Most fans of American music gratefully (if shamefully) acknowledge that it takes a German company to present our country's roots -- during the 20th century at least -- with the respect and scholarship it deserves. Multiple box sets of the work of everyone from Louis Jourdan to Johnny Cash to Waylon Jennings to Louis Prima and Keely Smith to Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant to Lefty Frizell to Bobby Bare to Little Richard to Hawkshaw Hawkins to Roy Orbison and Chuck Berry all point to the fact that Bear Family Recordings knows ...
Read More
Most fans of American music gratefully (if shamefully) acknowledge that it takes a German company to present our country's roots -- during the 20th century at least -- with the respect and scholarship it deserves. Multiple box sets of the work of everyone from Louis Jourdan to Johnny Cash to Waylon Jennings to Louis Prima and Keely Smith to Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant to Lefty Frizell to Bobby Bare to Little Richard to Hawkshaw Hawkins to Roy Orbison and Chuck Berry all point to the fact that Bear Family Recordings knows how to get the job done far better than we do. But even here they can outdo themselves. The case in point is this massive box set of the work of the greatest German cabaret singer in history, Lotte Lenya, wife of Kurt Weill and still, over 20 years after her death, the greatest interpreter and proponent of his music. This handsome set features 11 CDs, a picture disc mini-LP of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and a hardbound 250-page bilingual book (German and English) with exhaustive notes and annotations for virtually everything she recorded for Phillips and Columbia. One listen to any of the material here convinces even the most ardent cynic and dubious prophet of modern interpretations that Lenya's performances outstrip those of anyone who came after her, even those she sanctioned, like diva Teresa Stratas, much less the jive pop versions of the Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill songs put forth in mealy-mouthed trendy ad agency hype technique by Ute Lemper. Indeed, only Marianne Faithfull on her 20th Century Blues album came close, but it was only as a moth to a flame of the original. The Bear Family set begins in 1929 with Lenya doing her first recordings of the Brecht-Weill material, with the debut performances (on record) of "Surabaya Johnny" and "Bilbao Song," the only two songs recorded from the breakthrough Beggar's Opera. Nonetheless, after nearly 15 years on a stage, Lenya's performance as Pirate Jenny, the whore from Turnbridge, took her over the top. From here the first disc fills out the Weill and Brecht-Weill material from the '30s, acquainting the listener with the voice that made Lenya the voice in the German opera even though she wasn't an opera singer. Weill himself made the comment, "She can't even read music but people turn out to hear her sing like they do Caruso." Disc two moves on to the '50s, even though Lenya made some recordings for the U.S. war effort during the '40s. The reason is that this is the period in which Lenya rebuilt her career after the death of Weill in 1950. The recording of Weill's songs in 1955 launched on record -- Lenya had been performing on stage from 1952 on -- the singer's return. The disc features 12 of Weill's most famous songs and a recording of The Seven Deadly Sins, all in their definitive recorded versions because of the depth of their grief and the determination to keep the work alive. These are also authoritative versions because of the power of their enunciation and the depth of understanding in terms of politics, class, and cultural issues that Lenya meditatively brought to Weill's work after his death. When the collection reaches discs three and four, a complete recording of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny recorded in the revival performance in America in 1957, Lenya has reached the absolute zenith of her power as an interpretive singer. The entire case is phenomenal, but Lenya is otherworldly in the title role (Diana Ross was not fit to even contemplate this role let alone play it in the 1970s while Lenya was still alive). The collection continues with different sessions -- including the legendary "September Song" recordings from 1957 -- of Brecht-Weill material on CDs five through seven, concluding on disc seven with Lenya's breathtaking numbers from the theater production of Cabaret in 1966. The box moves into wonderful territory with Lenya's other voice work on the discs eight and nine, with eight being an entire spoken...
Read Less
Add this copy of Lotte Lenya-Lenya-11cd + Book- to cart. $293.33, Sold by Entertainment By Post US-KH rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Indian Trail, NC, UNITED STATES, published 1998.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
DUTCH IMPORT. If a Movie then AUDIO will be in the Original Movies Language ie Generally English PLEASE NOTE: This item MAY dispatch Direct from our Partner/Supplier in The Netherlands. -Lotte Lenya-Lenya-11Cd + Book-
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.