Kurt Weill, John Mauceri, Ute Lemper Weill - The Seven Deadly Sins · Mahagonny Songspiel Ute Lemper · RIAS Berlin Sinfonietta

Ute Lemper at the late eighties, made a marvelous, dazzling idiomatic and if you may, historical collaboration with John Mauceri at the front of the RIAS Berlin Sinfonietta, remarking with major possible fidelity, the anger, hopeless, depravation and existential bitterness of Weimar Republic.

Of course, Lotte Lenya was always the supreme cornerstone of this piece, impossible to surmount and even beat. But Lemper adds freshness, vitality and a new interpretative perspective. The rest of the cast is terrific too in honor to the truth and the quality of sound is another high aspect to remark in this fabulous recording.
This album "includes both works performed in their original German. After having listened to `The Seven Deadly Sins' done by several different artists, and having just reviewed a CD on which Anne Sofie von Otter does this work, I discover for the first time that the piece was written in two versions, one for a low voice and one for a high voice. Von Otter does the version for high voice and Lemper does the version for low voice that, I suspect, is the way it was originally performed by Fraulein Lenya. One service done by comparing Lemper and von Otter's performance is to see how much closer Lemper is to the original spirit of the work than is von Otter. Weill's venue was not the opera stages of Berlin or Vienna, it was the popular stage, actually much closer to what we see in the movie `Cabaret' than what we see in `Amadeus'. I enjoy von Otter's rendition, but Lemper stirs my heart where von Otter does not. Lemper also seems to have the benefit of a much better cast of supporting voices on the two works on Volume 1.

All albums are done with the backing of the RIAS Berlin Sinfonietta, conducted by John Mauceri who seems to get just the right tone of sleaze out of his ensemble to match the tone of the composition and lyrics by Weill and his various librettists, especially Berthold Brecht.
Lemper is a vocalist in that great European femme fatale tradition of Lenya, Piaf, and Dietrich and certainly to my lights the leading interpreter today of Weill's songs plus works by other European composers for the musical and cabaret (See her album `City of Strangers'). Compared to even some of the greatest contemporary American female vocalists on the stage such as Streisand and Minelli, both Yanks have their strength, but they can't or don't try to achieve the same depth of feeling behind the European `Weltschmertz' you hear from Lemper and her forerunners." - B. Marold

Tracklist:
1. Seven Deadly Sins: Prologue: Andante sostenuto
2. Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth: Allegro vivace
3. Seven Deadly Sins: Pride: Allegretto, quasi andantino
4. Seven Deadly Sins: Anger: Molto agitato
5. Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony: Largo
6. Seven Deadly Sins: Lust: Moderato
7. Seven Deadly Sins: Avarice: Allegro giusto
8. Seven Deadly Sins: Envy: Allegro non troppo
9. Seven Deadly Sins: Epilogue: Andante sostenuto
10. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part One: Prologue: No.1: Allegro non troppo
11. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part One: Prologue: Kleiner March: Poco meno
12. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part One: Prologue: No.2: Moderato
13. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Two: Life in Mahagonny: No.3a: Vivace
14. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Two: Life in Mahagonny: No.3: Allegro un poco moderato
15. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Two: Life in Mahagonny: No.4a: Vivace assai
16. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Two: Life in Mahagonny: No.4: Moderato assai
17. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Two: Life in Mahagonny: No.5a: Sostenuto
18. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Two: Life in Mahagonny: No.5: Lento
19. Mahagonny Songspiel, Part Three: Finale: No.6: Largo

Kurt Weill, John Mauceri, Ute Lemper  Weill - The Seven Deadly Sins · Mahagonny Songspiel  Ute Lemper · RIAS Berlin Sinfonietta
(256 kbps, front cover included)