Street Scene

A review convinced me that this recording bettered Mauceri's on London. It disappointed me. It seemed to me more poorly sung and played than Mauceri's, while the dramatic pacing remained practically the same. Street Scene is one of Weill's best works, German or American, and it's wonderful to see *two* recordings of it, but I'm still waiting for something definitive. Since I'm an old man, it probably won't happen in my lifetime.

Two full recordings of Kurt Weill's Street Scene came out within a year of each other, this one and one conducted by John Mauceri for London Records. This one derives from a staged production, Mauceri has the starrier cast, at least on paper. Mauceri does not include the full dialogue, only a bit over half, the most important moments, mostly underscored. There is now also a DVD of a production that originated at Houston Grand Opera for the visual types. In my opinion this version is the best overall, All the roles are well taken. There are individual elements of Mauceri's recording that I prefer, including his conducting which seems to evoke a greater sense of Weill's very individual style and Josephine Barstow's performance as Mrs. Maurant, but it doesn't come together as a PERFORMANCE the way I would like, too much a product of the studio. As Street Scene is one of Kurt Weill's greatest works, this is a recording to cherish.

I can't help wondering why Street Scene is not listed among all the other 40's-50's Broadway shows. It was, quite simply, the first work of operatic bredth produced on a Broadway stage. The sheer musical richness of Weill's score is truly stunning; he manages to sustain musical interest over the entire show. I can say without hyperbole that the score is comparable to Porgy and Bess. Weill ranges from spooky psychological songs (like Lonely House) to pseudo-"Broadway" numbers (like Wrapped in a Ribbon), to mock opera (the hilarious ice cream sextet, which some call Weill's thank-you to America), to real opera (like Anne's Aria), to jitterbug, swing, blues, chorales, on and on. The only real problem with the score is the lyrics: Langston Hughes (whose praises as a poet hardly need to be sung by little me) proves to be a terrible lyricist, and his (and Elmer Rice's) prosaic, mis-accented, occasionally non-sensical words often impale the music. Also, Rice's basic story (which one can follow fully on this CD; every line of dialogue is here) is hokey, and attenuated in the extreme. Still, the score is wonderful. This recording is the definitive version, and not only because its the only one that preserves the whole score. The cast is generally excellent (although some of the singers, especially the ingenue-if you can call it that-couple, are jarringly old for their parts; and as opera singers they cant all really be expected to give fully-fleshed performances.) The orchestra is lush and full (although i must quibble on one point - for some reason every song keeps the beat with a high-hat, which is awfully inappropriate at times.) All in all, this recording is an excellent buy, a great (if not perfect) recording of a treasure of the musical theater.

I never realized what singing talent Catherine Zeta Jones had until I heard her on this CD!! Right after I went on [another internet retailer] and bought some of her other CDs! ((By the way, Amazon.com employees, you should sell her other CDs here)) :) The other songs are good too.

Quite a few years back I played the part of Charlie Hildebrand for the LOC's performaces at the Fulton Opera House. After those shows, I followed my phillosophy on not looking back at the past, so the shows faded from mind fairly quickly. Fast forward to 2004. I become reminded of Street Scene thanks to another mention of Weill and put it upon myself to look up "Street Scene" on cd. No store carried it locally, but got a copy through special order. The performace and recording is top notch. And Charlie is still my favorite character, for obvious reasons. Street Scene is probably one of the greatest overlooked operas around. Four stars for the cd set, one star for nostalgia.

This is a vivid recording of the original production. However, I have a cautionary warning for potential buyers. The casing for the 2 CD set has adequate space for a booklet with a full synopsis - essential for the nuances of a complicated plot - but my set lacks this facility. Fortunately, I have a Weill biography on my bookshelves which provides a full analysis.