Hanns Eisler / Bertolt Brecht - Collaboration

This Tomato release from 1981 features collaborations between Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht sung by Sylvia Anders, a german actress and musical comedy star, daughter of the famous tenor Peter Anders, who is at the forefront of the current trend toward revival of the traditional german cabaret.

Sylvia Anders acting and colloquial delivery of the words are so strong that it´s easy to overlook her accomplished classical musicianship and vocal technique in “Failure in Loving” and the melodically very difficult “Hollywood Elegies”. She sings in English; clearly it´s not a language she uses every day, but it brings these songs to a broader audience. Her accent and authentic german cabaret style help place Eisler´s work in its historical context.

The accompaniments, originally for piano or chamber ensemble, are played sometimes on piano, sometimes on a synthesizer, and sometimes by the guitar, vibraphone, bass and keyboard of the Stephen Roane Quartet, in jazz arrangements by Justus Noll (a german theatre composer) and by Heiner Stadler, the producer of the record and an accomplished jazz composer in his own right.
It my be surprising to hear something as straight-forward as the “Solidarity Song” accompanied by one of the most elaborate jazz arrangements of all, but on the other hand Eisler – who knew that music menat for pracitcal use must often be rearranged to suit new situations – might have found that the fresh musical ambience gives his familiar melodies a new edge.

Hanns Eisler / Bertolt Brecht Collaboration (new link)
(192 kbps, ca. 60 MB)