"Over the Hills and Far Away" from "The Beggar's Opera"

Laurence Olivier as Captain Macheath and Dorothy Tutin in Peter Brook's 1953 version of John Gay's "Beggar's Opera".

Category:

Music

Tags:

• olivier
• opera
• beggars opera
• tutin
• john gay

[goodluckpeace44]

Polly's father MR.Peachum is a rogue himself, and his Daughter Polly has got Mcbeth a ideal of her father. Do you know that they are made based on real life Jonathan Wild?

[ponto]

Macheath, not Macbeth - that's a different play entirely. Yes, the Jonathan Wild connection's fairly well known.

[carolethecatlover]

Interesting. I would not separate music and lyrics. I would say the lyrics were trad with the music. Maybe altered a bit. Think 'mamma mia' movie with the Abba songbook. Good fit. Still, there's a change or 2.This was the original '3 grochen oper' look how many people have sung in different languages'Mack the Knife'. It is from the 1700s written by John Gay and Produced by John? Rich. Listen to the Sharpe series version of Over this is about the nepoleonic wars, with words to fit.

[ponto]

"Over the Hills" has had a long history, beginning, perhaps, with a Scottish song, "The Wind Hath Blown My Plaid Away". There's a version in Tom D'Urfey's "Pills to Purge Melancholy", published between 1698 to 1720 and performed in George Farquhar's "The Recruiting Officer" (1706). The lyrics of the song in "Beggar's Opera" were written by John Gay. The version in "Sharpe" is adapted from Farquhar's song from "The Recruiting Officer".

[StupidFoolLady]

Does Laurence sing himself? Ha.. Great baritone,you know..

[ponto]

Yes, he does his own singing. He later wrote how much he disliked his singing in the film, but I think he's pretty good - a very pleasant voice.

[sonicx666]

Great song, but he plays Macheath too well spoken. He is meant to be a highway man!

[RomaShop1]

OMG, this is SOOOOO ROMANTIC!!!! I hope to have an experience like this someday. :)

[comradeshow]

this opera brutalized the beautiful song from the recruiting officer

[bonniewayfarer]

Laurence Olivier has a great voice. He is a wonder.

Dorothy Tutin is really charming, especially when she says: "(Every night) would kiss and play" - what a sweet cheek :)

Bonniewayfarer

[injamaven]

very weak voice, Dorothy Tutin is charming. He's very phony here,

[tomoole]

@sonicx666 Not all Highwayman / Women were from the lower classes - be careful of making assumptions. It's a trap I've fallen into myself.

[RasMajnouni]

Ho laddie! Bring me a bucket quick, I must heave me dinner.

[lauracida]

she is absolutely beautiful <3

[TheSabrinaFairchild]

mmmm. Laurence Olivier, you can sing to me any day.

[goodluckpeace44]

anyways was this entire play writtern by John Gay? John Gay is an awsome writter. He was a thick man , I mean the way he describe things and his language is quite good. He has a big book called Morals. Its absolutely unthinkable how a man could be writting about that suff all his life unless he was a great writter who enjoyed good language than interestine story lines

[goodluckpeace44]

woww its easy to find my comment in a great work of theatical art because its the least kind of thing people watch, yeah i didnt notice those two names until yesterday when i was reading how he said he loves those nasty women, and they tricked him. I loved that part where he describe them, ha ha acting decent and looking deceant, but just sluts inside. krrrrr but not so stupid.