WEILL/BRECHT: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Blu-ray (2011)

WEILL/BRECHT: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Blu-ray (2011)
Cast: Measha Brueggergosman, Michael Konig, Jane Henschel, Willard White
Chorus & Orch. of Teatro Real, Madrid/Orch. Sinfonica de Madrid/Pablo Heras-Casado
Director: Andy Sommer
Stage Direction: La Fura dels Baus
Studio: Bel Air Classiques BAC467 [11/15/11] [Distr. by Naxos]
Video: 16:9 1080i color
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1,PCM stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, German
Region Code: A,B,C
Extras: Printed color booklet
Length: 138 minutes
Rating: *****
I was going to link to our reviews of two previous video productions of Mahagonny, and was surprised to find that they got reviewed exactly four years ago at this same time of year. Few operas could be quite so nihilistic and scathingly satirical, and especially at this time of supposed Christmas optimism and good cheer.  The main subject being satirized is capitalism, and that ties in beautifully today without the opera having to make any specific references to the recent Wall Street mess. Brecht is at his top form in bitter satire of everything, including grand opera, and this is some of Weill’s best music. The staging used in this Catalan production also follows Brechtian ideals in its anti-theatrical bent. The buildings of Mahagonny are only suggested, but the tacky/sexy costumes of the girls in the chorus/whorehouse are more (or less) than suggestion, and the simulation of mass sex on the mattresses with the men of Mahagonny is pretty obvious. I was surprised this Madrid production was sung in English, but the projected titles of each section and the banners at the end are all in Spanish.
Fatty, the black man Trinity Moses and the madam Widow Begbick are fugitives running from the cops. They find themselves in a desolate no-man’s land that exists only in the minds of Brecht and Weill—who found American words like Alabama, Pensacola, and Mississippi conjured up wild exotic places for them, though they’d never been there. The three decide to found a sinful city called Mahagonny (which means “city of nets”).  Canadian soprano Brueggergosman as Jenny, with the girls, does a version of the “Alabama Song” like none you’ve ever seen or heard before if you’re a Weill fan. Some Alaskan lumberjacks are attracted to Mahagonny, and Begbick is well-prepared to fleece them of their money for the “paradise” she provides.
A terrible hurricane threatens but bypasses Mahagonny. The city thrives on self-indulgence: its precepts are Eating, Sex, Boxing and Boozing. Jim bets all his money on Joe in a boxing match with Trinity Moses, but loses it all when Joe is killed. Jim cannot pay for anything and is sentenced to death in a trumped-up trial. His lover Jenny refuses to help him but is saddened by his approaching death. The two sing a sad farewell in “The Crane Duet.”  The grand finale is an angry and apocalyptic march involving what’s left of the cast, in which total despair is triumphant. (“Life is rotten!”) In spite of Brecht’s often heavy-handedness, the opera has plenty of pertinent points to make today. The Blu-ray looks great, even in the many very dark scenes, and the impact of the lossless surround track is excellent. I find that of the three productions, I’ll stick with this one now, and not just because it’s Blu-ray. You may want to keep the English subtitles on the screen to appreciate the details of the lyrics, which are not always discernible.
—John Sunier