Belina & Behrend - 24 Songs And One Guitar - Folklore-Session in Berlin (1963)

From the liner notes:

"Columbia is proud and happy to be able to offer you a folklore session recorded in Berlin on the midsummer´s night of 26th July. BELINA, the magnificient and exciting Polish artist from Paris sings and playing the guitar is SIEGFRIED BEHREND, the 29-year-old Berliner who was acclaimed the "Best Guitarist in the World" in Rome and Tokio, "Paganini delle Chitarra" in Turin and "The Devil on the Guitar" in Constantinople. Twenty-four songs from all parts of the world sung in 17 languages make up this fascinating recording. (...)

We do hope that you like this "24" long player. It was recorded in Berlin at the magic hour of midnight (with crates of champagne standing between the coiled cable and microphones on the studio floor). We allowed ourselves to be inspired a little by the jam session of the jazz enthusiasts and instead of jazz we recorded songs - folksongs, chansons, dance melodies and even `pops´. We were not aiming at 100 % perfection or striving after a brilliant cold performance. We simply wanted to caputer the mood for your."

Belina was born on February 6, 1925 in Treblinka, Poland as Lea-Nina Rodzynek. As a young woman, Lea-Nina fled to Germany, where she found work in a factory with fake documents and under a false name. When the fraud was discovered she was arrested and deported to a concentration camp, from which she escaped. She managed to be hidden until the end of the Third Reich. Paris was the first station in the freedom. There she traveled as a singer through the many taverns where the people called her "the Black Angel from Montparnasse".

She spoke six languages: Polish, English, Yiddish, Russian and German. Yet, she was also able to express herself and sing in another dozen foreign languages.

Belina performed in 1964/65 in more than 120 countries - a triumphant series of concerts which met with one rave review after another.
During her world tour with guitarist Siegfried Behrend, she was once given the score of a Korean folksong at noon with the request that she sing it the same evening. Belina sang it and the following day the concert reviews spoke of her rendition of the song in Korean as being a natural part of her - so convincing and immediate was the quality of her singing.

In 1981 she made a final, very beautiful, but unfortunately unacknowledged LP recording with guitarist Ladi Geisler. After this project, Belina retired from show business.

She was also an actress, known for "Treffpunkt Baden-Baden" (1964), "Rhythmus der Nationen" (1962) "Das gefällt auch morgen noch" (1963) and "Hoheit liebt nur dufte Puppen" (1965).

Belina died on December 12, 2006 in Hamburg, Germany.

Tracklist:                          

A1	Shi L'lo Milim
A2	El Vito
A3	Üsküdara
A4	Greensleeves
A5	Viva Belina
A6	Troika
A7	Kuma Echa
A8	Jetzt Gang I An's Brünnele
A9	Danno Budhunge
A10	Jamaica Farewell
A11	Lupu Cupu
A12	Ne Me Quitte Pas
B1	Orcha Bamidbar
B2	Suliram
B3	Willst Du Mein Herz Mir Schenken
B4	Moccatore
B5	Sakura, Sakura
B6	Aiyrongo
B7	Zulima
B8	I Know Where I'm Goin'
B9	Manha De Carnaval (Orfeo Negro)
B10	Yo Yelekaki
B11	Szomorú Vasárnap (Eindamer Sonntag)
B12	Pastechl

Belina & Behrend - 24 Songs And One Guitar - Folklore-Session in Berlin (1963)

Thanks a lot to Riffmaster for his wonderful Belina posts.