Kurt Weill: An Illustrated Life

Kurt Weill was a significant trendsetter in dramatic music, virtually creating the popular musical drama whose music supports dialogue and plot. He studied music first with his father, a Jewish cantor, then in Berlin with the pianist-composer Busoni. He wrote songs, choral works, chamber music, and symphonies before turning to the theater and becoming, eventually, world-famous for his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, especially The Threepenny Opera and the singspiel, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, which provoked riots at its premier. His wife, Lotte Lenya, starred in most of his productions. Fleeing the Nazis, Weill came to the U.S. in 1935 and collaborated with Maxwell Anderson (e.g., Knickerbocker Holiday with its "September Song," and Lost in the Stars) and with Moss Hart and Ira Gershwin (Lady in the Dark, which gave Weill financial independence). Profusely illustrated with photographs, playbills, and sheet music art, Schebera´s biography seems definitive and well-rounded as it discusses all of Weill´s important musical and dramatic achievements.