Search - Kurt Weill, Jan Latham-Koenig, Konig Ensemble :: Weill: Happy End

Not Threepenny Opera But Good

R. Albin | Ann Arbor, Michigan United States | 04/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Happy End was an intended sequel to The Threepenny Opera. It was not a success on the Berlin stage and has been only rarely performed since. This is supposedly the first recording of the original and complete version. Its hard to say precisely how good Happy End might be when performed. Reading the libretto, which was not written primarily by Brecht but by his collaborator and sometime girlfriend Elisabeth Hauptmann, I doubt that this would be as effective a theater piece as Threepenny Opera. Set in the metaphorical American city that recurs in Brecht's work, the story concerns the romance between a Salvation Army girl and a crook. This is not a unique story. Brecht himself, Bernard Shaw and even Damon Runyon used variants of this plot. There is the usual and sometimes mordant satire of capitalist society. The music is very good. Indeed, it contains some of what later came to Weill's best known songs. If you like Weill's music, you'll enjoy this recording."