John Mauceris presence makes itself felt immediately in the clarity of instrumental detail and the bounciness of the dance rhythms. Ute Lemper, too, is soon well in evidence in a splendidly shaped Barbara-Song. There is also a superbly rounded Mrs Peachum in Helga Dernesch, whose Ballad of Sexual Dependency is a tour-deforce albeit sadly shorn of its third verse.
It is followed by an absolutely irresistible ZuhalterBallade, in which the innocently spun out melody serves to accompany some wickedly expressive handling of the text by Rene Kollo as Macheath, and by the husky Milva (another impressive singing actress) as the whore Jenny. Kollo is no less impressive in his handling of Macheaths Epitaph, again tellingly accompanied by Mauceri.
It is to this new version that the uncommitted should be directed... the clearer Decca digital sound is obviously superior. Likewise, the singing on the new version is undeniably of a higher standard, whilst no less appropriate in terms of Weills requirement for singing actors. In orchestral playing, too, there is a clear advantage, no less than in John Mauceris imaginative conducting.
In the ZuhalterBallade, above all, these characteristics come together to give this new recording a quite haunting quality. |