The Threepenny Opera (1995)
The Threepenny Opera proclaims itself "an opera for beggars," and it was in fact an attempt both to satirize traditional opera and operetta and to create a new kind of musical theater based on the theories of two young German artists, composer Kurt Weill and poet-playwright Bert Brecht. The show opens with a mock-Baroque overture, a nod to Threepenny's source, The Beggar's Opera, a brilliantly successful parody of Handel's operas written by John Gay in 1728. In a brief prologue following the overture, a shabby figure comes onstage with a barrel organ and launches into a song chronicling the crimes of the notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath, "Mack the Knife." The setting is a fair in Soho (London), just before Queen Victoria's coronation. In this production, Weill champion HK Gruber led the Ensemble Modern in a performance of Weill's complete original score, the first time it had been heard in Germany in many years. This production was broadcast on German television (3sat).
Directors: Hans Hollmann, Barrie Gavin.
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Friedrich Karl Praetorius as Macheath, genannt Mackie Messer |
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Jürgen Holtz as Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum |
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Ingeborg Engelmann as Celia Peachum, seine Frau |
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Katherina Lange as Polly Peachum, seine Tochter |
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Axel Böhmert as Brown, Polizeichef von London |
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Dorothee Hartinger as Lucy, seine Tochter |
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Carola Regnier as Die Spelunken-Jenny |
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Wilfried Elste as Pastor Kimball |
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Stephan Grossmann as Filch / Trauerweiden-Walter |
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Michael Lucke as Ein Moritatensänger / Münz-Matthias |
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Jörg Pose as Makenfinger-Jakob |
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Waldemar Kobus as Säge-Robert |
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Eva-Maria Strien as Alte Hure |
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Corinna Schnabel as Vixen |
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Renate Wicke as Dolly |
| Sound | Kurt Weill | Music |
| Sound | Bertolt Brecht | Music |
| Writing | Bertolt Brecht | Book |
| Writing | Elisabeth Hauptmann | Book |
| Sound | H.K. Gruber | Conductor |
| Directing | Hans Hollmann | Director |
| Directing | Barrie Gavin | Director |
