Thursday, March 14, 2019

Rained In

Whilest waiting for it to pass, I've been reading Matthew Boyden's Icons of Opera, A History in Photographs 1900 - 2000. Comprised of a single photo of the performer(s) with a one-page bio facing, his writing has inspired numerous visits to Youtube.

But this photo (Copyright Kurt Weill Foundation) of Austrian-born American Lotte Lenya IMMEDIATELY brought to mind





Gustav Dore's illustration from Puss In Boots....



Detail of Illustration






After sharing the above with Michelle, she sent back, now for your viewing pleasure, this.....







And The Rain STILL came.


5 comments:

  1. Admirable Lotte's vibrato makes me want a Jameson, a date, and a roll in the
    mire of whiskey stupor, amongst the lair of her milk bags and honeycomb locks. Just sayin.

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    Replies
    1. So aptly put!

      Ah,Jameson! I was weaned on it. Good stuff, Maynard.

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  2. This answers part of a mystery from long ago. From "Mack the Knife":

    Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry
    Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
    Oh, that line forms on the right, babe
    Now that Macky's back in town

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    Replies
    1. And with a little googling I learned:

      The song is from the German "The Threepenny Opera" and refers to MacHeath (or Mackie Messer), who was a violent pimp. Jenny Diver. Lucy Brown and Suky Tawdry are other characters in the opera, all prostitutes. Lotte Lenya was in reality the wife of the composer of the opera, Kurt Weill and her name was attached to a character in an off-Broadway production. Louie Miller represents a would-be client of one of the prostitutes, who is murdered by MacHeath after drawing out money.

      And thus is my cultural lesson for the day.

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