The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink by Pamela Katz (a J!-ENT Book Review)

TITLE: The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink

AUTHOR: Pamela Katz

PUBLISHER: Nan A. Taleze

PAGES: 480 Pages

RELEASE DATE: January 6, 2015

Among the most creative and outsized personalities of the Weimar Republic, that sizzling yet decadent epoch between the Great War and the Nazis’ rise to power, were the renegade poet Bertolt Brecht and the rebellious avant-garde composer Kurt Weill. These two young geniuses and the three women vital to their workâ€”actresses Lotte Lenya and Helene Weigel and writer Elizabeth Hauptmannâ€”joined talents to create the theatrical and musical masterworksÂ The Threepenny OperaÂ andÂ The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, only to split in rancor as their culture cracked open and their aesthetic and temperamental differences became irreconcilable.Â The PartnershipÂ is the first book to tell the full story of Brecht and Weill’s impulsive, combustible partnership, the compelling psychological drama of one of the most important creative collaborations of the past century. It is also the first book to give full credit where it is richly due to the three women whose creative gifts contributed enormously to their masterworks. And it tells the thrilling and iconic story of artistic daring entwined with sexual freedom during the Weimar Republic’s most fevered years, a time when art and politics and society were inextricably mixed.

As a cinema fan of films created in the Weimar Republic, I was interested in learning about the renown poet Bertolt Brecht and the avant-garde composer Kurt Weill.

I was very interested in the book as it delved into the relationship between Elisabeth Hauptmann, a German writer who worked with Brecht as a co-author of “The Threepenny Opera” and worked with both men.

But also his relationship with actress Helene Weigel.

And for Kurt Weill, his working relationship with Brecht but also his relationship with his wife, singer Lenya Lotte.

Pamela Katz is a well-researched book on the lives of these five individuals and how their creativity was allowed to blossom during the Weimar Republic.

But reading Katz book, I was surprised to see how both men who created their legacy with “The Threepenny Opera” had such a troubled relationship. Moreso due to Brecht, who showed disdain for working with Kurt Weill, considering Weill did much for his career. It was simply about a man who believed in the power of music, the other believing in the power of words. While they tried to remain civil, it was proving that both men had their own opinion about their work and what is more important. Especially when it came to ideology.

But reading the book, it’s interesting to see how things were behind-the-scenes especially with their collaboration for “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny”.

There is a lot of research that went into the history of both men and their work together, but also life post-World War II. I was very impressed of how thorough Pamela Katz was able to learn about both men and the women in their lives and building the case of how this magnificent partnership would eventually come to an end.

A wonderful, insightful, well-written book on the working relationship of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill! Pamela Katz “The Partnership: Brecht, Weill, Three Women, and Germany on the Brink” is recommended!