BEN BAGLEY’S KURT WEILL REVISITED

Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, Fernay, Ira Gershwin, Yvette Guilbert, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, and Ogden Nash

There are certain composers whose music never ages. Times and styles may change, but somehow certain music lives on because the voice of the composer somehow remains fresh and unique, seeming to defy time. Kurt Weill was one of those composers. He worked with extraordinary collaborators, including Bertolt Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Langston Hughes, Ogden Nash, Ira Gershwin, Alan Jay Lerner, and produced such classics as The Threepenny Opera, Street Scene, One Touch of Venus, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Knickerbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, Lost in the Stars, and many others.

Ben Bagley’s Kurt Weill Revisited was one of the most interesting in his long series of Revisited albums. As always with this series, Ben unearthed some great gems and of course we don’t get any of the hits, which was never the point of these albums. He assembled a terrific cast for this one, including Paula Laurence, Ann Miller, John Reardon, Chita Rivera, Arthur Siegel, and Jo Sullivan, and Dennis Deal was responsible for the arrangements and orchestrations. The previous CD release was one of the few that did not have any extra material on it, so it was a fairly short run time of forty-three minutes. So, we decided to add our own bonus material. We have Lotte Lenya’s 1930 recording of “Alabama Song,” performed with The Three Admirals and conducted by Theo Mackeben and his Jazz Orchestra. It is nightmarish and wonderful. And the major bonus is a 1930 recording of selections from The Threepenny Opera in German with Lenya, Kurt Gerron, Willy Trenk-Trebitsch, Erich Ponto, Erika Helmke, with the Theo Mackeben and Lewis Ruth Band . These are historic recordings and have been cleaned up by mastering engineer James Nelson, and sound pretty amazing given their age. This all brings up the running time to close to seventy-five minutes.

And as with our other Bagley releases, we have spruced up the sound quite a bit, as the quality of the original LPs and their subsequent CD releases was never optimal, sound-wise. And, of course, the classic cover art is by the one and only Harvey Schmidt, whose paintings help make this series so unique. -KRITZERLAND

1 Paula Laurence, Arthur Siegel & Chorus - Songs From One Touch of Venus (Vive La Difference / One Touch of Venus / That's How Much I Love You / Very Very Very) 8:55
2 Ann Miller - This Time Next Year (From an Unfinished Musical of Huckleberry Finn) 1:42
3 Chita Rivera - You Understand Me So (Cut From Love Life) 3:02
4 Jo Sullivan & John Reardon - I Remember It Well (From Love Life) 3:21
5 Ann Miller - Moon-Faced, Starry Eyed (From Street Scene) 2:22
6 Paula Laurence, Arthur Siegel & Chorus - Youkali Tango (From the 1934 Casino de Paris Review) 3:32
7 Chita Rivera and the Men - Dr. Crippen (From One Touch of Venus) 3:50
8 Jo Sullivan - Italy in Technicolor (Cut From Street Scene) 2:37
9 Paula Laurence - Poor Mrs. Peechum (From the Paris Production of The Threepenny Opera) 2:36
10 Arthur Siegel - You Are Unforgettable (Cut From Lady in the Dark) 1:37
11 Jo Sullivan - Love in the Mist (Cut From One Touch of Venus) 3:00
12 Ann Miller - Is It Him or Is It Me? (From Love Life) 3:00
13 John Reardon, Arthur Siegel and the Men - Locker Room (From Love Life) 4:10
14 Lotte Lenya, The Three Admirals, Theo Mackeben and His Jazz Orchestra - Alabama Song (1930 Recording) [bonus track] 3:05

The Threepenny Opera (1930 German Recording)
Lotte Lenya, Kurt Gerron, Willy Trenk-Trebitsch, Erich Ponto, Erika Helmke, Theo Mackeben & Lewis Ruth Band

15 Overture and Ballad of Mack the Knife 2:05
16 Pirate Jenny 3:13
17 Cannon Song 1:36
18 Love Song 1:47
19 Barbara Song 2:04
20 First Threepenny Finale 3:10
21 Farewell 1:25
22 Pimp Ballad 1:43
23 Ballad of Pleasant Life 1:24
24 Jealousy Duet 1:24
25 Second Threepenny Finale 2:13
26 Song of Inadequacy 1:38
27 Ballad and Final Chorale 3:22

Total length: 73:53