Dagmar Krause - Panzerschlacht (Die Lieder von Hanns Eisler)

A worthy follow up-to "Supply and Demand", this release focuses on Dagmar "The Voice Of Armageddon" Krause's interpretation of the music of Hans Eisler, a great German songwriter and contemporary of Brecht and Weill (though less well known).
As usual, the singing is stunning, and the instrumental accompaniment, which features significant contributions by Lindsay Cooper and Danny Thompson, is impeccable. Krause recorded English and German versions of "Tank Battles" (hence the title "Panzerschlacht") and both are highly recommended.

"Panzerschlacht" is an uncompromising vehicle to showcase the radical compositional method that Eisler employed even as he tried to write songs that would be popular -- among those who resisted fascism. He wrote in the vernacular of the Weimar Republic and in the sophisticated language of jazz as it entered the cultural mainstream, despite the fact that he was taught by Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna until he quit and went to Berlin, wanting to write music for people instead of periods. It's true that these are "art songs," but only through the lens of history. Krause, who is truly one of the most gifted vocalists of the 20th century, situates these songs - most of them collaborations with Brecht -- as Eisler wrote them, in the wind of resistance and commitment to defeating the fascists, reclaiming Europe from their influence, and regaining dignity for workers in a socialist struggle. But in no way do these songs sound like timepieces in Krause's treatment of them, nor do they sound like hollow moments of history run through with the holes of empty victory and decadent complacency. Krause is a firebrand of urgency and emotion -- her style goes for the heart of a melody and twists the lyric around it, whether on a labor organizing song such as "Zahlen müßt ihr," a melancholy song of displacement and loss such as "Chanson Allemande," or a song that combines both, such as "Ballade von den Säckeschmeißern."

All of Eisler's best-known songs are here, from the aforementioned to "Lied einer deutschen Mutter" and "Und ich werde nicht mehr sehen," along with many others. There are also some of his lesser-known but hauntingly beautiful pieces written for the theater, for example "Genevieve: Ostern ist Ball sur Seine."
Krause's performances of these songs are more than empathetic; it's as if Eisler and Brecht wrote them especially for her. Her sense of the dramatic is unparalleled and her voicings of the more subtle shades of meaning in the lyrics are truly visionary, offering these songs in a completely new setting -- one that is current, valid, and perhaps just as urgent in these tense times as they were in Eisler's.

Tracklist:

1	Lied von der Tünche	1:58
2	Panzerschlacht	1:24
3	Zahlen müsst ihr	1:37
4	Chanson Allemande	1:13
5	Ballade von den Säckeschmeissern	3:16
6	Mutter Beimlein	1:11
7	Das "Vielleicht" Lied	1:44
8	Lied von der belebenden Wirkung des Geldes	4:22
9	Der Mensch	0:54
10	Bettellied	1:21
11	Lied einer deutschen Mutter	2:26
12	Ändere die Welt - sie braucht es	1:59
13	Bankenlied	2:52
14	Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking	6:31
15	(Ballade von der) Wohltätigkeit	2:45
16	Mutterns Hände	1:55
17	Spartakus 1919	2:24
18	Und ich werde nicht mehr sehen	1:48
19	Geneviève : Ostern ist Ball Sur Seine	1:00
20	Ballade vom Weib und Ddm Soldaten	3:33
21	Verfehlte Liebe	1:02
22	Und endlich Ssirbt	1:07
23	The Rat Man - Nightmare	1:11
24	Die Heimkehr	1:26
25	Der Graben	3:33
26	An den kleinen Radioapparat	1:00

Here is the original German edition of "Panzerschlacht":
Dagmar Krause - Panzerschlacht (Die Lieder von Hanns Eisler)
(192 kbps, ca. 79 MB)