Kurt Weill - Die Sieben Todsünden; etc. (Gisela May)

Information

Composer: Kurt Weill

1. Die Sieben Todsünden: Prolog. Andante sostenuto
2. Die Sieben Todsünden: Faulheit. Allegro vivace
3. Die Sieben Todsünden: Stolz. Allegretto, quasi Andantino
4. Die Sieben Todsünden: Zorn. Molto agitato
5. Die Sieben Todsünden: Völlerei. Largo
6. Die Sieben Todsünden: Unzucht. Moderato
7. Die Sieben Todsünden: Habsucht. Allgero giusto
8. Die Sieben Todsünden: Neid. Allegro non troppo
9. Die Sieben Todsünden: Epilog. Andante sostenuto
10. Berliner Requiem: Vom ertrunkenen Mädchen
11. Happy End: Surabaya Johnny
12. Happy End: Bilbao-Song
13. Happy End: Was die Herren Matrosen sagen
14. Happy End: Ballade von der Höllen-Lili
15. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny: Havanna-Song
16. Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny: Wie man sich bettet, so liegt man
17. Die Dreigroschenoper: Barbara-Song
18. Die Dreigroschenoper: Song von der sexuellen Hörigkeit
19. Die Dreigroschenoper: Seeräuber-Jenny
20. Berliner Requiem: Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen

Gisela May, soprano

Peter Schreier & Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, tenors

Günther Leib, baritone

Hermann Christian Polster, bass

Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra

Herbert Kegel, conductor

Studio-Orchester

Henry Krtschil & Heinz Rögner, conductors

Date: 1966; 1968; 1965 / 2015

Label: Brilliant

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Review

A short while ago I listened to the DVD release of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2007), the performance with Patty Lupone and Audra McDonald. It had won two Emmys and features elaborate sets, polished singing, highly stylized acting, and peppy dance numbers. It was performed in operetta style, like another musical Lupone was in: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. But what it did not have was grit. Irony. That decadent Weimar aura.

It did not have Gisela May.

In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that they got it all wrong, despite those shiny American awards. May, on the other hand, does get it right, with a classic cabaret style that would have made Brecht & Weill proud. You can almost smell the cigar smoke. In every piece, she belts out the famous songs from their four most notable collaborations, and in one case, performs the entire book. (Die Sieben Todsünden). From the moment audiences hear the languid woodwind opening, they may never doubt they are experiencing work by a master. The pieces are even sung ragged at times. The second one, “Faulheit” (“Sloth”) is performed call-and-response style, with Peter Schreier’s bold voice answered by a quavering male chorus in the background. May’s portamento is spot-on in “Stolz” (“Pride’), imparting a louche sheen to all her plaints. The fifty-year old recording isn’t perfect and the male chorus is miked a little lopsidedly. But when the singing is most effective, it plunks May into a high-contrast audio spotlight.

The Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Leipzig is tough and tight at all times. They adapt to the challenges of these works with spirit and imagination; for example, they hone in on the two quite different songs from Eisler’s Berliner Requiem (text also by Brecht) and tackle their idiosyncrasies.  The chorus in the first is so subtle it works like sympathetic strings on a viola d’amore. Listen to May’s chilling last notes on this one. Of the final nine cuts, the most notable are “Surabaya Johnny” (from Happy End) and “Seerauber-Jenny” (“Pirate Jenny” from Die Dreigroschenoper).  I also think that her two renditions from  The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny outdo Lupone’s. By far.

I would have given this disc five stars for the redoubtable Gisela May, the best interpreter of Weill/Brecht since Lotte Lenya. But alas, the booklet disappoints. Its text is poorly written, it has no libretto, and worst of all, no pictures! It is a minor flaw though, easily resolved by a two-minute search on the web.

— Peter Bates

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Kurt Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer. He showed early musical talent and received formal training in Berlin, studying under teachers including Engelbert Humperdinck and Ferruccio Busoni. Weill rose to prominence in Germany through collaborations with playwrights like Georg Kaiser and especially Bertolt Brecht, with whom he created The Threepenny Opera (1928). However, as a Jewish composer, his career in Germany was cut short by the rise of the Nazi regime. Fleeing to the U.S. in 1935, Weill became a key figure on Broadway, collaborating with top American writers.

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Gisela May (31 May 1924 – 2 December 2016) was a German actress and singer. Trained in Leipzig, she built her early career in regional theatres before joining Berlin's Deutsches Theater in 1951. In 1962, she became a leading member of the Berliner Ensemble, where she performed for three decades in major roles such as Mother Courage and Mrs. Peachum. May also gained recognition for musical performances, including Hello, Dolly!, and for international concert appearances. She has recorded extensively and has won numerous prizes and awards, including election to the East German Academy of the Arts.

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