Our First Threepenny Opera

[lennygoran]

Bought this used DVD from Ebay for $9.01--it definitely held our interest but was also very surprising for us-not done like any opera we've ever seen before. Regards, Len

Wiki says this:
Opera or musical theatre?

The ambivalent nature of The Threepenny Opera, derived from an 18th-century ballad opera but conceived in terms of 20th-century musical theatre, has led to discussion as to how it can best be characterised. According to critic and musicologist Hans Keller, the work is "the weightiest possible lowbrow opera for highbrows and the most full-blooded highbrow musical for lowbrows".[24]

The Weill authority Stephen Hinton notes that "generic ambiguity is a key to the work’s enduring success", and points out the work's deliberate hybrid status:

For Weill [The Threepenny Opera] was not just ‘the most consistent reaction to [Richard] Wagner’; it also marked a positive step towards an operatic reform. By explicitly and implicitly shunning the more earnest traditions of the opera house, Weill created a mixed form which incorporated spoken theatre and popular musical idioms. Parody of operatic convention – of Romantic lyricism and happy endings – constitutes a central device.[3]

Here's a review of this DVD:
Mackie Messer (Rudolf Forster) is a well known criminal who operates in plain sight, even the police know he is a thief and a murderer, but he remains a free man. This is because he has connections to the police force, so the his old friend, the corrupt Chief Brown (Reinhold Schunzel) keeps the police heat off Mackie. In his personal life, Mack has fallen for the beautiful Polly Peachum (Carola Neher) and the two were even married in a warehouse, in a private ceremony. This enrages Polly’s father Jonathan (Fritz Rasp), who demands Mack be arrested and executed. A trap is set to capture Mackie, but a prostitute hired to lure him in winds up helping him escape. When Jonathan threatens to have his fellow beggars revolt and turn the town upside down, will Mack be brought to justice, or is he one step ahead as usual?

This movie is a pleasure to watch, as the story is good, the direction is good, and the performances are good. I watched this when Criterion released it on laserdisc, but that release proved to be a disappointment. This time around, Criterion has delivered and this new transfer is excellent, not to mention the host of supplements. As for the movie itself, it comes off more like a play than a movie, but that is kind of unavoidable in this case. The story is based on Bertolt Brecht’s play and the story works well on screen, with lively characters and some effective social context. The tone is dark and corruption abounds, so likable characters and inspiring moments are absent in The Threepenny Opera. But the story unfolds at a proper pace and should draw in most viewers, thanks in part to some terrific performances. Rudolf Forster in particular as Mack is great and one of the major reasons the film works so well. Criterion’s two disc release is superb, an instant addition to most film buffs’ libraries.

https://www.blurayauthority.com/standar ... ollection/


Here are some reviews from Amazon viewers who liked it.

John D. Steyers
5.0 out of 5 stars A Long-Awaited Restoration
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2007
Verified Purchase
I have been waiting for a quality restoration for DVD of this masterpiece for a long time. As usual, Criterion Collection does not disappoint. It should be made clear from the outset, though, that this is definitely Pabst's cinematic reworking of "Threepenny Opera", and not really the work as Brecht intended it. Indeed, it is well-known that Brecht fought Pabst's interpretation fiercely, and was barred from the set of the film. Still, most of the score is still present, superbly performed, with Brecht's incomparably acerbic lyrics intact. {Brecht's poetry in general and his song lyrics in particular have never been satisfactorily translated, and can be fully appreciated only in German.) The major link in this film between Brecht's original concept and Pabst's version is surely the presence of Lotte Lenya, whose performance (particularly of "Seeraeuberjenny"} is well worth the price of the DVD all by itself!
Pabst has created a film version of "Threepenny Opera" which, while not Brecht's own vision of the piece, goes a long way towaard showing us what musical theatre can (and should more often) be.
20 people found this helpful


Trevor Willsmer
4.0 out of 5 stars "Life is money, food, sex, nothing."
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2010
Verified Purchase
Once a staple of critics' ten best ever lists, neither version of G.W. Pabst's once controversial adaptation of The Threepenny Opera offered on this impressive two-disc set has quite stood the test of time as well as hoped. Shot in different languages and with different casts - fairly commonplace in the early days of sound - they do make an interesting contrast, though. The German version has a harder heart, more severity and the better rendition of Mack the Knife, but the lighter French version has a more charming Mack the Knife (or Mackie the Knifeman as they insist on calling him) in Albert Prejean: it's hard to see Rudolf Forster's German incarnation, more prop than performance, being able to dominate a housewife let alone the London underworld. Fine technique and great production design, but it often feels more of a technical exercise than a real cry from the streets.

Any disappointment in the films are amply compensated for with the great extras on the Criterion Region 1 NTSC DVD, though, including a rather interesting documentary on the doomed lawsuit Brecht launched against Pabst for distorting his work alongside both the French and German versions. Curiously another extra on the differences between the two versions reveals that Brecht was more excited about the casting of the French Polly Peachum (Florelle) than the German one (Carola Neher) because he and Lotte loved her voice. Unfortunately she's not as commanding as she needs to be when taking over the gang, but ain't that always the problem with screen musicals - you either get someone who can sing but can't act or someone who can act but can't sing. (Incidentally, Antonin Artaud turns up as the 'new beggar' in the French version.)


Bwhami
5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed the film and it is all in German
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
The movie came out in 1931 and was an adaptation of a Stage play of the same name. This is mostly a musical, with less songs than the play, but the most enduring song form the play and the movie is "Mack the Knife". The film has communist overtones and was banned by the Nazi's. The story takes place in London and revolves around 'Make the Knife" a dangerous criminal, whose deadly exploits are explained in the song Mack the Knife. Mack marries Polly Peachum in an elaborate ceremony in an old warehouse down by the river. Two of the Characters reminded me of Laurel and Hardy. There is very little dialog for the first 20 minutes or so. I enjoyed the film and it is all in German. After the wedding Polly father The Beggar King of London, decides to have Mack arrested an hung. What follows is a series of events that revolve around the Queen's Coronation. The actors do a great job and Lotte Lenya can sing and does not have a knife in her shoe. Her best known role, that most might remember is that of Rosa Kleb in From Russia with Love. There is also a French version of the movie on disc two. We don't understand fully why Mack and the Police Chief are such friends until the end of the film, when they sing the Cannon song. The music is enjoyable and there is humor that keeps the movie interesting. There is a police chase and a anti government march. The communist overtones are very apparent when, Mr. Peachum, incites the poor to march on the Queen's coronation. Great movie.

[maestrob]

Len, I grew up with the MGM LP of Lotte Lehmann and the original off-Broadway cast of the early 1950's production of Threepenny Opera, and have loved the work as Weill's most briiliant creation. Sung in a translation that he worked on himself, in English the lyrics lose none of the bite and wit of the original German, or so I'm told. It's a work one either loves or hates: I love it and have cherished that recording (now issued on CD of course) for most of my life.



The original German film is quite something else as well.

[lennygoran]

Len, I grew up with the MGM LP of Lotte Lehmann and the original off-Broadway cast of the early 1950's production of Threepenny Opera, and have loved the work as Weill's most briiliant creation. Sung in a translation that he worked on himself, in English the lyrics lose none of the bite and wit of the original German, or so I'm told. It's a work one either loves or hates: I love it and have cherished that recording (now issued on CD of course) for most of my life.

Brian thanks-I'm a little confused-I found this:
The Threepenny Opera 1954 New York Cast Blitzstein Adaptation1954 / O.C.R. Rmst ed.Reissued, Extra Tracks, Remastered, Cast RecordingLotte Lenya Beatrice Arthur Charlotte Rae Marc Blitzstein Jo Sullivan Loesser John Astin Scott Merrill Kurt Weill & 2 more Format: Audio CD

Is Lotte Lenya the same person as Lotte Lehmann and I wonder if there's a DVD of that work so you could see video as well as hear music? Regards, Len

[maestrob]

Len, I grew up with the MGM LP of Lotte Lehmann and the original off-Broadway cast of the early 1950's production of Threepenny Opera, and have loved the work as Weill's most briiliant creation. Sung in a translation that he worked on himself, in English the lyrics lose none of the bite and wit of the original German, or so I'm told. It's a work one either loves or hates: I love it and have cherished that recording (now issued on CD of course) for most of my life.

Brian thanks-I'm a little confused-I found this:
The Threepenny Opera 1954 New York Cast Blitzstein Adaptation1954 / O.C.R. Rmst ed.Reissued, Extra Tracks, Remastered, Cast RecordingLotte Lenya Beatrice Arthur Charlotte Rae Marc Blitzstein Jo Sullivan Loesser John Astin Scott Merrill Kurt Weill & 2 more Format: Audio CD

Is Lotte Lenya the same person as Lotte Lehmann and I wonder if there's a DVD of that work so you could see video as well as hear music? Regards, Len

Heck no! That's just me having a senior moment before I finished my coffee this morning!

Of course it's Lotte Lenya, who was Kurt Weill's wife, in the starring role.

Apologies.

In all my years, I've regretted that that particular production was never filmed in the 1950's. A great loss to musical history.

[lennygoran]

Heck no! That's just me having a senior moment before I finished my coffee this morning! Of course it's Lotte Lenya, who was Kurt Weill's wife, in the starring role.

Brian thanks-I looked up both Lenya and Lehmann and saw they're 2 different sopranos and both with interesting bios-then I came upon a site that showed misconceptions about Lehmann!

https://lottelehmannleague.org/about-lo ... nceptions/

Regards, Len

[maestrob]

That's a marvelous website, Len, thanks for posting it. I've been reading it for about 30 minutes.

Lehmann is one of my favorite historical singers, and why not? I didn't know that she has nurtured Grace Bumbry though, so I'm pleased to have learned that.