The beggar's opera

"[In] this new release of The Beggar's Opera ... the production and acting are updated to a Brechtian style of the 1950s, coupled with designs and costumes with overtones of 1920s Berlin cabaret ... Though not without its incidental problems, [this Beggar's Opera] is a thoroughly enjoyable and triumphant realisation of the score ... Robert Carsen's production takes Gay's plot totally seriously as a satire on English society of his day and actively seeks to draw analogies with current affairs in the wake of Brexit and Thatcherism ... It will be gathered that the cast here has been assembled for their acting skills rather than their musical abilities, and those who look for a display of coloratura fire ... will be somewhat disappointed by the sketchy singing of Kate Batter and Olivua Brereton ... The sets are basic in the extreme ... Never mind; this is a good romp, and the satirical point of Gay's original is not lost. Those seeking a Beggar's Opera for purely musical values will look elsewhere - there are many other editions of this score with casts of wildly differentiated abilities - but for sheer enjoyment this video is going to be hard to beat".

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"Damals, im Londoner Jahr 1728 ... tat er [der Satiriker John Gay] sich mit ... Johann Christoph Pepusch, zusammen und schuf "The Beggar's Opera" ... Und in Paris kam kürzlich, als Reiseproduktion der Herren Robert Carsen und William Christie das clever modernisierte "Original" neuerlich heraus - so minimalistisch wie energetisch ... Und fetzt die hemmungslos umgestellten Bänkelliedchen einfach so mit Gigue-Schwung weg. Das gilt auch für die flotte Inszenierung zwischen Barock und Breakdance ... Der schöne Benjamin Purkiss ist als Mackeath eher noch ein Babyhaifisch, der von den Frauen geliebt werden will. Das tun sie alle ... Am Ende ist der Gangster mit hilfe des Gefängnisdirektors Lockit ehrbar und verheiratet, alle sind sie Bänker geworden".