Although in America it is common to associate the songs of Kurt Weill with the voice of his wife, Lotte Lenya, in Germany Weill's music is just as readily reckoned with the singing actress once the star attraction of the Berlin Ensemble, Gisela May.
Eterna's "Brecht-Songs mit Gisela May" uses poet Bertolt Brecht, rather than Weill, as its point of departure, and focuses in particular on Brecht's early texts; the dates given with the titles connote that of the composition of the poetry, not the music.
Weill is heard in only two numbers, "Vom entrunkenen Mädchen" and "Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen," both from his Berliner Requiem (1927), of which the score had only lately been rediscovered when May recorded this album in 1968.
The balance of the material consists mostly of settings by Hanns Eisler and there are no settings by Paul Dessau, who only worked with Brecht on his later projects. A handful of early Brecht texts lacking authentic musical settings are given over to composers considered contemporary in 1960s East Germany.
Always an ardent communist, Brecht was chased out of the United States by the House on Un-American Activities Committee; he happily returned to communist East Berlin only to discover that life wasn't as idyllic there as he expected it would be. Brecht died in 1956, Eterna's "Brecht-Songs mit Gisela May" represents the ongoing legacy of Brecht at a decade's distance and will prove of strong interest to those who follow the vicissitudes of German theater. To others, while Gisela May is a first-class diseuse, her scrappy, deliberately un-pretty singing voice might prove an acquired taste.
Tracks:
1. Vom ertrunkenen Mädchen (Kurt Weill)
2. Das Lied der Eisenbahntruppe von Fort Donald
3. Ballade vom Weib und dem Soldaten
4. Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen (Kurt Weill)
5. Bericht über den Tod eines Genossen (Hanns Eisler)
6. Lied einer deutschen Mutter
7. O Falladah, die du hangest! (Hanns Eisler)
8. Das Frühjahr (aus dem Film: Kuhle Wampe) (Hanns Eisler)
9. Philosophisches Tanzlied (Lied der müden Empörer)
10. Ballade von den Selbsthelfern
11. Das Lied von der Wolke der Nacht
12. Lied der verderbten Unschuld beim Wäschefalten
13. Kuppellied (Hanns Eisler)
14. Die Legende der Dirne Evelyn Roe
15. Mutter Beimlein (Hanns Eisler)
Gisela May - Brecht-Songs mit Gisela May (ETERNA, 1969, vinyl rip)
Eterna's "Brecht-Songs mit Gisela May" uses poet Bertolt Brecht, rather than Weill, as its point of departure, and focuses in particular on Brecht's early texts; the dates given with the titles connote that of the composition of the poetry, not the music.
Weill is heard in only two numbers, "Vom entrunkenen Mädchen" and "Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen," both from his Berliner Requiem (1927), of which the score had only lately been rediscovered when May recorded this album in 1968.
The balance of the material consists mostly of settings by Hanns Eisler and there are no settings by Paul Dessau, who only worked with Brecht on his later projects. A handful of early Brecht texts lacking authentic musical settings are given over to composers considered contemporary in 1960s East Germany.
Always an ardent communist, Brecht was chased out of the United States by the House on Un-American Activities Committee; he happily returned to communist East Berlin only to discover that life wasn't as idyllic there as he expected it would be. Brecht died in 1956, Eterna's "Brecht-Songs mit Gisela May" represents the ongoing legacy of Brecht at a decade's distance and will prove of strong interest to those who follow the vicissitudes of German theater. To others, while Gisela May is a first-class diseuse, her scrappy, deliberately un-pretty singing voice might prove an acquired taste.
Tracks:
1. Vom ertrunkenen Mädchen (Kurt Weill)
2. Das Lied der Eisenbahntruppe von Fort Donald
3. Ballade vom Weib und dem Soldaten
4. Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen (Kurt Weill)
5. Bericht über den Tod eines Genossen (Hanns Eisler)
6. Lied einer deutschen Mutter
7. O Falladah, die du hangest! (Hanns Eisler)
8. Das Frühjahr (aus dem Film: Kuhle Wampe) (Hanns Eisler)
9. Philosophisches Tanzlied (Lied der müden Empörer)
10. Ballade von den Selbsthelfern
11. Das Lied von der Wolke der Nacht
12. Lied der verderbten Unschuld beim Wäschefalten
13. Kuppellied (Hanns Eisler)
14. Die Legende der Dirne Evelyn Roe
15. Mutter Beimlein (Hanns Eisler)
Gisela May - Brecht-Songs mit Gisela May (ETERNA, 1969, vinyl rip)
2 Kommentare:
please restore lp rip Gisela May Brecht eterna
I just checked the link - it´s still working. All the best!
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