Berlin Cabaret Songs (German Version) - Ute Lemper

Advantages: One of the best musical scores ever; Joel Grey
Disadvantages: Not enough of the score...

...would give a far more detailed analysis of the score, but a) it could well bore you stupid, as I could go on for several thousand words and b) there is little point in doing so without the full stage score, as there is so much interplay between the ‘cabaret’ and ‘real world’ segments of the score. The tracks: Willkommen, the three-language opening song sung by the Emcee (Joel Grey) and the cabaret girls is a wonderful evocation of 1930s Berlin and a classic. No-one has ever bettered Joel Grey at this song, but the arrangement is slightly less engaging than that in his version on the Broadway cast album. Mein Herr is another classic, which loses some of its impact without the famous chair-dancing routine that accompanies it in the film. Minelli’s voice on this track oozes sultriness and this is another... Read review

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Advantages: Masterpiece of musical theatre
Disadvantages: Ending is little too "all lived happily ever after"

...relationship with the prostitute Low-Dive Jenny. Mac is arrested and about to be hung at the end when in a deus ex machina (intervention from god), he is saved by the Queen and knighted and granted an annual pension of 10,000 pounds. This CD version has more dialogue links between the songs than previous recordings giving more of an overview to the opera as a whole. The recording has a balanced array of performers staying close to Weill's and Brecht’s aesthetics political intent. Rene Kollo (tenor) plays MacHeath with a sinister overtones, Mario Adorf (baritone) plays Peachum and Rolf Boysen (bass baritone) Tiger Brown. Ute Lemper (soprano), plays Polly Peachum with innocence mingled with defiance, Mirva (mezzo-soprano) is a superb Jenny and Helga Dernesh (mezzo-soprano) gives Mrs Peachum a versility and brilliance. The Berlin RIAS Chamber... Read review

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Advantages: Its brilliantly produced
Disadvantages: Difficult to Categorise

...This album is magic. It grows on you. It is the sexiest thing I have heard in a long time. Ute Lemper is a German stage star who is currently playing the lead female role in CHICAGO in The West End. It is an album that is beyond categorisation , really. I'm not sure if I LIKE this music, but it bugs me, its got inside my soul, I sing certain bursts of it all the time. She has an operatic quality to her voice and the album sees some strange collaborations with some of my favourite musicians. Neil Hannon, from The Divine Comedy, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave. The music is hauntingly beatiful, the lyrics are sometimes disturbing, but it is really worth playing it alone a few times to get a 'feel' for the thing. Its odd, its clever, its beautiful.... Read review

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