Lotte Lenya (18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world she is best remembered for her performances of the songs of her husband, Kurt Weill. In English-language cinema, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a jaded aristocrat in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961). She also played the murderous and sadistic Rosa Klebb in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963).
“Mack the Knife” or “The Ballad of Mack the Knife”, originally “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer“, is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists, including a US and UK number one hit for Bobby Darin in 1959.
(Source: Wikipedia)
I’m afraid the quality of the sound is not very good, but it’s worthwhile to remember.
I became obsessed with the Dreigroschenoper and its portrayal of a chaotic, villainous society back in 1991/92, when Romania was just trying to recover from its many years of Communism. The words about Mack the Knife still seem to be so appropriate to politicians everywhere (and were probably a reference to the 1930s German politicians):
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth dear
And he shows ’em, pearly white
Just a jack knife has MacHeath dear
And he keeps it way out of sight
When that shark bites with his teeth, dear
Scarlet billows begin to spread
Fancy white gloves has MacHeath dear
So there’s never, never a trace of red
Thank you Marina Sofia for sharing your memories with us.