Lotte Lenya sings Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins & Berlin Theatre Songs

Whether playing Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins or singing "Moritat vom Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife"), Lotte Lenya helped define the music of her husband, Kurt Weill. The duo literally created the soundtrack for the prewar Berlin of our fantasies--an exotic land of nicotine and nightlights--where cabaret, jazz, and the odd American instrumental influence all coexist happily. Now remastered, this collection gathers Lenya's legendary 1957 recordings of Sins and her 1955 recording Sings Berlin Theatre Songs. Forget subtlety--Lenya is all about emotion. On cuts like "Pirate Jenny," Lenya's voice sounds fluttery and frantic, and on "Surabaya-Johnny," her German sounds fragile and sweet, but mostly she's just herself--bittersweet, raw, and (most of all) human. In spirit, Marianne Faithfull, PJ Harvey, and a host of others all kept the torch of Lenya's style going. But after listening to these Berlin theater songs in classic form (and in their original tongue), you'll never hear them the same way again. --Jason Verlinde Amazon.com essential recording

Lenya the Legend

I had never heard, or heard of Lotte Lenya until the opening line of "Seven Deadly Sins" on this priceless reissue combined with the "Berlin Theatre Songs." I was dumbstruck, stunned, and realised I was hearing a singer who actually becomes the character. Song after song--tragedy, irony, gayety, cruelty--delivered with a voice that shudders, groans, or slides as if from experience. And living in 1920's Berlin, much of it likely WAS experience.

Teresa Stratas and Ute Lemper give interesting, sometimes evocative renditions of this music. And Gisela May is a melodramatic mimic of Lenya--devoid of character. Hearing Gisela after Lenya is almost offensive.

BUT, Lenya! To the person who hears Lenya here for the first time: brace yourself! She is a phenomenon. July 4, 2008

Compelling

In the Sony/CBS performance of the Seven Deadly Sins, with the composer's widow as principal singer, the rhythmic verve is irresistible and, though Lenya had to have the music transposed down, her understanding of the idiom is unique. The recording is forward and slightly harsh, though Lenya's voice is not hardened, and the effect is undoubtedly flamboyant. Happy End was made in Hamburg-Harburg in 1960. Lenya turned the songs into a kind of cycle (following a hint from her husband), transposing where necessary, and her renderings in her individual brand of vocalizing are so undeniable they make the scalp tingle. December 17, 2007

Lotte Lenya sings Kurt Weil

There is no one to compare with Lenya when it comes to singing Brecht and Weil. Her rendition of every song on this cd is faultless. The music is highly evocative of the era and yet still modern enough to be relevant.
This is one of the best cds you will ever buy. Do not hesitate. December 2, 2007

One of the greats

When I was a student in 1965, the turntable in my college apartment was kept busy spinning The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Broadway show cast albums, Nina Simone and Lotte Lenya. Lotte Lenya? Yes, the widow of German composer Kurt Weill and the star of the legendary 1950s off-Broadway revival of THE THREEPENNY OPERA, who also played James Bond's adversary Rosa Kleb in the movie FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. (Rosa Kleb was a martial arts expert with poison knives in the toes of her shoes.) But my theory is that Lotte Lenya enjoyed great cachet with the baby-boomers primarily because of the cover of Bob Dylan's 1965 "Bringing It All Back Home" album. That cover shows Dylan and a brunette woman in a rather elegant setting crammed with books and phonograph records. Prominent among the stack of recordings is Lenya's "Berlin Theatre Songs of Kurt Weill" album. Even though this was the age of "Don't trust anyone over thirty," if Bob Dylan liked Lotte Lenya, then she was okay. I loved everything about her Berlin Theatre Songs album, from the expressionistic cover portrait to all the unfamiliar songs sung in quavery German.

Now that CDs have made phonograph records obsolete, I've wanted to replace my LP version of the Berlin Theatre Songs for some time. Well, I feel that I've hit the jackpot with this Masterworks Heritage CD reissue which is packaged with the Brecht-Weill THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, an experimental dance-drama that Brecht and Weill created in Paris after fleeing Nazi Germany. I had never heard THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. It is a revelation. It could have been written by no one else. The haunting melodies, the offbeat orchestrations and the unorthodox subject matter combine to form a Brecht-Weill classic. I love this music and have played it repeatedly for weeks. Lenya's voice during this period had not yet become raspy and her saucy personality shines through. My German is much better now than it was as a college student and I can at last appreciate Lenya's perfectly enunciated German. I find this recording mesmerizing. The CD is packaged as a foldout album/book, rather than a jewel box. It includes a brief essay by Teresa Stratas and helpful notes by Mario R. Mercado. Also included are more than a dozen sepia-toned photos of the recording session and four beautiful color photographs of Lenya in Hamburg in 1956. And of course, that wonderful Saul Bolasni portrait that graced the original LP is included on the inside cover of the jacket.

I think this CD is essential. For me, it conjures up a whole era, maybe a whole century. Five stars. April 16, 2007

Queen of the Epic Theatre & Dark Cabaret #1

Back in dark days of the Age of the LP & Before The Flood, one of my most cherished LP was a two album collection simply titled LOTTE LENYA. It contained a smashing collection of the singer's selections from the pre-World War Two days in Germany, to later work in the United States theatre scene. It was really wonderful & contained great translations of all the German songs in a commemorative insert. Alas, the album was washed away in the Flood. I made attempts to relocate a replacement, but the original seemed to have completely vanished. Then, wonder of wonders, Amazon was born & I thought I had discovered a CD version--with the original cover photo of the Star--but it contents was nothing like the LP. As a matter of fact it was very disappointing.

Ah, shucks...

But then I started looking at other CD's a made a miraculous discovery: all the tunes & their original line-up were found on a compilation of 2 available CDs: LOTTE LENYA SINGS KURT WEIL SINGS KURT WEIL'S THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS & BERLIN THEATRE SONGS, and LOTTE LENYA SINGS KURT WEIL & AMERICAN THEATRE SONGS.

The only real difference between the CD's and the original LP was that they included other numbers (including the fantastic number What Would You Do? from Cabaret) and no translation material--but I'm sure it can be located somewhere on the web. Nonetheless, I felt like I got my baby back--well, something like that anyway.

In this SEVEN DEADLY SINS CD all the original German songs are found in their original order after Songs 1-9.

Song 10 "Moriat vom Mackie Messer" is the original version of "Mack the Knife" performed by Bobby Darren in the 60's. It may be interesting to note that Darren sang a completely interpretation in the entertaining film QUIZ SHOW. This version was much closer to the real intent of the composer--a stark & dark comment on the success of evil in the world.

Other notable tracks on the CD are "Seerauberjenny" ("Pirate Jenny" about a psychotic maid who fantasizes about killing her employers & all the people who make fun of her), "Surabaya-Johnny" ("Goodbye-Johnny" popularized in English by Bette Midler), "Ballade vom ertrunkenen Madchen" ("Song of the Drowing Girl"), and "Casars Tod" (Death of Caesar.)
All 21 songs are great, these are just a few personel favorites.

This CD will have immense appear to people who love theatre, dark musicals, German cabaret, the German language, history, etc. I can't recommend this CD enough!

Lotte Lenya Sings Kurt Weill / Levine, Lenya, Armstrong, Gilford, et al
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone January 24, 2007

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