Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill - American Theatre Songs

The voice of Lotte Lenya - filled with a bittersweet tone, slight imperfections, and that unmistakable accent - is something you either love or hate. But decades later, the former wife of Kurt Weill still has a voice we can't forget. Simply put, nothing compares to Lenya. This reissue gathers her English-language "September Song and Other American Theater Songs" album from 1958 (for the first time here, heard in its stereo version) as well as her tunes from 1957's "Cabaret"; "Song of a German Mother" from the Broadway show Brecht on Brecht; and even a collaboration with Louis Armstrong on "Mack the Knife."

These recordings were the cornerstone of Lenya's American career, and even with pop orchestration - "Saga of Jenny," "Green Up Time," "Speak Low" - these are infectious numbers. Like the previously released Sony Masterworks reissue of "Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins", this is simply a great package. The sound quality is excellent and the eight-minute-long session outtake from "Mack the Knife" with Armstrong is truly fascinating.

According to the usual view, Kurt Weill had a double career - first composing provocative theatrical collaborations with Brecht in Weimar Germany, later writing for commercial Broadway stages. The continuities before and after 1935 are equally striking, however. Chief among them was his wife, Lotte Lenya, the foremost interpreter of his music, who single-handedly passed her style down to singers who have championed Weill more recently, notably Ute Lemper. Of course, another continuity is Weill's always-remarkable way with a tune, and this disc features Lenya in some of the best-loved songs from their American years - even if you've never heard of Weill, 'September Song' will be familiar - along with some lesser-known gems.Recorded in the late 1950s, Lenya's voice is actually less gruff and declamatory, more of an actual 'singing voice' in these American songs than in Weill's German songs. One thing Lenya could never do was swing - a rehearsal excerpt here features Louis Armstrong trying to teach her how - but the originality and authenticity of her style more than make up for that. Among the bonuses on this re-issue are some of the post-Weill songs best suited to Lenya: excerpts from Kander and Ebb's 'Cabaret,' indebted equally to Weill's German and American styles.

"Last, although hardly least, the CD includes three versions of Lenya singing Mack the Knife, although the word "version" doesn't do justice to the third, which is an eight-minute transcription of the studio takes of Lenya's duet with Louis Armstrong. The first of the three versions is sung by Lenya in German, accompanied by the Turk Murphy jazz band. Notwithstanding its abrupt coda, this great recording has, to my knowledge, never been released. The second Mack the Knife version is the final take of the Lenya-Armstrong duet. And the third, as noted, are the session takes, including Armstrong’s attempts to instruct Lenya how to get the rhythms right, especially on the final three eighth notes, which she never quite manages. It's a delightful and fascinating look at the great Lenya being instructed in how to sing American jazz by the equally great Louis Armstrong, who is in complete and total control of the session."

Thanks to http://www.mrlucky.com/songbirds/html/sep99/9909_lenya.html, which provides more infos about this release)

Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill - American Theatre Songs
(192 kbps, front cover inlcuded).