Kurt Weill The Seven Deadly Sins; Little Threepenny Music by by John Harle, Alan Opie, Roderick Kennedy

Kurt Weill The Seven Deadly Sins; Little Threepenny Music

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Kurt Weill The Seven Deadly Sins; Little Threepenny Music

Reader Reviews
This is surely one of Brecht and Weill's most (unfortunately) neglected masterpieces, and definately one of their most unorthodox pieces. Julia Migenes, of course, sings it all divinely, and her dramatic flair and tension is all there, too. Her acting genuinely comes through... it's all there... IN THE VOICE. She doesn't just sing it 'prettily' (i.e., 'blandly') like some pretentious Brechtians would accuse. I like to think of myself as a Brechtian, and generally do prefer the Brecht-Weill pieces to be done by a great actor with a mediocre singing voice. But I also don't mind it when that great actor pays equal (and I mean EQUAL) attention to the music. Brechtian 'scholars' pointing fingers at Migenes, saying that she would make a pretentious operatic sound while singing this piece, would do better to point their fingers elsewhere. Migenes was a sublime interpreter of Weill's music, and I wish that she had performed it more frequently in her prime. The male quartet that makes up the Annas' family (two tenors-brothers, baritone-dad, bass-mom), are all of very good voice (among them vetrans Alan Opie and Robert Tear). Michael Tilson Thomas leading the London Symphony Orchestra through this piece and EINE KLEINE DREIGOSCHENMUSIK is perfect from beginning to end (the only other performance that I have heard of the THREEPENNY suite that is better is available on the DG Weill box set). For a long while, this was the only recording of THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS that I knew, and I didn't see how it could possibly get any better. I now own Marianne Faithfull's FABULOUS rendition (recorded in W.H. Auden's top-notch English translation), as well as the always-fabulous Lenya's recording. I love both of them (particularly Faithfull's), but I still find myself pulling out this Migenes rendition and listening to it as I lie bed in the dark: the bittersweet ending of the piece is a heart-stopping, brilliant moment, and I just can't move in the first few moments of silence following the final chord. I really don't think that I could live without this album. Julia Migenes and THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. *sigh* PERFECTION! Buy this recording RIGHT NOW!

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