that's right, it's a kurt weill appreciation post baby!
earlier this week, i finally went to see the threepenny opera (die dreigroschenoper) at berliner ensemble after finding out about it last year. the reason i wanted to see it (and on top of it, in berlin) felt so obvious but when the person i went to the theatre with asked me why i wanted to see it, my immediate answer was that i'm interested in kurt weill. i'm also interested in the play itself and bertolt brecht for sure but somehow i could channel into my honest mind and realised it's actually kurt weill that i wanted to witness.
here the first song is speak low from the film one touch of venus (1948), i don't know who's actually singing here because i've never seen this film and they often dubbed actors singing back then but i can't be sure and i know that these things are kinda hard to research. so i'm not doing that rn. (but based on the description, maybe it's performed by eileen wilson and dick haymes? not ava gardner herself?). this version is such a sweet sounding musical number fit for overtly sweet and romantic scene and it's kinda nice. sometimes, you gotta really appreciate strings like this because it works and the voices (especially the female voice) just hits the right notes in the right way to make it dreamy.
the version i initially think of is by anita o'day but she was a cool jazz singer so nobody would ever do overtly romantic arrangements for her vocals (thankfully) and that's kind of not what i was looking for today for the first video. it's cool tho.
back to the threepenny opera (1928) it's got a pretty strong opening
it sounds so rough, harsh and dark, amoral and there's a hint of cheap creativity.
i digress but the soundscape reminded me of my all-time favourite rendition of the cold song/what power art thou by voce8. apparently this technique where they hold the bows reversed and close to the bridge is called ponticello.
back to the threepenny opera. here's mack the knife by ella fitzgerald. it's pretty fascinating how kurt weill composed one of the most iocnic jazz standard number.
here's the cannon song/army song by the fowler brothers & stan rigway
and here's what keeps mankind alive by tom waits. this makes me want more kurt weill by tom waits because it feels like a perfect collaboration. but maybe it's this song that fits him so really well. whoever came up with this (could be tom waits) knows what's up.
this is not a kurt weill song but what keeps mankind alive reminds me of rosen auf den gestreut/embrace the fascists by kurt tucholsky and hanns eisler.
here's a version with english lyrics by daniel kahn who's apparently a jewish american individual based in berlin.
anyway, i feel like there's some kind of similarities based on the time and sentiment (and also brecht as hanns eisler also worked with him)
the threepenny opera by berliner ensemble was an interesting one because i think they did it in a right direction because there was a hint of modern day berlin and berlin in the 1920s (although the story takes place in london which feels more like an abstract idea of victorian london and more of a fantasy) the fourth wall kept being broken but macheath's affairs felt effective? and it worked because it was theatre? also, pretty fun set design which kept revealing the depth as the story progressed.
i want to get back to work so i'll end this entry with another song from the threepenny opera, pirate jenny performed by lotte lenya. jenny is a good character but this song is not about her.
ok i guess it's time to quit procrastinating.
