Mack the Knife Sung by Lotte Lenya

The song "Mack the Knife" was witten by Kurt Weill for his wife Lotte Lenya. Here Ms Lenya sings "Mack the Knife" in its original German.

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[warrengwonka]

At Stanford about 50 years ago, an associate of Brecht's directed Threepenny. He said we had the first "right" MacHeath, not a romantic, but a fat middle-aged bourgeois. Mac the Knife is sung by a rough-voiced street-singer with a hurdy-gurdy flipping through pages of Mac's crimes. (Kurt Gerron in 1928 Berlin). The original Berlin cast is available on a CD, as is a modern English Donmar Warehouse CD, as stunningly vulgar today as the original must have been in 1928 Berlin.

[Michael Eleftheriou]

Stoic? Decadent, more like!

[WingardiumLeviosaC]

Kurt Weill's music provided the signature tunes for Weimar culture in the 1920s. Learning all about the contribution of Jews to the cultural life of the Weimar republic is really eye-opening, and hearing this makes you realise why his music is still well appreciated today

[lalosaurioXL]

Kurt Weilt and brecht

[Roland Lukner]

Great art is never vulgar.

[patrick mcgrath]

I thought"MacHeath" was a hybrid of Harold Macmillon & Ted Heath;-P

[Mike Jordan]

Didn't the Swedish Chef do a version of this on the Muppet Show?....Ooh the old spoon swinger.

[Useless2112]

What do you think of Nick Cave's version?

[Andrew Stein]

Well that version is like Luis Armstrong's and other jazz versions which while fun are nothing like the original. It may have been sung my a man in the first version but this style is the way it was written. Doesn't make the other versions poor but no way does Lyle Lovett have the same feel as Lotte Lenya. And rarely do the newer versions use the original harsh lyrics that leave you in no doubt you're hearing about a rapist and a killer of children: Not a bit of boppy fun.

[Al. B]

Perfectly captures the time and place. Used to hum this to myself every time I crossed Checkpoint Charlie more than a few years ago.

[Ed Macomber]

Well, you are right, but when you hear what the song became through the fifties and sixties, it is quite absent the embellishments. Decadent as well!