Ascent and case of the city Mahagonny

Ascent and case of the city Mahagonny, briefly Mahagonny mentioned, is one Opera in three documents (the mode division is missing in most later text editions). Those Music comes from Kurt Weill, that Libretto of Bertolt break. The opera became to 9. March 1930 in Leipzig uraufgefuehrt and one spieldauer of approximately 2 has 1/2 hours. The action plays in Mahagonny, a fictitious city in North America in the present.

Persons

• Leokadja Begbick - Old/Mezzosopran
• Fatty (the "attorney") - Tenor
• Dreieinigkeitsmoses - Bariton
• Jenny - Sopran
• Jim Mahoney - Tenor
• Jack - Tenor
• Bill (called Sparbuechsenbill) - Bariton
• Joe (called Alaskawolfjoe) - Bass
• Tobby Higgins - Tenor
• Choir
  • Six girls of Mahagonny; The men of Mahagonny

Orchestra

2 Flutes, Oboes, Clarinet in B, Old saxophone into it, Tenor saxophone in B, 2 Bassoons (2. also Retort bassoon), 2 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in B, 2 Trombones, Tuba, Bass drums, Rammer, Piano, Harmonium ad lib., Banjo, Bass guitar, Bandoneon, Streicher

On the stage:
2 Piccolos, 2 Clarinets in B, 3 Saxophone, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in B, 2 Trombones, Tuba, Rammer, Piano, Zither, evtl. Xylophon, Banjo, Bandoneon

Action

First act

Leokadja Begbick; Willy, that Attorney (called in the early versions of the opera Fatty); and Dreieinigkeitsmoses are on the escape before that Konstablern. They want to one Coast, to the gold one finds. But the car gets broken at the edge of a desert. They decide, since they can neither forwards nor back, to base a city: Mahagonny, "is called: Net city "(1,1), in that it the men, with money of the coast come, evenly that assistance of Bars and Brothels from the bag to pull want. It is to prevail to peace and unity there.

Second act

And the city grows. With the dissatisfied ones out all Mr. Laender also four come Holzfaeller out Alaska: Heinrich Merg, Joseph Lettner, The Jakobs Schmidt and Paul (Paule) field man (in the early versions: Sparbuechsenbilly, Alaskawolfjoe, Jack O'Brien and Jim (Jimmy Mahoney). They want to likewise become lucky in Mahagonny. Hardly arrived, falls in love Paul with those Hure Jenny. But also Mahagonny has its crises: The prices sink, the people leave. Paul becomes dissatisfied, as he a sign sees with the label "is forbidden here..."draws in and to all abundance Hurricane toward Mahagonny. At this night Paule finds the law of the human luck blessedness: You may! The only one, which is forbidden: to have no money - whereupon the death penalty stands. Briefly before the destruction by a hurricane, it makes clear humans, that one none Taifun needs, in order to destroy, that can humans very well alone. As example it sings directly, despite the prohibition a merry song. The hurricane approaches Mahagonny, the spectator experiences the way of the taifuns by radiomeldung. One minute before Mahagonny however makes the storm an elbow around the city and spares it. From now the new guidance saying in Mahagonny is called: You may!

Third act

The last act stands under the slogan: "first of all do not forget comes the food, secondly the love comes to, thirdly boxes do not forget, fourth drinking so long one can. Above all however respects sharply, that one may be allowed to do here everything."involves some consequences. Pauls friend Jakob over-eats at two calves, Joseph dies with price boxes against the Dreieinigkeitsmoses, after it had persuaded Paul, to set its whole money on it. In the next scene Paul gives one to all men Mahagonnys Whisky out. But when Begbick wants the payment of it, occurs to it, that it has no more money. Its own law becomes it impose-eats. Since neither Jenny nor Heinrich want to pay for him, it is arrested. Its process begins on the next day. A man, another killed, enough bribery pays, in order to be acquitted. But Paul does not have no more money and by all its still survivor friends is betrayed. Heinrich says: "Paul, you stand for me humanly near - however money, that is another thing ". Jenny states as a witness against it, although it was lucky with it. Begbick, as judges functions, excavates several absurd charges against it: indirect murder at Joseph (two days prison), Seduction Jennys (four years probationary period), Disturbance of peace and unity (two years honouring loss), Sing a merry song (ten years Dungeon) and the main point of the accusation: Zechprellerei, for that the judgement the death penalty reads. Paule takes parting. Its execution becomes the cause of protests in Mahagonny. The city sinks finally in the chaos.

Music

Kurt Weill describes in that Composition this Opera a large elbow, by it in the first act many Topics presents around these in run of the Action strand to lead ever more complex to nesting and in the last final to the high point.
Kurt Weill those found in the exact types of the Brecht figures Counterpart for its own effort around directness of the statement, and Bertolt break saw in Weill humans, that its conception of Theatre as a "moral institute", its relentless time and Society criticism, its humanitarian Ethos the musical Untermalung gave.

Alabama Song

A song with Songcharakter, which at the beginning of Jenny and six girls on the way into the net city is sung. The girls lost homeland and security and to see their only chance of survival therein, to sell itself to the men from Mahagonny to. They say good-bye to the moon and thus from hope for a better life, on romantic love and security. Weill creates a characteristic change in the solo voice Jennys between Nostalgia expressing, sad Koloraturen and rather zynisch sounding Speech singing.

The Songtext written in English language became first 1927 in Brechts poem collection Hauspostille published. The original poem has a male lyric I.

The Song was often worked on, u.A. became it from that Skirt volume The Doors gecovert.

On after Mahagonny

The Song "on after Mahagonny" is sung by four holzfaellern, after seven-year-olds work in Alaska Forests their hard compiled money in the net city to squander want. They are in ueberschwaenglicher Vorfreude on the enticing offers the city. Also that Motive the moon emerges in the song of the men and shows very clearly, that they completely different expectations to the life have than the women. The moon carries, from the view of the men, the color of the American dollar and is available like everything else. They scoff it and take to it each form of romance. The music carries the joyful tendency of the holzfaeller, in addition, refers to the distorted view of the men.

Developing and prescription ion history

Emergence

Those Opera Ascent and case of the city Mahagonny developed from one Songspiel with the title Mahagonny, a Songspiel, which Kurt Weill and Bertolt break for a music celebration in Baden-Baden wrote. The premiere found to 17. July 1927 instead of. The Songspiel consisted of five singing numbers, a sung Epilog and instrumentalen passages unite. A "action" in the dramaturgischen sense of the word is missing in this work.
Already before the completion of the Songspiels the two authors considered the possibility, to rework and extend the material of the Songspiels to a evening-filling opera. The work on the libretto of this opera was directly begun. The libretto was essentially locked in the autumn 1927, and Weill worked then with its vertonung until April 1929, temporarily interrupted by the work on that Three-groschen opera in the summer 1928.
For the opera Ascent and case of the city Mahagonny instrumented Weill the Songs from that Songspiel, which he transferred to the opera, for large orchestra again.

God in Mahagonny

Mahagonny is Sodom and Gomorrha. Similarly as the Biblical collecting main the city is to go down with all "fair ones and unfair ones", like those Widow Begbick expresses. The fate of the city does not become actual, as in Old will, by an outside Disaster sealed, separate by a revaluation of all human values, by the moral disaster. "do everything tonight which is forbidden, if that Hurricane comes, that makes it also in such a way."(Paul Ackermann)
Paul, that Protagonist the new Moral, after his own laws one arranges. Its death becomes text and in music that Kreuzigung Christi in nearly blasphemischer way copied. As motives dip on those Oil mountain scene, the scoffing, the court scene, die Übergabe Jennys an Heinrich (Maria und Johannes), the last assistance call at God and the thirst and motive for vinegar. God emerges in the play in Mahagonny, is it shown in his powerlessness and hoehnisch the city one refers. On musical level are Zitatverfremdungen of Bach Passion music to hear. In religious referring quoting technology uses age-old motives of hope, in the age of the Materialism apparently lost their meaning. Humans are now even the Mr. its Fate, its task is it, To arrange liberty. As easily that can fail, the history of the city Mahagonny shows us. Perhaps is to be said us in addition, that ever in history mankind did not succeed, to develop terrestrial moral only from the subject.

How far did the condition Mahagonnys in our current world already progress? This question should arise the spectator after the opera.

Photographs/ Clay/tone carrier

• Ascent and case of the city Mahagonny, with north Germans the radio choir, north Germans the radio orchestra, Line: William Brueckner Rueggeberg, 1996 (CD with Sony Music)
• Ascent and case of the city Mahagonny, with concert combination Viennese state opera choir, Radio info. never orchestra Vienna, Line: Dennis Russell Davies, 1998 (DVD with Naxos Germany)