[Weill, Kurt] Hinton, Stephen (Editor).

Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera.

Cambridge etc., Cambridge University Press, 1990. 14.5 cm x 22 cm. XV, 229 pages. With 19 illustrations. Original Hardcover. Excellent, close to new condition. [Cambridge Opera Handbooks].

Includes the following chapters: Brecht’s narration for a concert version of Die Dreigroschenoper / “Matters of intellectual property”: the sources and genesis of Die Dreigroschenoper by Stephen Hinton / The Threepenny Opera in America by Kim H. Kowalke / The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht / Correspondence concerning Threepenny Opera between Hans Heinsheimer and Kurt Weill / The Threepenny Opera by Theodor Wiesengrund-Adorno / The Threepenny Opera by Ernst Bloch / L’Opera de Quat’Sous by Walter Benjamin / The Threepenny Opera by Hans Keller / The Dreigroschen sound by Geoffrey Abbott / Motifs, tags and related matters by David Drew and Misunderstanding The Threepenny Opera by Stephen Hinton etc.

″The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) is a ‘play with music’ by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from German dramatist Elisabeth Hauptmann’s translation of John Gay’s 18th-century English ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera, with music by Kurt Weill and insertion ballads by François Villon and Rudyard Kipling. The work offers a Socialist critique of the capitalist world. It opened on 31 August 1928 at Berlin’s Theater am Schiffbauerdamm.” (Wikipedia)

″This is the first book on the best-known of the Weill-Brechts collaborations to explore the extent and significance of the composer’s contribution. Described as ‘the weightiest possible lowbrow opera for highbrows and the most full-blooded highbrow musical for lowbrows’ (Hans Keller), the enduringly popular Threepenny Opera has given rise not only to interpretations as numerous as they are diverse but also to new adaptations. One such is Brecht’s hitherto unpublilshed concert version which is included here in English translation. Even the stage work generally known today departs significantly from what was performed at the preemiere in 1928. After a detailed reconstructionof the work’s genesis and continued revision over three decades, Stephen Hinton examines the spin-offs in which the authors participated: the instrumental suite, the film, the law suit, the novel, and the musical and textual revisions of songs. In a brisk survey of the stage history, Hinton pays particular attention to pioneering productions in Germany and Britain. Kim Kowalke provides and exhaustive account of the history of The Threepenny Opera in America, Geoffrey Abbott addresses questions concerning authentic performance practice, and David Drew analyses large-scale motivic relationships in the music. Among the earlier writings on the work reprinted here, those by Theodor W. Adorno, Ernst Bloch and Walter Benjamin appear for the first time in English translation. A concluding chapter by the editor considers whether The Threepenny Opera’s popularity rests, as frequently maintained, on a misunderstanding.

The book contains numerous illustrations, a discography, and music examples.” (Publisher)

• Keywords: 20th century · Drama · Literary Criticism · Literary Criticism – Rare · Music · Music – Rare · Theater
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521330262
• Inventory Number: 43907AB

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