WEILL : MAHAGONNY

KURT WEILL: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny
Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 12th of June 2011 at 3.03 - 5.20 pm

WEILL: Rise & Fall of the City of Mahagonny,
an opera in three acts
Leocadia Begbick......... Jane Henschel
Trinity Moses................ Willard White
Fatty the Bookkeeper.... Donald Kasch
Jimmy Mahoney............ Christopher Ventris
Moneybags Billy............ Otto Katzameier
Jacob Schmidt............... John Easterlin
Alaskawolfe Joe............ Steven Humes
Jenny Smith................... Elzbieta Szmytka
Toby Higgins................. John Easterlin
Teatro Real Chorus, Madrid SO/Pablo Heras-Casado
(recorded in the Teatro Real, Madrid by Spanish Radio)

INTRODUCTION
COMPOSER  
REVIEW 
VIDEO

Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950) was a genuine Jewish German from Dessau, who studied musical composition in Berlin with Humperdinck and Busoni. He was twice married to the singer Lotte Lenya (like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor), in 1926 (-1933) and 1937. For obvious reasons he left his homeland in 1933, and settled in the land of the free. Two of his notable operas were produced with the collaboration of Bertolt Brecht: Die Dreigroschenoper, or The Threepenny Opera (based on The Beggar's Opera) with Macheath known as Mackie Messer (Mack the Knife); and Mahagonny.

Mahagonny is the typical Sin City. There are 20 scenes in the three acts of this satirical opera (the satire is directed against opera), and a summary of each scene is available under INTRODUCTION (Wikipedia) above.