Do I need to translate 'Neger Production'?


Ernst Krenek's multicultural and at one time banned jazz influenced opera Jonny Spielt Auf is back in the catalogue at budget price as a Decca reissue of the excellent 1993 Leipzig recording. Read how the title role was sung by a 'blacked-up' white singer in the Metropolitan Opera's 1928 production in my post Multicultural, multimedia and banned.

Header photo is from 1925 when New York bandleader Sam Wooding's all-black jazz revue Chocolate Kiddies toured to Berlin. Among those in the audience was Ernst Krenek, who was inspired to compose Jonny Spielt Auf (Johnny Strikes Up). Heads up for Prelude Records where I noticed the Decca reissue. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk Also on Facebook and Twitter.

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Pliable said…
David Cavlovic commented via Facebook -

This opera SOOOOOO needs to be standard rep. I remember doing an interview with Krenek about 6 months before his death. This man, who seemed to be at all the important musical pinnacles of the early 20th Century, was content to end his life watching Wheel of Fortune on TV every day.
11:02 am
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