Weill;Kurt Rise and Fall O/T C [Import]

Mahagonny is more-or-less an opera - Weill intended it as such, but with the cabaret-style numbers it can also be seen as musical theater. To modern viewers (well, me, at any rate) its construction initially seems unsatisfactory: the first half-hour is very bitty, more a series of tableaux than anything, and scenes are announced over a loudspeaker (every time we cut to it, I expected it to go "The white zone is for loading and unloading only..."). This is all very distancing for the viewer, but that's the whole point - as James Conlon explains in the useful 20-minute interview, we are expected to be intellectually but not emotionally engaged. In fact, though, with a performance as good as Anthony Dean Griffey's as the unfortunate Jimmy and with the orchestra on top form, it's hard not to get caught up as the story unfolds, and Weill knew exactly what he was doing - musically, it all comes together superbly. The plot? Mahagonny is founded as a haven of "contentment" for men, but rules of good behavior bring boredom and, in the face of destruction from a hurricane, the rule is changed to "everything is permitted" (accompanied in this production by explicit reference to Nazi Germany). Mahagonny prospers, but Jimmy McIntyre commits the ultimate crime of not being able to pay; the end is remarkably bleak in its view of society: "there's nothing you can do for a dead man". The production is well designed, and clever in its gradual transformation to modern times, reminding us that although Brecht's particular form of anti-capitalist art may seem a little old-fashioned it still is of relevance. Of course if you're coming to this DVD as a lover of musicals rather than opera, the big draws will be Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald; both are excellent - in as much as you can get to the heart of a character who might not have one, McDonald manages it.

This 2007 LA Opera production of Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht's 1931 Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny gets a fine musical performance (led by James Conlon), but the stage production falls short and is often frustratingly stagnant. Many numbers are given with the performers seated on stage (a particular peeve of mine I'll admit) or standing in a line across the stage facing the audience, often without interaction between the characters. In one scene two characters reminisce about their friendship. The music suggests intimacy yet the singers not only don't address each other but are also many feet apart on stage with the chorus standing between them.

In a work that straddles the worlds of opera and musical theater, it's not surprising that the strongest and most fully rounded performances come from the two Broadway stars in the cast. Audra McDonald in particular throws herself into the part of Jenny, the leader of Mahagonny's prostitutes, giving a provocative performance that a star of her stature could easily have avoided. Her singing, which I've often found too overpowering for her material, here fits nicely. Patti LuPone also does well as Leocadia Begbick, one of the band of fugitives who found the city providing recreation and entertainment for gold miners out in the middle of nowhere ("It's easier getting gold out of men then out of rivers" she says). Overall the rest of the cast sings well, but delivers spoken dialogue stiffly.

As I've said, the musical performance is first rate. Weill's score lies somewhere between Stravinsky and Gershwin, always tuneful, yet rhythmically active and harmonically pungent. Conlon delivers this in the present tense, without making it sound like a retro-recreation of Weimar Republic era sounds. My only criticism is that the chorus is sometimes unintelligible which, combined with the lack of English subtitles, can make the plot a bit hard to follow at times. Otherwise, considering the short supply of available recordings of this work (especially in English) I would recommend it to listen to with the video turned off.

The LA Opera production of "Mahagony" is nothing less than thrilling. Weill's great score is rendered powerfully and idiomatically and the cast is excellent, especially Audra McDonald, Patti Lupone and Anthony Griffey as Jimmy. The production was faithful to Brecht's epic theater principles, including the presentational style of acting. This is not realism, so it shouldn't be judged as if it were. And though the tone is ironic and satiric, that doesn't mean there isn't emotion or excitement. The "agitprop" works beautifully, with some contemporary flourishes (allusions to Iraq, for example) that are faithful to the Brechtian spirit.