Sting - The Ballad of Mack the Knife

From the 3 penny Opera by Kurt Weil,
Broadway, 1989.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• sting
• mack
• the
• knife
• kurt
• weil
• brecht
• penny
• opera
• broadway

[C4lipp0]

in your info it says "From the 3 penny Opera by Kurt Weil"

but it's berthold brecht! not kurt weil!

[New4day]

Kurt Weil wrote the music, right?

And Brecht the story?

[C4lipp0]

so the threepenny opera is by brecht ;)

[New4day]

"The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) is a revolutionary[1] work of musical theatre, by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher, adapted from an 18th century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. Premiering on August 31, 1928, at Berlin's Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Die Dreigroschenoper offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world."

[FrankPaulGermany]

Fantastic!!!!!! Thanx for putting this up!!!!

Never heard this befor!!!Brecht would be proud:-)

[notleonard]

@notleonard It would be interesting to hear the tune inflected with rhythms from Mexico and Latin America instead of what now sounds to us like sanitized jazz. There might be a more honest and dangerous American analogy in an allusion to the pachuco/chicano sub-culture of the 30s, 40s and 50s in California.

[notleonard]

I didn't see the NYC production, but it's always seemed to me that transplanting Mackie Messer to Harlem (musically, and therefore dramatically) violated what the play is actually doing and what makes it a compelling work of art. After all, it's *already* a transplant. I saw a production in Edinburgh years ago which also lost the swing tempo and the ghetto-glory, and the effect was devastating and transgressive. Sorry to hear from some folks that hearing it from Sting that way felt cheap.

[Antsy027]

I think this is great. If you want to know why he sings it this way, listen to the original German version from the 1931 film.

[greenighs]

Saw this production in '89. Sting was bad. I mean bad. Limp as wet toast. He had zero stage presence and sang barely audibly. The translation of Brecht's lyric is good, but Sting was just horrible.

[teenonator]

@C4lipp0 - And this version is from the album "Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill", which came out around 1987

[biggerthanacadillac]

@msmousette I second this contributor's opinion wholeheartedly and from an apparently similar pro. angle. This is NOT a voice.....it's a ghastly parody of such, utterly devoid of ANY charm or interest. This is the voice of the drunk you [the band] humour on a Sat. eve. in the working men's club. The 'backing' is novel & the 'piece' is superb though. Catch Pops Armstrong & all will be revealed!

[lixie1]

Yes, saw this on Broadway. Excellent.

[msmousette]

Of all the many versions of this song on YouTube, this has to be the most dire rendition imaginable! From a professional, anyway. My ears hurt! If anyone thinks this is good - it's the song that's good, not this version. Search for the others and discover the many ways that it can sound sooooooo much better than this.

[spewey111]

I saw him perform this on Broadway. He was excellent.