12.4.08
The Biblical origins of Bob Dylan's IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'm Only Bleeding)
King Solomon inspired one of Dylan's most enduring songs
12.2.08
Napping more effective than a cuppa joe
Reports says replace afternoon coffee with a lie-down
11.29.08
[BOOK REVIEW] LUSH LIFE by Richard Price
Review by Seth Rogovoy, critic-at-large, Berkshire Living
11.26.08
MASS MoCA DIRECTOR to BRING SOL LEWITT SOUTH
Rest of the Story event at the Triplex on Dec. 14
11.25.08
[FILM REVIEW] QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
11.23.08
[FILM REVIEW} A SECRET by Claude Miller
Review by Seth Rogovoy, critic-at-large, Berkshire Living
11.23.08
Why so many Holocaust films, and what do they say about us?
Film critic A.O. Scott asks penetrating questions about our obsession with Nazis and their Jewish victims
11.23.08
Lenox Gallery to feature small works by top regional artists
[PRESS RELEASE] Shade Gallery at the Bookstore opens new show on December 4
11.23.08
First English pubs, now French cafes are fading
Along with smoking and drinking, so goes the French way of life
7.7.08
CHATHAM SYNAGOGUE TO CELEBRATE LEGACY OF MARC CHAGALL
[PRESS RELEASE] Discussion of his life and work
11.17.08
[FILM REVIEW] RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Review by Seth Rogovoy, BERKSHIRE LIVING Magazine
11.7.08
Police, school administration apologize for terrorizing MMRHS students
Overreaction to bomb threats prompts indiscriminate police interrogation of innocent students
11.6.08
Another look at Dylan's IS YOUR LOVE IN VAIN?
Dylan's post-divorce song offers great insight into the transitional period
11.4.08
Dave Mason to perform at the Mahaiwe Dec. 5
[PRESS RELEASE] Legendary rocker, former member of Traffic, brings guitar and band to Great Barrington
11.4.08
Ani DiFranco to play Bardavon
[PRESS RELEASE] Indie folksinger performs in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on November 19, 2008
11.4.08
Ani DiFranco to play Bardavon
[PRESS RELEASE] Indie folksinger performs in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on November 19, 2008
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[MUSIC REVIEW] Weill's Mahagonny at Tanglewood
8.10.08
TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER
RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY
by Kurt Weill
Opera in three acts
Original German text and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht
TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER VOCAL FELLOWS
TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER ORCHESTRA
by Seth Rogovoy
(Lenox, Mass., August 10, 2008) -- The muddled production of Kurt Weill's RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY in the Theatre at Tanglewood this weekend followed the muddled opera itself. Time hasn't been kind to the work, especially to Bertolt Brecht's book, which perhaps at one time was revolutionary, but nowadays seems as embarrassingly didactic and dogmatic as the Sixties musical HAIR, which likewise in its own day was seen as paradigm-shifting, but hasn't stood the test of time.
The staging at Tanglewood had a lot going for it. The costumes and set design were intriguing, if somewhat inconsistent. And although some of the stagework was innovative, such as a prostitute and johns silhouetted in a kind of lifesize lightbox, and clever use made of panels, signs, and projections, these were also inconsistent and not fully rendered.
The voices, while all engaging and virtuosic, were wildly inconsistent. Weill's Mahagonny exists in a vague place somewhere between opera and musical theater (and some other kind of music-theater unique to Brecht-Weill), and the voices matched that place, with some coming from the former (Rebecca Jo Loeb's Jenny and Christin Marie Hill's Leocadia Begbick in particular) and sung without verbal recognition, and some from the latter (Steven Ebel's Jimmy Mahoney, who had to carry the burden of the story on his shoulders).
Fortunately, if one ignored all this and just let Weill's score wash over a listener, it was a wonderful time, as Weill's score crossed boundaries of classical, jazz, folk, and ethnic music to achieve a singular style of music, instantly recognizable as Kurt Weill, and performed magnificently by the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.
That in and of itself was almost worth the price of the ticket.
Seth Rogovoy is Berkshire Living's editor-in-chief and award-winning music critic.
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