Search - Weill, Cohen, Boston Camerata :: Music for Johnny Johnson

"A MAJOR REDISCOVERY" -- SO SAYS THE BOSTON GLOBE, AND I AG

J. T Waldmann | Carmel, IN, home to the fabulous new Regional Perf | 12/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One would think that, with the current feelings about the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, there would be frequent stagings throughout the country of Kurt Weill's JOHNNY JOHNSON, his awe-inspiring anti-war "play with songs" and his first work for the American theater. (Not coincidentally, where are all productions of Joan Littlewoood's OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR and the Gershwin/Kaufman STRIKE UP THE BAND?)



Although it has never found a large audience, JOHNNY JOHNSON is an essential piece of American Musical Theatre. Most theatre critics were positive about its 1936 premiere, but it lasted for only 68 performances. Staged by Lee Strasberg, the cast included Group Theatre members Lee J. Cobb, Elia Kazan, Luther Adler, Morris Carnovsky, and John Garfield. In October, 1956, Stella Adler directed an off-Broadway revival, with Samuel Matlowsky as musical director, at the Carnegie Hall Playhouse. It lasted a week, arguably better than the April, 1971 Broadway revival, staged by Jose Quintero, that lasted for only one night. (Matlowsky also conducts the wonderful 1956 MGM/Polygdor studio cast.) More recent productions include a thirteen-week run at The Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles (1986), a York Theatre Company "Musicals in Mufti" staging in the fall of 2000, and two performances by the Oakland Opera Theatre in December, 2005.



This recording, inspired by the 1996 Boston Camerata's performance at the Longy School, has been called " . . . the most important new Weill recording in several years . . . " (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/19/98). Recipient of France's "Diapason d'Or," it also was included in LE MONDE's and the BOSTON GLOBE's best classical albums of the year for 1997. (Reviews of the recording, as well as Boston Camerata musical director Joel Cohen's informative "Metamorphosis and Parody in Kurt Weill's JOHNNY JOHNSON," can be accessed on the Boston Camerata web site.)



The Cohen recording follows a performance edition realized by Lys Simonette, " . . . a close friend of the Weills and co-founder with [Lotte] Lenya of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music." (from Larry L. Lash's liner notes) Compared to the 1956 recording, this one includes more incidental music and additional verses to some of the songs. It also contains music cut from the original production: Minny Belle's "Farewell, Goodbye," "The West-Pointer Song," "The Sergeant's Chant," "The Tea Song," "The Asylum Chorus," and an instrumental reprise of "Farewell, Goodbye." A 1997 stereo recording, the CD has outstanding dynamics with speaker-testing tympani passages.



However, as wonderful as this recording is, I still prefer the 1956 studio recording, now available as a CD-On-Demand from the Archiv Music web site. Matlowsky's "band" - recorded in crystal clear "mono" - has more bite than Cohen's Otare Pit Band. And I find the whole production just a little too polite. There are times that Matlowsky's forces seem on the verge of losing control, which I think is appropriate for Weill's score. And, finally, there are the singers: Both Donald Wilkinson & Burgess Meredith sound a little too-long-in-the-teeth to me, but Scott Merrill's "Macheath-infused" reading of "Captain Valentine's Tango" can't be bettered, nor can Lotte Lenya's incredible version of "Mon Ami, My Friend." It's apparent that the singers on the 1956 recording are more attuned to Weill's style - and the listener can understand practically every word. I'm also partial to the mostly-spoken version of "In Times of Tumult and War," making it easier to understand the prayer of the American priest and the German priest.



Both recordings are very highly recommended; both should part of your library. It's also a crime that Universal Music Group (Decca, ECM, Philips, Deutsche Grammophon) and Warner Classics (Erato, Teldec) have eliminated this important work from their catalogues. Perhaps if enough of us let them know how we feel . . . . . ."

Excellent Musical Play, but not Weill's Best

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 10/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"`Lost in the Stars' and `Johnny Johnson' are two Broadway shows scored by Kurt Weill in collaboration with Maxwell Anderson and Paul Green respectively for the librettos, both in English. Both are distinguished works and both were, I believe, fairly popular when they were first performed. What these two works have in common is that they are both works aimed at our social conscience.



`Johnny Johnson' is a mildly anti-war play dealing with America's entering the First World War, written in the mid 1930s, when Germany was already uncomfortable for Jews, but not yet on the brink of precipitating World War II. What is most interesting to me about the libretto is the reluctance of the principle character, Johnny, to enlist in the army, while his fiancée (contrary to many famous antiwar works of the past), is all in favor of his enlisting and threatens to break their engagement if he does not enlist. As a work of art, I believe the work is more interesting as a milepost in American antiwar sentiments than as an important artistic work for either the composer or the lyricist. To my ear, there is not a single song from this work that finds its way into the repertoire of balladeers. This is from a composer who has given us `September Song', `Speak Low', `Lost in the Stars', `Saga of Jenny', and `Lonely House', not to mention all the great songs from his German works such as `Mack the Knife' and `Pirate Jenny'. On top of this, there is my feeling that much of the instrumental music sounds very similar to earlier German works, especially `Mahagonny'.



`Lost in the Stars' is based on Alan Paton's novel, `Cry, the Beloved Country' and was written after World War II, in 1948-1949, and has much of the musical interest of what is missing from `Johnny Johnson'. Throughout the play, the instrumental music is much less similar to earlier Weill works and all songs seem stronger. At least two of these songs, `Lost in the Stars', `Trouble Man' and `Stay Well' are often performed by Lotte Lenya and other vocalists. While it may be pushing it a bit, this work seems almost as strong as Gershwin's `Porgy and Bess'.



I bought both because I am a big fan of Kurt Weill's music, and I would recommend both recordings to any and all Weill enthusiasts, especially as both have extensive notes and complete librettos. But, to the person mostly interested in Broadway in general, I would recommend only `Lost in the Stars'.



I will say that the performances of both vocalists and orchestra are excellent on both; however the vocalists on `Lost in the Stars' seem to give just a little extra, possibly because their material is just a bit more substantial.

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