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Grandeur et décadence de la ville de Mahagonny
À l'occasion de la création en 1927 à Baden-Baden, Brecht et Weill écrivent : « La petite pièce épique tire la conséquence du déclin irrésistible de la société telle qu'elle existe. Elle s'adresse déjà à un public qui réclame au théâtre naïvement son plaisir. »
74 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Bertolt Brecht
1,612 books1,935 followersEugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. A seminal theatre practitioner of the twentieth century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble—the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht and his wife and long-time collaborator, the actress Helene Weigel—with its internationally acclaimed productions.
From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Piscator and Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time."
As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense." During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. This is "theatre as collective experiment [...] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience."
There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy and Hal Hartley.
During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the Exilliteratur. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays.
From his late twenties Brecht remained a life-long committed Marxist who, in developing the combined theory and practice of his 'epic theatre', synthesized and extended the experiments of Piscator and Meyerhold to explore the theatre as a forum for political ideas and the creation of a critical aesthetics of dialectical materialism. Brecht's modernist concern with drama-as-a-medium led to his refinement of the 'epic form' of the drama (which constitutes that medium's rendering of 'autonomization' or the 'non-organic work of art'—related in kind to the strategy of divergent chapters in Joyce's novel Ulysses, to Eisenstein's evolution of a constructivist 'montage' in the cinema, and to Picasso's introduction of cubist 'collage' in the visual arts). In contrast to many other avant-garde approaches, however, Brecht had no desire to destroy art as an institution; rather, he hoped to 're-function' the apparatus of theatrical production to a new social use. In this regard he was a vital participant in the aesthetic debates of his era—particularly over the 'high art/popular culture' dichotomy—vying with the likes of Adorno, Lukács, Bloch, and developing a close friendship with Benjamin. Brechtian theatre articulated popular themes and forms with avant-garde formal experimentation to create a modernist realism that stood in sharp contrast both to its psychological and socialist varieties. "Brecht's work is the most important and original in European drama since Ibsen and Strindberg," Raymond Williams argues, while Peter Bürger insists that he is "the most important materialist writer of our time."
As Jameson among others has stressed, "Brecht is also ‘Brecht’"—collective and collaborative working methods were inherent to his approach. This 'Brecht' was a collective subject that "certainly seemed to have a distinctive style (the one we now call 'Brechtian') but was no longer personal in the bourgeois or individualistic sense." During the course of his career, Brecht sustained many long-lasting creative relationships with other writers, composers, scenographers, directors, dramaturgs and actors; the list includes: Elisabeth Hauptmann, Margarete Steffin, Ruth Berlau, Slatan Dudow, Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Paul Dessau, Caspar Neher, Teo Otto, Karl von Appen, Ernst Busch, Lotte Lenya, Peter Lorre, Therese Giehse, Angelika Hurwicz, and Helene Weigel herself. This is "theatre as collective experiment [...] as something radically different from theatre as expression or as experience."
There are few areas of modern theatrical culture that have not felt the impact or influence of Brecht's ideas and practices; dramatists and directors in whom one may trace a clear Brechtian legacy include: Dario Fo, Augusto Boal, Joan Littlewood, Peter Brook, Peter Weiss, Heiner Müller, Pina Bausch, Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill. In addition to the theatre, Brechtian theories and techniques have exerted considerable sway over certain strands of film theory and cinematic practice; Brecht's influence may be detected in the films of Joseph Losey, Jean-Luc Godard, Lindsay Anderson, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Nagisa Oshima, Ritwik Ghatak, Lars von Trier, Jan Bucquoy and Hal Hartley.
During the war years, Brecht became a prominent writer of the Exilliteratur. He expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and Fascist movements in his most famous plays.
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October 20, 2018
ساختند، خراب کردند و آوازی غمگین در دنیا باقی ماند
مارینو مارینی
فرض کنیم اتوپیای تامس مور، شهر خورشید کامپانلا و مدینه فاضله ی افلاتون واقعا وجود داشتند.ساکنین این شهرها چه روحیاتی داشتند؟ ساکنین آرمانشهر به هیچ وجه نباید تغییری در ساختار شهر و خللی در یکپارچگی اش ایجاد کنند.این وضعیت به نوعی ملال و رخوت منجر می شود و افرادی که قادر یا قائل به تغییری باشند توسط آرمانشهر معدوم می شوند .از طرفی امکان ندارد که بنای آرمانشهر جز با ریختن خون امکان پذیر باشد و هر آرمانشهری روزی توسط خود مردم نابود می شود. برتولت برشت در این اپرای کوتاه، از شروع ساخت تا نابودی یک آرمانشهر را نشان می دهد
ماهاگونی در کنار رودخانه ای که طلای زیادی در آن است بنا می شود.مردم کم کم به انجا می آیند چون جاذبه جنسی فراوان است و مشروب ارزان
حاضران نیک بدانند که قبل از هر چیز
آدمی اینجا
آزاد و به هر کار مجاز است
بعد از مدتی توفانی در حال نزدیک شدن به ماهاگونی است و همه در حال فرار از شهر هستند.مسیر حرکت توفان تغییر می کند و خطر از بیخ گوش ماهاگونی می گذرد.اما انسان از هر بلای طبیعی نابود کننده تر است
ما را به گردباد نیازی نیست
و به توفان نیز
زیرا، وحشتی که او قادر است برانگیزد
ما خود نیز قادریم برانگیزیم
بعد از رفع خطر توفان، مردم روی تابلو برای خود قوانینی عمومی می نویسند و به انجام آن ها مشغول می شوند.تا اینجا خبری از جلاد و قانونگذار و متهم نبود. ولی طبق قراردادی نانوشته همه این قوانین را می پذیرند
اولا خوردن و پر خوردن را از یاد مبر
دوما عشق و هوسبازی را
سوما مشت زنی مشت پرانی را
چهارما باده گساری را
بعد خود اهالی ماهاگونی دادگاهی درست می کنند و پاول اکرمن چوب بر-که اولین کسی بود که متوجه ملال شهر شد-را برای جرم های مختلفی مثل دعوا، فریفتن زنان و باده گساری به زندان محکوم می کنند. ولی فقط برای جرم تهیدستی و نپرداختن بدهی مشروب است که به مرگ محکوم می شود
در صحنه ی آخر اهالی شهر چند دسته شده اند و هر کدام پلاکاردی در دست دارند و چیزی شبیه انقلاب راه افتاده است. به نظر می رسد دیگر تا سقوط آرمان شهر ماهاگونی زمان زیادی نماده
مارینو مارینی
فرض کنیم اتوپیای تامس مور، شهر خورشید کامپانلا و مدینه فاضله ی افلاتون واقعا وجود داشتند.ساکنین این شهرها چه روحیاتی داشتند؟ ساکنین آرمانشهر به هیچ وجه نباید تغییری در ساختار شهر و خللی در یکپارچگی اش ایجاد کنند.این وضعیت به نوعی ملال و رخوت منجر می شود و افرادی که قادر یا قائل به تغییری باشند توسط آرمانشهر معدوم می شوند .از طرفی امکان ندارد که بنای آرمانشهر جز با ریختن خون امکان پذیر باشد و هر آرمانشهری روزی توسط خود مردم نابود می شود. برتولت برشت در این اپرای کوتاه، از شروع ساخت تا نابودی یک آرمانشهر را نشان می دهد
ماهاگونی در کنار رودخانه ای که طلای زیادی در آن است بنا می شود.مردم کم کم به انجا می آیند چون جاذبه جنسی فراوان است و مشروب ارزان
حاضران نیک بدانند که قبل از هر چیز
آدمی اینجا
آزاد و به هر کار مجاز است
بعد از مدتی توفانی در حال نزدیک شدن به ماهاگونی است و همه در حال فرار از شهر هستند.مسیر حرکت توفان تغییر می کند و خطر از بیخ گوش ماهاگونی می گذرد.اما انسان از هر بلای طبیعی نابود کننده تر است
ما را به گردباد نیازی نیست
و به توفان نیز
زیرا، وحشتی که او قادر است برانگیزد
ما خود نیز قادریم برانگیزیم
بعد از رفع خطر توفان، مردم روی تابلو برای خود قوانینی عمومی می نویسند و به انجام آن ها مشغول می شوند.تا اینجا خبری از جلاد و قانونگذار و متهم نبود. ولی طبق قراردادی نانوشته همه این قوانین را می پذیرند
اولا خوردن و پر خوردن را از یاد مبر
دوما عشق و هوسبازی را
سوما مشت زنی مشت پرانی را
چهارما باده گساری را
بعد خود اهالی ماهاگونی دادگاهی درست می کنند و پاول اکرمن چوب بر-که اولین کسی بود که متوجه ملال شهر شد-را برای جرم های مختلفی مثل دعوا، فریفتن زنان و باده گساری به زندان محکوم می کنند. ولی فقط برای جرم تهیدستی و نپرداختن بدهی مشروب است که به مرگ محکوم می شود
در صحنه ی آخر اهالی شهر چند دسته شده اند و هر کدام پلاکاردی در دست دارند و چیزی شبیه انقلاب راه افتاده است. به نظر می رسد دیگر تا سقوط آرمان شهر ماهاگونی زمان زیادی نماده
May 8, 2016
Bertolt Brecht was not interested in engaging the audience's feelings: Rather, he was after what he called the verfremdungseffekt, the alienation effect. The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny is about a Las Vegas-like city somewhere in the south, near Pensacola.
As one of the founders, Lady Begbick, predicts:
The rules of the city are simple;
As one of the founders, Lady Begbick, predicts:
We will make it a snarePoet/translator W.H. Auden calls the city "Suckerville."
Plump little birds will be eager to enter,
Everywhere men must labor and sorrow,
Only here it is fun.
For the deepest craving of man is
Not to suffer but to do as he pleases.
That is our golden secret.
Gin and whiskey,
Girls for the asking.
The rules of the city are simple;
One means to eat all you are able;In the end, the worst crime is to be indigent, to not pay your bills. For this, Jimmy Gallagher is arrested and put to death. At the end, there is a long funeral procession whose refrain is:
Two, to change your loves about;
Three means the ring and gaming table;
Four, to drink until you pass out.
Can't do anything to help a dead manSo much for capitalism, and all of us!
No one can do anything for a dead man.
November 27, 2020
لا توجد ما يُدعى ب اليوتوبيا. كل شيء مقابل المال.. حتى الحياة ذاتها
July 17, 2012
Four working stiffs from Alaska travel to a bed of sin called Mahagonny (note the word "Agony"), a town eerily prophetic of Las Vegas. The boys blow all their dough,much debauchery ensues, culminating in the death of JJ Smith by overeating, Alaskawolf Joe by a fatal TKO in the ring, and Jimmy Gallagher's sentence to death by electrocution for being broke, his hard-earned pay bankrupted by drink, gambling and women in Mah-agonny.
First performed in 1930, Mahagonny was the drama world's "Rites of Spring", prompting boos, fist fights, riots et al at its initial performance. Dark and raunchy for its time, it brought a new experience to musical theatre that was probably the most radical thing theatergoers had ever seen. Even on the printed page it packs a powerful punch, and if you're interested in seeing You Tube videos of Mahagonny I recommend the more decadent German over the more tame American production.
First performed in 1930, Mahagonny was the drama world's "Rites of Spring", prompting boos, fist fights, riots et al at its initial performance. Dark and raunchy for its time, it brought a new experience to musical theatre that was probably the most radical thing theatergoers had ever seen. Even on the printed page it packs a powerful punch, and if you're interested in seeing You Tube videos of Mahagonny I recommend the more decadent German over the more tame American production.
September 11, 2022
Le Grandeur et décadence de la ville de Mahagonny est un des plus chefs-d'œuvre de l'opéra du Vingtième siècle. C'est à voir sur la scène.
L'auteur du livret Bertolt Brecht qui se voulait un communiste engage dans la lutte des prolétaires était en réalité un bon vivant dissolu. Cet opéra raconte la naissance et la chute d'une régime bourgeois, américain et capitaliste. En fait c'est un hymne a la gloire de l'alcool, de la prostitution et la vice ce qui explique comment il a réussi à chercher un si grand public.
Attention, ce n'est pas un opéra pour toutes les venues. Mon oncle a décrit son expérience d'une représentation de Métropolitain Opéra comme étant un véritable calvaire. Par contre je l'ai vu monter par des étudiants de la faculté d'opéra de mon université dans un biergarten. C'a été une soirée magnifique.
L'auteur du livret Bertolt Brecht qui se voulait un communiste engage dans la lutte des prolétaires était en réalité un bon vivant dissolu. Cet opéra raconte la naissance et la chute d'une régime bourgeois, américain et capitaliste. En fait c'est un hymne a la gloire de l'alcool, de la prostitution et la vice ce qui explique comment il a réussi à chercher un si grand public.
Attention, ce n'est pas un opéra pour toutes les venues. Mon oncle a décrit son expérience d'une représentation de Métropolitain Opéra comme étant un véritable calvaire. Par contre je l'ai vu monter par des étudiants de la faculté d'opéra de mon université dans un biergarten. C'a été une soirée magnifique.
June 4, 2015
As a satire of capitalist societies, it's not subtle at all. But still it struck me as amusing and clever, even though I am far from sharing Brecht’s Marxist views, which he apparently already held, though somewhat unconsciously, when he wrote the text.
Mahagonny is a city in the United States run by gangsters. All that matters there is money. Life evolves around spending it for worldly pleasures or receiving it for all kinds of services. As we might expect from such a place, everything is for sale, including love and the authorities. If we think of the epoch it was written – the late twenties, when Al Capone was at his peak – Brecht’s critique may perhaps be taken a good deal seriously.
The play cannot be fully appreciated only by reading the text. As with all plays, the actors’ performances and the director’s hand matter a lot. I watched a Royal Opera House’s version in 2015 (unfortunately not alive, but at a Cinemark in my city). In this version, we see Brecht’s "distancing effect" vividly present in several scenes, like one in which the prostitute Jenny sings a romantic song while the very actress who is singing changes clothes and makeup, with all the attention focused on her, of course. This is typical Brecht. It makes impossible for the audience to forget reality and dive into the story, as is a major goal of most fictional works. Instead, the spectator is forced to retain a critical perspective by being constantly reminded that those on the stage are only actors.
But in the case of an opera (or would it be a satire of an opera?) there is also the music, and here the partnership between Brecht and the composer Kurt Weill worked fantastically. It was their intention to achieve a sharp contrast between the feeling conveyed by the melodies and the ideas conveyed by the lyrics, so sharp as to produce a comic effect. This is particularly noticeable when the people of Mahagonny sing a lofty song, one that sounds really fit for praising human glories, but with these words, wicked to the point of being ridiculous: “So get kicked in the face if you want to / As for me, I will much rather kick” (if you want to listen, take a look at the end of this teaser from the same Royal Opera House’s version I watched).
Mahagonny is a city in the United States run by gangsters. All that matters there is money. Life evolves around spending it for worldly pleasures or receiving it for all kinds of services. As we might expect from such a place, everything is for sale, including love and the authorities. If we think of the epoch it was written – the late twenties, when Al Capone was at his peak – Brecht’s critique may perhaps be taken a good deal seriously.
The play cannot be fully appreciated only by reading the text. As with all plays, the actors’ performances and the director’s hand matter a lot. I watched a Royal Opera House’s version in 2015 (unfortunately not alive, but at a Cinemark in my city). In this version, we see Brecht’s "distancing effect" vividly present in several scenes, like one in which the prostitute Jenny sings a romantic song while the very actress who is singing changes clothes and makeup, with all the attention focused on her, of course. This is typical Brecht. It makes impossible for the audience to forget reality and dive into the story, as is a major goal of most fictional works. Instead, the spectator is forced to retain a critical perspective by being constantly reminded that those on the stage are only actors.
But in the case of an opera (or would it be a satire of an opera?) there is also the music, and here the partnership between Brecht and the composer Kurt Weill worked fantastically. It was their intention to achieve a sharp contrast between the feeling conveyed by the melodies and the ideas conveyed by the lyrics, so sharp as to produce a comic effect. This is particularly noticeable when the people of Mahagonny sing a lofty song, one that sounds really fit for praising human glories, but with these words, wicked to the point of being ridiculous: “So get kicked in the face if you want to / As for me, I will much rather kick” (if you want to listen, take a look at the end of this teaser from the same Royal Opera House’s version I watched).
December 16, 2024
Ob die neun Euro die halbe Stunde die es braucht, diesen Flyer durchzulesen, gerechtfertigt sind? Ich weiß ja nicht...
April 25, 2021
أوبرا مسرحية معبرة للشاعر والمسرحي الألماني برتولت برشت بعنوان "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny" التي عرضت لأول مرة سنة ١٩٣٠، وقد عُنِيَ المركز القومي للترجمة في مصر بنقل نص المسرحية إلى العربية بعنوان "أوبرا ماهاجوني"، حيث تصدى لترجمة النص باقتدار عبد الغفار مكاوي وقام أيضا بكتابة مقدمة نقدية ثرية وإضافة ملحق عن تاريخ وفكرة اليوتوبيا، وتلك إضافة برأيي قيمة للقارئ المهتم.
إزدهر الانتاج الأدبي للمسرحي والشاعر الألماني اليساري الماركسي برتولت برشت في النصف الأول من القرن العشرين حيث كان أحد أهم رواد المسرح الملحمي في أوروبا والغرب، وقد قسم أبرز النقاد حياة برشت الأدبية من حيث الأفكار والأساليب التي تميزت بها انتاجاته إلى ثلاث مراحل: المرحلة التعبيرية، المرحلة التعليمية والمرحلة الناضجة.
أوبرا ماهاجوني أو "صعود وسقوط ماهاجوني" تعد من إنتاجات برشت في ما يسمى بالمرحلة (أو الحقبة) التعليمية، حيث تميزت بمحاولة بث الوعي لحجم الفساد الذي تضمنه النموذج الرأسمالي بتجسيد ذلك الفساد وصُناعِه في أعماله الأدبية الجادة منها والساخرة (الكوميديا السوداء)، ومن ثم الكشف عن المآلات السوداوية لتلك المجتمعات والنظم كما تنبأ لها ماركس (بأن الرأسمالية تحمل بذور الخراب داخلها والتي ستتسب في نهاية الأمر بدمارها الذاتي ليحل محلها النموذج الاقتصادي والإجتماعي الأكثر عدالة وانسانية).
وقد كانت أوبرا ماهاجوني تصويرا حيا لوهم اليوتوبيا الرأسمالية (حيث السعادة والحرية المنفلته الموعودة وحيث كل شيء يشترى ويباع بالمال) وقد عبر عنها في سياق تطور الحبكة المسرحية بالشعار الذي تبنته مدينة ماهاجوني تساوقا مع أفكار بطلها ونفعية مؤسسيها (المجرمين الثلاثة):
" في البدء يأتي الأكل والطعام،
ثانيا .. العشق والغرام
تتلوها الملاكمة!
والشرب - طبق العقد - والمنادمة.
لكنما المهم والأهم يا رجال
تذكروا على الدوام
وإذكروا في كل حال
هنا يباح كل شيء للجميع
كل شيء عندنا حلال .."
غير أنه لا يلبث سراب تلك اليوتوبيا الزائفة أن ينقشع ليبرز نموذج نقيض اليوتوبيا الذي أراد له برشت أن ينجلي ليوضح لمشاهده زيف الرأسمالية وحجم شرورها وشراستها، فالمال يغدوا القيمة الأولى عند أفرد تلك المدينة الموبوء، فهو أهم من الصداقة والحب والعدل والأخلاق وأهم من الخالق، والفقر في عرف ماهاجوني يغدو الجريمة التي لا تغتفر ولا يمكن تبريرها فالقاتل بريء اذا دفع والساقط شريف اذا دفع، أما عقوبة الافلاس وعدم القدرة على الدفع فهي الإعدام (كما أوردها برشت في المشاهد الأخيرة لبطل المسرحية باول أكرمان -الذي أوحى لهذه المدينة بدستورها القائم على المال واللذة- والذي حكم عليه بالإعدام - في رمزية للواقع الرأسمالي المزري- لعدم قدرته على دفع فاتورته لصاحب الحانة) وفي النصوص التالية دلالت ومضامين معبرة عن الفكرة حَمِّلَهَا برشت عرضه:
في لافتة عرض عرضها لجمهور مسرحيته كتب عليها:
"إعدام باول أكرمان وموته. قد يستنكر القراء أو المشاهدون إعدام باول أكرمان في المنظر التالي. ولكنهم في رأينا لم يكونوا ليتبرعو بدفع الحساب عنه. هكذا بلغ إحترام المال في عصرنا .."
ونص آخر على لسان الجوقة:
"في البر والبحر
يسلخ جلد الناس
لأجل هذا يجلسون طول الليل والنهار
ويعرضون جلدهم لعابري السبيل والتجار
لأن جلدهم بضاعة توزن بالدولار!"
وعلى لسان هينريش (صديق عمر باول) وباول يطلب منه اقراضه ١٠٠ دولار لينقذ عنقه من حبل المشنقة:
"باولي، أنت قريب مني، لكن نقودي شيء آخر مختلف عني."
قد يرى قارئ هذا النص أن هناك نقدا مبطنا موجه للنموذج الرأسمالي الفاحش الأمريكي تحديدا وقد يختلف آخرون، غير أن الفكرة العامة في نقد الإعلاء (الحاصل في عموم الغرب الرأسمالي) من شأن قيم المال والفردانية وشهوة التملك وقهر المستضعفين إبان عصر الحداثة الغربي (القرن التاسع عشر والنصف الأول من القرن العشرين)، المستضعفين الذين -كما صورهم برشت- لم يعوا هذا التوغل الرأسمالي البرجوازي بل تأثرو بدعايته وانخرط بعضهم فيه لدرجة التمثل والمماهاة كما في حال الحطاب باول والقول على لسانه "كما يوسد الإنسان نفسه ينام، ولن يغطيك سواك، لن يقيك البرد والظلام. كلما داس أحد، فأنا ذاك الهمام، وكلما ديس أحد فهو أنت .. في الرغام."والمشهد الختامي الصادم للمظاهرات العبثية والشعارات اللاأخلاقية المنادية بعلو قيمة المادة والشهوات على قيمة الذات البشرية، فالأوبرا كما يرها ويقدمها برشت ليست تلك التقليدية (أو كما أسماها برشت "المطبخية") التي تقدم لوحات فنية من كلمات وموسيقى تستسيغها الذائقة البرجوازية، وانما الأوبرا الواقعية التي تقرن الجانب الفني برسائل النقد وجرعات الوعي وحوافز تغيير الواقع البائس.
رغم أن الرأسمالية لم تقوض اقتصاديا كما تنبأ ماركس في القرن التاسع عشر أو كما آمن برشت في القرن العشرين إلا أنها تقوضت واقعا على الصعيدين الأخلاقي والإجتماعي وأصبحت ضرورة التغيير صراع بقاء للاغلبية المقهورة الرازحة في الفقر مقابل الأقلية القليلة المتحكمة بالثروات وأدوات السلطة.
ختاما أرى أن انتاج برشت الأدبي المسرحي والشعري يجب التوقف عنده لما له من قيمة فنية وفكرية نوعية، عبرت عن تباينات عصر مضطرم وآمال وطموحات أصيلة ومحاولات حثيثة للتغيير إلى الأسمى.
إزدهر الانتاج الأدبي للمسرحي والشاعر الألماني اليساري الماركسي برتولت برشت في النصف الأول من القرن العشرين حيث كان أحد أهم رواد المسرح الملحمي في أوروبا والغرب، وقد قسم أبرز النقاد حياة برشت الأدبية من حيث الأفكار والأساليب التي تميزت بها انتاجاته إلى ثلاث مراحل: المرحلة التعبيرية، المرحلة التعليمية والمرحلة الناضجة.
أوبرا ماهاجوني أو "صعود وسقوط ماهاجوني" تعد من إنتاجات برشت في ما يسمى بالمرحلة (أو الحقبة) التعليمية، حيث تميزت بمحاولة بث الوعي لحجم الفساد الذي تضمنه النموذج الرأسمالي بتجسيد ذلك الفساد وصُناعِه في أعماله الأدبية الجادة منها والساخرة (الكوميديا السوداء)، ومن ثم الكشف عن المآلات السوداوية لتلك المجتمعات والنظم كما تنبأ لها ماركس (بأن الرأسمالية تحمل بذور الخراب داخلها والتي ستتسب في نهاية الأمر بدمارها الذاتي ليحل محلها النموذج الاقتصادي والإجتماعي الأكثر عدالة وانسانية).
وقد كانت أوبرا ماهاجوني تصويرا حيا لوهم اليوتوبيا الرأسمالية (حيث السعادة والحرية المنفلته الموعودة وحيث كل شيء يشترى ويباع بالمال) وقد عبر عنها في سياق تطور الحبكة المسرحية بالشعار الذي تبنته مدينة ماهاجوني تساوقا مع أفكار بطلها ونفعية مؤسسيها (المجرمين الثلاثة):
" في البدء يأتي الأكل والطعام،
ثانيا .. العشق والغرام
تتلوها الملاكمة!
والشرب - طبق العقد - والمنادمة.
لكنما المهم والأهم يا رجال
تذكروا على الدوام
وإذكروا في كل حال
هنا يباح كل شيء للجميع
كل شيء عندنا حلال .."
غير أنه لا يلبث سراب تلك اليوتوبيا الزائفة أن ينقشع ليبرز نموذج نقيض اليوتوبيا الذي أراد له برشت أن ينجلي ليوضح لمشاهده زيف الرأسمالية وحجم شرورها وشراستها، فالمال يغدوا القيمة الأولى عند أفرد تلك المدينة الموبوء، فهو أهم من الصداقة والحب والعدل والأخلاق وأهم من الخالق، والفقر في عرف ماهاجوني يغدو الجريمة التي لا تغتفر ولا يمكن تبريرها فالقاتل بريء اذا دفع والساقط شريف اذا دفع، أما عقوبة الافلاس وعدم القدرة على الدفع فهي الإعدام (كما أوردها برشت في المشاهد الأخيرة لبطل المسرحية باول أكرمان -الذي أوحى لهذه المدينة بدستورها القائم على المال واللذة- والذي حكم عليه بالإعدام - في رمزية للواقع الرأسمالي المزري- لعدم قدرته على دفع فاتورته لصاحب الحانة) وفي النصوص التالية دلالت ومضامين معبرة عن الفكرة حَمِّلَهَا برشت عرضه:
في لافتة عرض عرضها لجمهور مسرحيته كتب عليها:
"إعدام باول أكرمان وموته. قد يستنكر القراء أو المشاهدون إعدام باول أكرمان في المنظر التالي. ولكنهم في رأينا لم يكونوا ليتبرعو بدفع الحساب عنه. هكذا بلغ إحترام المال في عصرنا .."
ونص آخر على لسان الجوقة:
"في البر والبحر
يسلخ جلد الناس
لأجل هذا يجلسون طول الليل والنهار
ويعرضون جلدهم لعابري السبيل والتجار
لأن جلدهم بضاعة توزن بالدولار!"
وعلى لسان هينريش (صديق عمر باول) وباول يطلب منه اقراضه ١٠٠ دولار لينقذ عنقه من حبل المشنقة:
"باولي، أنت قريب مني، لكن نقودي شيء آخر مختلف عني."
قد يرى قارئ هذا النص أن هناك نقدا مبطنا موجه للنموذج الرأسمالي الفاحش الأمريكي تحديدا وقد يختلف آخرون، غير أن الفكرة العامة في نقد الإعلاء (الحاصل في عموم الغرب الرأسمالي) من شأن قيم المال والفردانية وشهوة التملك وقهر المستضعفين إبان عصر الحداثة الغربي (القرن التاسع عشر والنصف الأول من القرن العشرين)، المستضعفين الذين -كما صورهم برشت- لم يعوا هذا التوغل الرأسمالي البرجوازي بل تأثرو بدعايته وانخرط بعضهم فيه لدرجة التمثل والمماهاة كما في حال الحطاب باول والقول على لسانه "كما يوسد الإنسان نفسه ينام، ولن يغطيك سواك، لن يقيك البرد والظلام. كلما داس أحد، فأنا ذاك الهمام، وكلما ديس أحد فهو أنت .. في الرغام."والمشهد الختامي الصادم للمظاهرات العبثية والشعارات اللاأخلاقية المنادية بعلو قيمة المادة والشهوات على قيمة الذات البشرية، فالأوبرا كما يرها ويقدمها برشت ليست تلك التقليدية (أو كما أسماها برشت "المطبخية") التي تقدم لوحات فنية من كلمات وموسيقى تستسيغها الذائقة البرجوازية، وانما الأوبرا الواقعية التي تقرن الجانب الفني برسائل النقد وجرعات الوعي وحوافز تغيير الواقع البائس.
رغم أن الرأسمالية لم تقوض اقتصاديا كما تنبأ ماركس في القرن التاسع عشر أو كما آمن برشت في القرن العشرين إلا أنها تقوضت واقعا على الصعيدين الأخلاقي والإجتماعي وأصبحت ضرورة التغيير صراع بقاء للاغلبية المقهورة الرازحة في الفقر مقابل الأقلية القليلة المتحكمة بالثروات وأدوات السلطة.
ختاما أرى أن انتاج برشت الأدبي المسرحي والشعري يجب التوقف عنده لما له من قيمة فنية وفكرية نوعية، عبرت عن تباينات عصر مضطرم وآمال وطموحات أصيلة ومحاولات حثيثة للتغيير إلى الأسمى.
July 12, 2023
*أصحابي، يا أصحابي
يا خلان
من قال بأن لدي الرغبة
أن أصبح هذا الإنسان؟*
"لذا فهيا نقيم
هنا أساس مدينة
لندْعُ ها مدينَة الشِّباك
تصيد كل طائر يمر
ولحمه اللذيذ لا يضر!
إن كان حظ الجميع
هو الضنا والكفاح
فعندنا الأفراح.
وكل شيء مباح,
وكل شيء متاح
بالذهب الرنان."
رجلين, فيللي وموسي، وامرأة ،الارملة بيجبيك، في طريق سفرهم يقررون إنشاء مدينة الذهب ماهاجوني حيث الفرحة والسعادة والمتعة بدون عمل أو أي شئ فقط خمر ونساء بعيداً عن صوضاء العالم.
"نحيا ولم نزل
في وحلها نسير
في نيرْها ندور
نسعى بلا أمل،
ونعرف المصير،
وسوف ننتهي
وينتهي الزمن
بهذه المدن
للموت والعفن."
يبدأ استقبال القادمون من نساء، جيني وفتياتها، وأهم شخصيات المسرحية باول وهينريش وياكوب وجوزيف...... 4 حطابون قادمون من الاسكا بعد تعب وعناء لجمع الأموال لمدة 7 سنوات.
"فانظر هذا هو كل المجد
وهذا ما كنت تسمِّيه الخير،
يوضع في كيس أسود،
أو كيس بنيٍّ؛
كي يحمله الزبال البائس
أو يحمله السجَّان
للجبانة أو للحان!"
ماذا سيكون مصير كلا من هؤلاء الأربعة ومدينة الذهب ماهاجوني؟ هل يستطيع الإنسان أن يعيش ليأكل ويشرب فقط؟
"أحيانًا تخطر يلي الفكرة
لمَ لا ألتهم قلنسوتي؟
ويُخيَّل لي أني متخم،
وأسائل نفسي أيحرَّم
أن يبلع رجل قبعته؟
إن ضقتُ وضاقت بي الدنيا
وسئمت سئمت فلا ألقى
شيئًا أفعله بالمرَّة!"
والآن مللتُ ولا يعجبني الحال
ولن أُخفي السر
فى ماهاجوني لا يحدث شيء
لا يحدث شيء،
هذا هو كل الأمر!
NB الكاتب كان اشتراكي وده حاجة متزعلنيش اوي 😂😂 انما انه اهان الاوبرا الكلاسيك وقال انها اوبرا مطبخية ده اللي زعلتني 😂
يا خلان
من قال بأن لدي الرغبة
أن أصبح هذا الإنسان؟*
"لذا فهيا نقيم
هنا أساس مدينة
لندْعُ ها مدينَة الشِّباك
تصيد كل طائر يمر
ولحمه اللذيذ لا يضر!
إن كان حظ الجميع
هو الضنا والكفاح
فعندنا الأفراح.
وكل شيء مباح,
وكل شيء متاح
بالذهب الرنان."
رجلين, فيللي وموسي، وامرأة ،الارملة بيجبيك، في طريق سفرهم يقررون إنشاء مدينة الذهب ماهاجوني حيث الفرحة والسعادة والمتعة بدون عمل أو أي شئ فقط خمر ونساء بعيداً عن صوضاء العالم.
"نحيا ولم نزل
في وحلها نسير
في نيرْها ندور
نسعى بلا أمل،
ونعرف المصير،
وسوف ننتهي
وينتهي الزمن
بهذه المدن
للموت والعفن."
يبدأ استقبال القادمون من نساء، جيني وفتياتها، وأهم شخصيات المسرحية باول وهينريش وياكوب وجوزيف...... 4 حطابون قادمون من الاسكا بعد تعب وعناء لجمع الأموال لمدة 7 سنوات.
"فانظر هذا هو كل المجد
وهذا ما كنت تسمِّيه الخير،
يوضع في كيس أسود،
أو كيس بنيٍّ؛
كي يحمله الزبال البائس
أو يحمله السجَّان
للجبانة أو للحان!"
ماذا سيكون مصير كلا من هؤلاء الأربعة ومدينة الذهب ماهاجوني؟ هل يستطيع الإنسان أن يعيش ليأكل ويشرب فقط؟
"أحيانًا تخطر يلي الفكرة
لمَ لا ألتهم قلنسوتي؟
ويُخيَّل لي أني متخم،
وأسائل نفسي أيحرَّم
أن يبلع رجل قبعته؟
إن ضقتُ وضاقت بي الدنيا
وسئمت سئمت فلا ألقى
شيئًا أفعله بالمرَّة!"
والآن مللتُ ولا يعجبني الحال
ولن أُخفي السر
فى ماهاجوني لا يحدث شيء
لا يحدث شيء،
هذا هو كل الأمر!
NB الكاتب كان اشتراكي وده حاجة متزعلنيش اوي 😂😂 انما انه اهان الاوبرا الكلاسيك وقال انها اوبرا مطبخية ده اللي زعلتني 😂
September 23, 2024
One of the most entertaining Brecht plays I have yet read, with excellent songs, and a powerful atmosphere of fabular dissolution that works extremely well in getting across the social message of the work. In many ways I prefer this play to the more famous Threepenny Opera that I also recently read. It is also a great delight to finally discover the source of the 'Alabama Song' that I first heard on the first album of The Doors so many years ago!
The second play presented here is very short and also very amusing.
The second play presented here is very short and also very amusing.
Currently reading
August 29, 2008this is re - read and I re watch of the Salzburg Festival Performance available
at dowtown library, read half sitting in the isle my shoes off and some cops lingering
around thought they were gonna arrest me for my stinky feet, want to perform
this as a one person show in one room with one bucket for a prop (for the water of
the hurricane) - if this is ever performed go, also picked up the Jameson text on
Brecht bit thick though that too is a re-read. Berlin in the 20's...
at dowtown library, read half sitting in the isle my shoes off and some cops lingering
around thought they were gonna arrest me for my stinky feet, want to perform
this as a one person show in one room with one bucket for a prop (for the water of
the hurricane) - if this is ever performed go, also picked up the Jameson text on
Brecht bit thick though that too is a re-read. Berlin in the 20's...
October 3, 2020
ماهاجوني قد تبدو لساكنيها في فترة ما أنها يوتوبيا، فهناك بإمكان المرء فعل ما يريد؛ لكن ماذا لو كان ما يريده المرء يسبب ضررًا لآخر؟ وهل في يوتوبيا سيُحكم على الجميع بالعدل إذا ارتكبوا الجرائم أم سيكون للمال رأي آخر؟
*كنت أقرؤها كأنني أغني...
*كنت أقرؤها كأنني أغني...
October 24, 2021
"in the whole human race / there is no greater criminal / than a man without money"
June 30, 2022
Ya solo por 'Die Dreigroschenoper' se merece las 5 estrellas todo este volumen.
May 27, 2024
I’m sure this would be better with its accompanying music.
May 22, 2025
Die eigentliche Handlung ist amüsant, wenn auch ziemlich seltsam und verwirrend, aber hui! was dahinter steckt, gerade die Neuerungen Brechts, die in dieser Oper auftauchen sind beachtlich! Je länger man nachdenkt über das geschriebene ist das Kulinarische schmackhafter und schmackhafter!
March 26, 2007
اغلب اثار برتولد برشت به فارسی برگردانده شده؛ "سقراط مجروح" کیکاووس جهانداری / "در انبوه شهرها" عبدالرحمن صدریه / "استثناء و قاعده" محمود اعتماد زاده(م. به آذین) / "ان که گفت آری و آن که گفت نه" مصطفی رحیمی / زندگانی گالیله (گالیله ئو گالیله ئی) عبدالرحیم احمدی / "ترس و نکبت رایش سوم" شریف لنکرانی / "ننه دلاور و فرزندان او" مصطفی رحیمی / "آدم، آدم است" دو ترجمه از شریف لنکرانی و امین موید / "بچه فیل" و استنطاق لوکولوس" شریف لنکرانی / "زن نیک سچوان" دو ترجمه از فریده ی لاشایی و مهدی زمانیان / "دایره گچی قفقازی" دو ترجمه از حمید سمندریان و امین موید / "چهره های سیمون ماشار" دو ترجمه از عبدالرحمن صدریه و شریف لنکرانی / "داستان های آقای کوینر" سعید ایمانی / "داستان یک پولی"(اپرای یک پولی) هوشنگ پیرنظر / "تفنگ های ننه کارار" دو ترجمه از فریدون ایل بیگی و شریف لنکرانی / "ارباب پونتیلا و نوکرش مه آتی" سه ترجمه از عبدالرحمن صدریه، فریده ی لاشایی و رضا کرم رضایی / "درباره ی تیاتر" منیزه کامیاب و حسن بایرامی / "هیولا" همایون نوراحمر / "مادر" منیژه کامیاب و حسن بایرامی / "کله گردها و کله تیزها" بهروز مشیری / "بعل" خشایار قائم مقامی / "پیرزنی که پیر نمی نمود" کامران فانی / "گفتگوی فراریان" خشایار قائم مقامی / "اقداماتی علیه زور" ناصر صفایی / "حیوان محبوب آقای کوینر" / ناصر صفایی / "اگر کوسه ماهی ها آدم بودند" بهروز تاجور / "شوایک در جنگ جهانی دوم" دو ترجمه؛ حمید علوی، فرامرز بهزاد / "عظمت و انحطاط شهر ماهاگونی" مهدی اسفندیارفرد / "قطعه آموزشی" مینو ملک خانی / "اندیشه های متی" عبدالله کوثری / "محاکمه ی ژاندارک در روان" عبدالله کوثری / "صلیب گچی" سیاوش بیدارفکر / "قیمت آهن چنده" رضا کرم رضایی / "کریولانوس" مهدی تقوی / "اپرای سه پولی" علی اکبر خداپرست / "ژان مقدس کشتارگاه" دو ترجمه از جواد شمس و ابوالحسن ونده ور / "صعود مقاومت پذیر ارتورو اویی" افرویدون / "زندگی تیاتری من" فریدون ناظری / "روزهای کمون" کاووسی (فریده لاشایی) /"درباره تیاتر" فرامرز بهزاد / و بسیاری دیگر از آثار نوشتاری و مجموعه ی اشعار برشت
July 9, 2008
A wonderful seemingly lesser know Brecht stage of the power of money and the evils and controls when corruption is the system. While the script itself merits a read, the production and music is what allows this to ascend to a great work. Kurt Weill and Brecht combine to use ragtime and jazz to set a oddly enjoyable rhythms to the jarring nature of the play. Also note the influence of the Alabama Song covered by the Doors. Oh don't ask why.
August 24, 2019
A rough, feminized city contrived from the dirt of the American South by whorish entrepreneurs is juxtaposed against a masculine Northern idyll for which the social bonding agent is the obsessive pursuit of raw capital: and between the two, a nauseating, degenerating symbiosis... Nevertheless, the tunes cause us to whistle into the graveyard, for "I tell you we must die."
February 26, 2019
مسرحية جميلة عن جدوى المال و بها اسقاط واضح علي امريكا ، مجملا لطيفة
June 29, 2019
الحقيقة مقدرتش استمتع بها زي ما استمتع بأعمال أخرى لبريخت، لكن ده ميقولش إنها مش حلوة.
ماهاجوني، مدينة المتع والسعادة "فكل شيء متاح" (يؤكد.. "كل شيء"). ولكنك يمكن أن تشنق إن لم تدفع الحساب.
ماهاجوني، مدينة المتع والسعادة "فكل شيء متاح" (يؤكد.. "كل شيء"). ولكنك يمكن أن تشنق إن لم تدفع الحساب.
June 20, 2024
April the 22rst in the Year of our Lord 2024.
Why am I doing this to myself? I went to the Greek National Opera to see Kurt Weill's -Bertolt Brecht's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. I went prepared to see this, and I quote:
The work describes the rise and fall of a city built for profit and pleasure, and is a critique of the capitalist system, as considered from within the ideological framework of interwar Germany’s Weimar Republic.
But it wasn't about that. And don't get me wrong. The music was phenomenal. Sets and costumes magnificent. The singers divine. But the story didn't make any sense. A city built for profit and pleasure inhabited by lumberjacks who chopped trees for seven years and got loaded with money? In what universe? Where are these Alaskan forests and did they have trees with branches and trunks made of gold or something? Take me there please and I promise I will put my money in good use because my desire is for books and enough free time to read them. Because nothing in this city of Mahagonny generates money and this is not how capitalism works, if we were to assume that Brecht's criticism points towards this direction.
Mahagonny is neither an Utopia nor a Dystopia it seems more like a Biblical Sin City. Did Brecht want to describe a modern era Babylon? If so then he failed miserably. Poor folk suffering from rich man's ennui? Really? In what universe? Did I miss something?
So this is not a review. I will take the time to study and collect material to understand and then I will come back here to write a proper review. I just wanted to document the angst this terrible libretto has caused me, damn you Brecht, I mistook you for somebody else.
The rating is indicative of my current mood. I'll change in due time. I was prepared to see the work of a Marxist. I ended up confronting the absurdities of a religionless religious fanatic.
I'm desperate for some context.
Update Sunday June 16th 2024
With all this unbearable heat it's so hard for me to think properly and do my research. So far I managed to complete a general historical context that doesn't directly connect with the opera Mahagonny but it was necessary for me to understand the environment that created Brecht the author. My next step is to read and try to understand the Brechtian works that predate the creation of the opera, since I fell into this rabbit hole I must remain calm and hydrated.
The German unification ensued after three wars (1864 -1871) against Denmark, Austria and France. What came to be known as Second Reich, (the First Reich having been disbanded by Napoleon in 1806) was founded on January 18th 1871, at the Palace of Versailles. Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern, was proclaimed Emperor (Kaiser) and Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia, became Reich Chancellor, head of government, until his dismissal in 1890. At first, this seemed as a time of profound prosperity and progress due to:
The general optimism engendered by the long rise in output during preceding decades, the exhilaration following victory over France and fulfillment of national unity [...] optimism, speculation and fraud were rampand as millions of citizens from scullery maids to titled aristocrats gambled in securities.
Source: Otto Pflanze, Bismarck and the Development of Germany, Volume II, The Period of Consolidation, 1871-1880, Princeton University Press 2014
But soon everything came to a halt because Poco dura de'matti la festa:
The bubble of what was known as Gründerzeit (founder's years) burst in 1873, when a collapse of confidence brought an inevitable economic crush [...] depression set in with worsening economic conditions for many Germans. With the competition of cheap foreign grain, as well as manufactured goods, both industrialists and landowners began to clamour for import tariffs. The shift to protectionism was consolidated in 1879, with the introduction of tariffs and indirect taxes [...] The crush of 1873 also stimulated a revival of anti-semitism in Germany [...] claiming that external enemies were being aided by an "enemy within" Bismarck launched a sustained and wide- ranging attack on Catholicism [...] the new conservatism of 1880s was accompanied by a double pronged strategy in relation to socialism and the working class [...] at the same time as the socialists were being politically persecuted, quite progressive social insurance legislation was being exacted.
Source: Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany, Cambridge University Press 2019
In practice the working class received pennies to keep quiet:
Bismarck's social policy has traditionally been considered from the public law perspective, the first step towards the construction of the welfare state. In fact this is technically incorrect, as the Second Reich never actually implemented a system of public welfare sustained by taxpayers, but only obliged private citizens to take out concrete insurance policies. It is clear, however, that Bismarck's social policy set an important precedent, because from a political perspective [...] the welfare state arose less as the result of worker's victories over employers than from initiatives by conservative governments to guarantee social accord by implementing cross- class concessions.
Source: Heikki Pihlajamäki, Mark Godfrey, Markus D. Dubber, The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History1, OUP Oxford 2018
What was peculiar to Germany was that the processes of nation building, industrialization, urbanization and many other features of modernization were compressed into so short a period of time that they became more of less simultaneous. Therefore there were exceptional problems and stresses. In many countries the growth of a numerous class of industrial workers, the proletariat, led to the rise of socialist parties and trade unions, but in Germany political socialism grew in importance before trade unionism and confronted middle class liberalism before the latter had a chance fully to assert itself. Middle class liberals felt challenged by the threat from the proletariat before liberalism had completed triumphed, which it never did. This explains much about the rightward turn of liberals as well as about the illiberalism of the increasingly numerous white collar workers.
Source: Edgar Feuchtwanger, Imperial Germany 1850-1918, Taylor & Francis 2002
The national unity was thus forced and rushed, most unifying attempts favored assimilatation instead of integration and any resistance was more or less crushed under the iron feast of the Reich's austere leadership eager to create internal and external enemies.
Bismarck [...] focused on internal enemies against whom he could unite the majority of the German population. The new state now encompassed many ethic minorities against which Bismarck could create the contrast of German citizenship. When compared to a Frenchman, Germans would see themselves as Germans rather than Bavarians or Prussians. By secularising German society, Bismarck sought to replace religion with national sentiment, thereby creating new identity references and reducing differences between Germans. Lastly the internationalism of the socialist movement seemed a dangerous counter-current to national identity.
When Wilhelm II took to the throne in 1888, the tumultuous year of the three Emperors, he quickly clashed with Bismarck over the issue of German unity. He recognized the same problem - economic and cultural common ground would not be enough to hold the second Reich together- but found Bismarck's solution of Germans battling each other abhorrent. Wilhelm wanted to be the Kaiser of all Germans, beloved by his subjects. If his grandfather Wilhelm I refused to be the incarnation of Friedrich Barbarossa, it would fall to him to lead his people back to greatness. Instead of looking for enemies within the Reich, he argued, Germany must fight for its place among the great nations externally.
Source: Katja Hoyer, Blood and Iron, The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871–1918, History Press 2021
Germany's incapacity to resolve and de-escalate crises was a recipe for disaster. When a situation is critical, seeking for scapegoats or taking a self righteous stance villyfying others can only lead to further divide inside and outside a state. The German working class, lacking the means to negociate with the power of elites and corporations, was caught between Scylla and Charybdis, no actual results could come neither from their desultory sympathizers nor from their delusional government officials and employers. But they had an abundance of breadcrumbs... provided they behaved themselves. Loyalty, obedience and order at all costs was Second Reich's categorical imperative. Everything was clean and tidy because all the mess was swept under the rug:
Ray Stannard Baker , an American traveler to Germany at the turn of the century, exclaimed: " From the moment of landing on German soil , the American begins to feel a certain spirit of repression which seems to pervade the land. Intellectually and visibly struck by the omnipresent guiding and rather militaristic hand of the German government - erect, militarily dressed and heavily armed policemen on nearly every corner, statues and sculptures honoring and commemorating German leaders and soldiers o the rooftops of city buildings, in public parks, at important and sometimes unimportant intersections and uniformed soldiers constantly on drill or parade - Baker concluded that he never before knew "what it really means to be governed" and that he agreed with the sarcastic remark of a German socialist who had said: "It takes half of all the Germans to control the other half".
More vexing of all to Baker were the ever- visible signs posting the comprehensive government and police regulations that seemed to deal with nearly all forms of human behavior, prescribing what was allowed and more often prescribing what was verboten. Feeling the "wild west in me slowly suffocating" he eventually came to amuse himself by making a curious game of trying to discover what was not yet forbidden but no doubt, soon would be.
Source: Eric A. Johnson, Urbanization and Crime, Germany 1871-1914, Cambridge University Press 2002
For the artists under such a paternalistic regime there were two options, they could either comply and work to keep their audience entertained or react and oppose against the regime:
The art scene also experienced Dramatic upheaval. Both in Berlin and Munich artists rebelled against the conservative art establishment and seceded from the Association of German Artists. In Berlin in 1898 a group of the modernists including Max Liebermann (1847- 1936), Max Slevogt (1868 – 1932), Lovis Corinth (1856 – 1925) and Käthe Kollwitz (1867- 1945) challenged the Association by holding an independent exhibition of art. In fur course the Secessionists, as they called themselves, broke into rival groups, the most famous of which were the Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke.
Literature and poetry ceased to give a uniform message. Some poets and writers like Stefan George (1868 – 1933) advocated the retreat to the inner self, while others, like Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955) in Buddenbrooks, explored the fragility of the bourgeois world or else like his brother Heinrich Mann (1871-1951), Carl Sternheim (1878 - 1942) and Ludwig Thoma (1867 - 1921), the hypocrisy of Wilhelmine Germany. this message of increasing diversity and uncertainty was reinforced by contemporary science. The work of Heinrich Hertz ( 1857 – 1894) on electric waves, Wilhelm Röntgen (1845 - 1923) on X-rays and Einstein's potentially revolutionary idea that radiation consisted of totally independent particles of energy destroyed the old ideas of a static universe and led to questioning whether there were actually any laws of nature. Like the writes znd artists, scientists were coming to the conclusion that everything was relative.
These literary and artistic experiments were not widely understood by the general public. Wilhelm II who showed great interests in modern developments in science and engineering lost few opportunities to denounce modern art as "loathsome" or un-German and the authorities at his instigation attempted to stop the Secessionists's work being exhibited at 1904 World Fair, in St Louis, USA. The Kaiser and the traditionalists, were, however, fighting a losing battle. The Reichstag condemned his meddling, and in the words of the SPD deputy, Paul Stinger (1844 - 1911) declined "to have a republic of the arts with Wilhelm at its head". Above all, two factors combined to defeat efforts by the artistic establishment to suppress the modernist movement: The federal nature of Germany ensured that if pressure on an artist or director of an art gallery in Berlin, for example, became too intimidating, Munich, Stuttgart or Dresden might well be more accommodating and, similarly, playwrights could circumvent a ban on their work by having it performed privately.
Source: David G. Williamson, Germany Since 1789, A Nation Forged and Renewed, Bloomsbury Publishing 2015
Why am I doing this to myself? I went to the Greek National Opera to see Kurt Weill's -Bertolt Brecht's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. I went prepared to see this, and I quote:
The work describes the rise and fall of a city built for profit and pleasure, and is a critique of the capitalist system, as considered from within the ideological framework of interwar Germany’s Weimar Republic.
But it wasn't about that. And don't get me wrong. The music was phenomenal. Sets and costumes magnificent. The singers divine. But the story didn't make any sense. A city built for profit and pleasure inhabited by lumberjacks who chopped trees for seven years and got loaded with money? In what universe? Where are these Alaskan forests and did they have trees with branches and trunks made of gold or something? Take me there please and I promise I will put my money in good use because my desire is for books and enough free time to read them. Because nothing in this city of Mahagonny generates money and this is not how capitalism works, if we were to assume that Brecht's criticism points towards this direction.
Mahagonny is neither an Utopia nor a Dystopia it seems more like a Biblical Sin City. Did Brecht want to describe a modern era Babylon? If so then he failed miserably. Poor folk suffering from rich man's ennui? Really? In what universe? Did I miss something?
So this is not a review. I will take the time to study and collect material to understand and then I will come back here to write a proper review. I just wanted to document the angst this terrible libretto has caused me, damn you Brecht, I mistook you for somebody else.
The rating is indicative of my current mood. I'll change in due time. I was prepared to see the work of a Marxist. I ended up confronting the absurdities of a religionless religious fanatic.
I'm desperate for some context.
Update Sunday June 16th 2024
With all this unbearable heat it's so hard for me to think properly and do my research. So far I managed to complete a general historical context that doesn't directly connect with the opera Mahagonny but it was necessary for me to understand the environment that created Brecht the author. My next step is to read and try to understand the Brechtian works that predate the creation of the opera, since I fell into this rabbit hole I must remain calm and hydrated.
The German unification ensued after three wars (1864 -1871) against Denmark, Austria and France. What came to be known as Second Reich, (the First Reich having been disbanded by Napoleon in 1806) was founded on January 18th 1871, at the Palace of Versailles. Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern, was proclaimed Emperor (Kaiser) and Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia, became Reich Chancellor, head of government, until his dismissal in 1890. At first, this seemed as a time of profound prosperity and progress due to:
The general optimism engendered by the long rise in output during preceding decades, the exhilaration following victory over France and fulfillment of national unity [...] optimism, speculation and fraud were rampand as millions of citizens from scullery maids to titled aristocrats gambled in securities.
Source: Otto Pflanze, Bismarck and the Development of Germany, Volume II, The Period of Consolidation, 1871-1880, Princeton University Press 2014
But soon everything came to a halt because Poco dura de'matti la festa:
The bubble of what was known as Gründerzeit (founder's years) burst in 1873, when a collapse of confidence brought an inevitable economic crush [...] depression set in with worsening economic conditions for many Germans. With the competition of cheap foreign grain, as well as manufactured goods, both industrialists and landowners began to clamour for import tariffs. The shift to protectionism was consolidated in 1879, with the introduction of tariffs and indirect taxes [...] The crush of 1873 also stimulated a revival of anti-semitism in Germany [...] claiming that external enemies were being aided by an "enemy within" Bismarck launched a sustained and wide- ranging attack on Catholicism [...] the new conservatism of 1880s was accompanied by a double pronged strategy in relation to socialism and the working class [...] at the same time as the socialists were being politically persecuted, quite progressive social insurance legislation was being exacted.
Source: Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany, Cambridge University Press 2019
In practice the working class received pennies to keep quiet:
Bismarck's social policy has traditionally been considered from the public law perspective, the first step towards the construction of the welfare state. In fact this is technically incorrect, as the Second Reich never actually implemented a system of public welfare sustained by taxpayers, but only obliged private citizens to take out concrete insurance policies. It is clear, however, that Bismarck's social policy set an important precedent, because from a political perspective [...] the welfare state arose less as the result of worker's victories over employers than from initiatives by conservative governments to guarantee social accord by implementing cross- class concessions.
Source: Heikki Pihlajamäki, Mark Godfrey, Markus D. Dubber, The Oxford Handbook of European Legal History1, OUP Oxford 2018
What was peculiar to Germany was that the processes of nation building, industrialization, urbanization and many other features of modernization were compressed into so short a period of time that they became more of less simultaneous. Therefore there were exceptional problems and stresses. In many countries the growth of a numerous class of industrial workers, the proletariat, led to the rise of socialist parties and trade unions, but in Germany political socialism grew in importance before trade unionism and confronted middle class liberalism before the latter had a chance fully to assert itself. Middle class liberals felt challenged by the threat from the proletariat before liberalism had completed triumphed, which it never did. This explains much about the rightward turn of liberals as well as about the illiberalism of the increasingly numerous white collar workers.
Source: Edgar Feuchtwanger, Imperial Germany 1850-1918, Taylor & Francis 2002
The national unity was thus forced and rushed, most unifying attempts favored assimilatation instead of integration and any resistance was more or less crushed under the iron feast of the Reich's austere leadership eager to create internal and external enemies.
Bismarck [...] focused on internal enemies against whom he could unite the majority of the German population. The new state now encompassed many ethic minorities against which Bismarck could create the contrast of German citizenship. When compared to a Frenchman, Germans would see themselves as Germans rather than Bavarians or Prussians. By secularising German society, Bismarck sought to replace religion with national sentiment, thereby creating new identity references and reducing differences between Germans. Lastly the internationalism of the socialist movement seemed a dangerous counter-current to national identity.
When Wilhelm II took to the throne in 1888, the tumultuous year of the three Emperors, he quickly clashed with Bismarck over the issue of German unity. He recognized the same problem - economic and cultural common ground would not be enough to hold the second Reich together- but found Bismarck's solution of Germans battling each other abhorrent. Wilhelm wanted to be the Kaiser of all Germans, beloved by his subjects. If his grandfather Wilhelm I refused to be the incarnation of Friedrich Barbarossa, it would fall to him to lead his people back to greatness. Instead of looking for enemies within the Reich, he argued, Germany must fight for its place among the great nations externally.
Source: Katja Hoyer, Blood and Iron, The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871–1918, History Press 2021
Germany's incapacity to resolve and de-escalate crises was a recipe for disaster. When a situation is critical, seeking for scapegoats or taking a self righteous stance villyfying others can only lead to further divide inside and outside a state. The German working class, lacking the means to negociate with the power of elites and corporations, was caught between Scylla and Charybdis, no actual results could come neither from their desultory sympathizers nor from their delusional government officials and employers. But they had an abundance of breadcrumbs... provided they behaved themselves. Loyalty, obedience and order at all costs was Second Reich's categorical imperative. Everything was clean and tidy because all the mess was swept under the rug:
Ray Stannard Baker , an American traveler to Germany at the turn of the century, exclaimed: " From the moment of landing on German soil , the American begins to feel a certain spirit of repression which seems to pervade the land. Intellectually and visibly struck by the omnipresent guiding and rather militaristic hand of the German government - erect, militarily dressed and heavily armed policemen on nearly every corner, statues and sculptures honoring and commemorating German leaders and soldiers o the rooftops of city buildings, in public parks, at important and sometimes unimportant intersections and uniformed soldiers constantly on drill or parade - Baker concluded that he never before knew "what it really means to be governed" and that he agreed with the sarcastic remark of a German socialist who had said: "It takes half of all the Germans to control the other half".
More vexing of all to Baker were the ever- visible signs posting the comprehensive government and police regulations that seemed to deal with nearly all forms of human behavior, prescribing what was allowed and more often prescribing what was verboten. Feeling the "wild west in me slowly suffocating" he eventually came to amuse himself by making a curious game of trying to discover what was not yet forbidden but no doubt, soon would be.
Source: Eric A. Johnson, Urbanization and Crime, Germany 1871-1914, Cambridge University Press 2002
For the artists under such a paternalistic regime there were two options, they could either comply and work to keep their audience entertained or react and oppose against the regime:
The art scene also experienced Dramatic upheaval. Both in Berlin and Munich artists rebelled against the conservative art establishment and seceded from the Association of German Artists. In Berlin in 1898 a group of the modernists including Max Liebermann (1847- 1936), Max Slevogt (1868 – 1932), Lovis Corinth (1856 – 1925) and Käthe Kollwitz (1867- 1945) challenged the Association by holding an independent exhibition of art. In fur course the Secessionists, as they called themselves, broke into rival groups, the most famous of which were the Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke.
Literature and poetry ceased to give a uniform message. Some poets and writers like Stefan George (1868 – 1933) advocated the retreat to the inner self, while others, like Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955) in Buddenbrooks, explored the fragility of the bourgeois world or else like his brother Heinrich Mann (1871-1951), Carl Sternheim (1878 - 1942) and Ludwig Thoma (1867 - 1921), the hypocrisy of Wilhelmine Germany. this message of increasing diversity and uncertainty was reinforced by contemporary science. The work of Heinrich Hertz ( 1857 – 1894) on electric waves, Wilhelm Röntgen (1845 - 1923) on X-rays and Einstein's potentially revolutionary idea that radiation consisted of totally independent particles of energy destroyed the old ideas of a static universe and led to questioning whether there were actually any laws of nature. Like the writes znd artists, scientists were coming to the conclusion that everything was relative.
These literary and artistic experiments were not widely understood by the general public. Wilhelm II who showed great interests in modern developments in science and engineering lost few opportunities to denounce modern art as "loathsome" or un-German and the authorities at his instigation attempted to stop the Secessionists's work being exhibited at 1904 World Fair, in St Louis, USA. The Kaiser and the traditionalists, were, however, fighting a losing battle. The Reichstag condemned his meddling, and in the words of the SPD deputy, Paul Stinger (1844 - 1911) declined "to have a republic of the arts with Wilhelm at its head". Above all, two factors combined to defeat efforts by the artistic establishment to suppress the modernist movement: The federal nature of Germany ensured that if pressure on an artist or director of an art gallery in Berlin, for example, became too intimidating, Munich, Stuttgart or Dresden might well be more accommodating and, similarly, playwrights could circumvent a ban on their work by having it performed privately.
Source: David G. Williamson, Germany Since 1789, A Nation Forged and Renewed, Bloomsbury Publishing 2015
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February 17, 2026"I grandi apparati come l'opera, il teatro, la stampa fanno passare le loro opinioni, per così dire, in incognito. Mentre già da lungo tempo questi apparati si servono del lavoro (musica, poesia, critica ecc.) prestato da lavoratori intellettuali che ancora partecipano al guadagno - economicamente dunque appartenenti alla classe dominante, socialmente già semiproletarizzati -soltanto al fine di alimentare i loro modi di organizzazione del pubblico, e con ciò valutano questo lavoro a modo loro e l'orientano nel loro senso, i lavoratori intellettuali stessi continuano a credere che l'attività di coteste imprese consista soltanto nell'utilizzare il loro lavoro intellettuale, e venga perciò a costituire un fattore secondario che non influenza il loro lavoro, ma, al contrario, gli procura influenza. Tale imprecisione d'idee di musicisti, autori e critici circa la realtà della propria condizione, produce conseguenze enormi, di cui si tien conto in modo affatto inadeguato. Poiché, illudendosi di possedere un apparato che in realtà li possiede, essi difendono un apparato che non controllano più, che non è più - come essi continuano a credere - un mezzo che serve i produttori intellettuali, ma è diventato un mezzo che si rivolge contro di loro, contro la loro produzione (quando cioè questa produzione persegue tendenze proprie, nuove, non corrispondenti o addirittura contrarie a quelle dell'apparato). Essi sono ridotti allo stato di fornitori. Il valore della loro produzione finisce per essere misurato a una scala che ha per base la nozione della smerciabilità. Da qui l'uso invalso di esaminare ogni opera d'arte sotto l'aspetto della sua convenienza all'apparato, e di non preoccuparsi se l'apparato sia, o no, conveniente all'opera d'arte. Si dice: «Questa o quell'opera è buona»; e s'intende senza dirlo: «buona per l'apparato». Ma quest'apparato è determinato dalla società esistente e assimila solo ciò che gli permette di sussistere in questa società. Si potrà dunque discutere di tutte le novità che non abbiano un carattere minaccioso per la funzione sociale di quest'apparato, quella cioè del divertimento serale. Non si potrà invece discutere di tutte quelle novità che tendano a fargli mutare funzione, vale a dire a situare diversamente l'apparato nella società, per esempio connettendolo alle istituzioni d'insegnamento o ai grandi organi di pubblicazione. Attraverso l'apparato la società assimila ciò che le serve per riprodursi. Cosi, nel migliore dei casi, l'apparato lascerà passare una «novità» che porti al rinnovamento, ma non mai al cambiamento della società esistente, buona o cattiva che sia la forma di questa società.
I più evoluti non pensano nemmeno a cambiare l'apparato, perché sono convinti di avere a disposizione un apparato che serve ciò che essi liberamente inventano, un apparato, dunque, che si trasforma da sé con ogni loro nuovo pensiero. Il fatto è che la loro invenzione non è libera: l'apparato adempie la propria funzione con loro o senza di loro, i teatri lavorano ogni sera, i giornali escono x volte al giorno; essi assimilano ciò di cui hanno bisogno; e hanno semplicemente bisogno di una certa quantità di materiale."
December 4, 2024
برشت جالب ولی تا حد زیادی کلیشهای است. شاید هم الان دیگر کلیشه شده باشد. تا اینجایی که از برشت خواندم فقط «آدم آدم است» واقعاً برایم تکاندهنده بود و رویم تأثیر گذاشت. البته خوشحالم که برشت میخوانم چون بیشتر از مضامین، از تغییرات فرمیاش لذت میبرم.
اما این نمایشنامه بهنظرم شبیه شکلگیری شهر لاسوگاس بود؛ شهری در دل بیابان بهقصد و غایت لذتی که اساساً با لذتِ اپیکوری متفاوت است. شهری که در آن فقط پول حرف اول را میزند و عملاً تنها قانون شهر است. جالب بود و به یک بار خواندنش میارزید، اما آنقدر هم عجیب و غریب نبود.
اما این نمایشنامه بهنظرم شبیه شکلگیری شهر لاسوگاس بود؛ شهری در دل بیابان بهقصد و غایت لذتی که اساساً با لذتِ اپیکوری متفاوت است. شهری که در آن فقط پول حرف اول را میزند و عملاً تنها قانون شهر است. جالب بود و به یک بار خواندنش میارزید، اما آنقدر هم عجیب و غریب نبود.
November 26, 2025
An den Haaren kannst du uns nicht in die Hölle ziehen
Weil wir immer in der Hölle waren.
Auf der See
Und am Land
Werden allen Leuten ihre Häute abgezogen
Darum sitzen alle Leute
Und verkaufen ihre Häute,
Denn die Häute werden jederzeit
mit Dollars aufgewogen (...)
Und am Land
Ist drum der Verbrauch an frischen Hauten ungeheuer.
Immer beißt es euch im Fleische,
Doch wer zahlt euch eure Räusche?
Denn die Haute, die sind billie
Und der Whisky, der ist teuer.
Weil wir immer in der Hölle waren.
Auf der See
Und am Land
Werden allen Leuten ihre Häute abgezogen
Darum sitzen alle Leute
Und verkaufen ihre Häute,
Denn die Häute werden jederzeit
mit Dollars aufgewogen (...)
Und am Land
Ist drum der Verbrauch an frischen Hauten ungeheuer.
Immer beißt es euch im Fleische,
Doch wer zahlt euch eure Räusche?
Denn die Haute, die sind billie
Und der Whisky, der ist teuer.
October 27, 2024
Not a big fan of Brecht
November 12, 2025
por la estupidez
October 12, 2014
The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny – *** This libretto does not reach the same heights as Brecht’s Galileo or Caucasian Chalk Circle, but it is a libretto and not a play. It features an irreverent and somewhat risqué satire on capitalism in which all things – including love – have a prices and are for sale. Alabama Song, covered by such luminaries as David Bowie and Jim Morrison, is dark, quirky drinking song featured in the opera. Not a must-read, but if you like Brecht’s and Weill’s other works, this is very good. (10/2014)
The Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie – *** This is a ballet libretto (if there is such a term). As such, it’s hard to make much of it the little text is there. It basically tells the story of how we sell ourselves to achieve the bourgeoisie dream. Mildly interesting to read. (10/2014)
Again, the Willett/Manheim edition is excellent, providing background, variations and critical interpretations.
The Seven Deadly Sins of the Petty Bourgeoisie – *** This is a ballet libretto (if there is such a term). As such, it’s hard to make much of it the little text is there. It basically tells the story of how we sell ourselves to achieve the bourgeoisie dream. Mildly interesting to read. (10/2014)
Again, the Willett/Manheim edition is excellent, providing background, variations and critical interpretations.
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July 24, 2022Oh, show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next whiskey bar
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
Well, show me the way to the next little boy
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way to the next little boy
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next little girl
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next whiskey bar
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
Well, show me the way to the next little boy
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way to the next little boy
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next little girl
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
August 7, 2012
This play (musical?) played a large part in my studies and experience of the theater, which would put it up with most Shakespeare in the stars, but as a play it moves down a tad bit. I consider the Dreigrosschenoper the better and more influential play, but I love them equally and know the songs of both. Maybe put Mutter Courage at 5, these 2 at 4, which is fine. If some of my latest readings are 5 stars, then these are equivalent, certainly, but the stars hardly matter. I've seen it at least once in a professional production (LA theater, like Mark Taper? I forget), maybe twice, and haven't the time to read through diaries to find out, but even on first reading I could see it on stage. A Lehrstuceck full of energy and joy? So who cares, it is.
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