's most famous line; "erst kommt das fressen, dann kommt die moral" in the Ballad "What Keeps Mankind Alive" is as authoritative as Brecht could ever hope it to be. Lenya's exploitation of the musical interval of a tritone at "Rocke heben" adds a lifetime of experience and conviction to the work.

Not to be overlooked is the excellent musical direction of Wilhelm Bruckner-Ruggeberg of the musicians and singers. Trude Hesterburg as Frau Peachum delivers a delightful performance of the Ballad of Sexual Dependency, and the Peachum family triumphs in the finale to Act I, the Uncertainty of Human Conditions. A true virtuoso performance all around.

Kurt Weill suceeded beyond his wildest dreams - he truly was the poor man's Verdi. October 26, 2001

Hervorragend!

I first listened to this recording on an LP of my parents' from the 1960s. The work was created by not one but two greats: Brecht and Weill, while Lotte Lenya worked closely with Brecht during his career.

It really does sound as if it was recorded a long time ago, but somehow you don't want this opera to be 'smooth'. It also really sounds much better in German than in English. It has won over certain friends of mine who usually don't listen to [good] music of any sort. It manages to sound simultaneously (1) as if it was recorded in a church hall by a cast of chain-smokers (2) spot-on, tight, and flawlessly performed, which is not easy with Weill when he messes around with strange harmonies.

If there's one language in which it sounds even rougher and better than German, it's [mandarin] Chinese. Nearly two years ago I had the privilege of seeing this work performed, for the first time in my life. It was done by Beijing Youth Theatre as part of a festival in Hong Kong, directed by Chen Yong, a real veteran director. Not only did it relate perfectly to a lot of things in mainland China, but it was also performed by people who really knew what they were doing. September 5, 2000

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