Customer Reviews

The Kurt Weill Project

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like music at all... if you like singing, if you like hearing thought and emotion and amazing production values amalgamated into a wonderfully cohesive blend of old and new, you must hear A.J. Teshin and his beautiful renditions of Kurt Weill's music.

These are thoughtful, heartfelt and deeply intimate presentations of timeless material. Pay close attention to "Alabama Song" and "It Never Was You": completely divergent yet both hauntingly poignant. Because of their unique melodies and the sheer poetry of their lyrics, Weill's songs have always been ripe for cabaret interpretation, and you'll find some of that here. But much of what Teshin has imagined is like nothing you've ever heard. If you listen once, these are recordings you'll go back to again and again. Thoroughly enjoyable!

As a long-time fan of Kurt Weill (1948: Ava Gardner and Speak Low in the movie version of One Touch of Venus; 1956: Dick Hyman's a/o Richard Hayden's Moritat; 1961: Hugo Montenegro's LP version of Lost in the Stars; etc., etc., etc.) who has come, over the years, to own more than two dozen audio and visual recordings of his works (from Bobby and Ella through Ben Bagley, the London Sinfonetta and Julie Wilson to the Scottish and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras, Teresa Stratas, Elvis Costello, Thomas Hampson, and Hal Willner) let me say that THIS RECORDING RANKS UP THERE WITH THE BEST I'VE HEARD. Teshin has a nice high tenor voice, the arrangements are very "Weillian", and even the use of synthesizers (which I ordinarily dislike) works to the music's advantage. I think Weill would like it. I know I do.

If Lotte Lenya and Moby had a love child...and then Moby took up with Judy Garland and they raised that child together, that child would grow up to be A.J. Teshin. I found this album by chance, and I'm so glad I did. Teshin places popular and obscure Weill tunes in modern, textured soundscapes. Sometimes he does it through orchestrations and sometimes through layered vocal arrangements. At the heart of it, his singing is exciting and engaging. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd have to say his tender take on "It Never Was You," but really, the whole album is a treasure.

I have to say I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this cd because usually I think male singers don't do as well with Weill and female singers, but A.J. Teshin not only has a beautiful instrument and great production values, he also sings with an emotional understanding of the material.

Beautiful, evocative re-imagining of Kurt Weill's music. Check it out! Innovative orchestrations, beautiful phrasing. Kudos to Teshin who manages to conjur Weill's musical ghost; making him surprisingly accessible for a contemporary audience. The cuts are sometimes lush, sometimes spare and often quite haunting. Definitely a unique turn by a new artist well worth watching.

This is a wonderful album. A J Teshin's approach to the music of Kurt Weill is thoughtful and considered. His tenor voice is beautiful and he is able to evoke the emotionality present in so much of Weill's music. Creating a new album of music that has been recorded many times before is risky. In this case, the fresh approach to the music of this important composer is most welcome.

If someone reading this wants to hear an INTERPRETATION of Kurt Weill's music, then buy this, a reinvention of classic songs into an ultra-modern, dancey, visual masterpiece. This is not a typical "covers" album. The accompaniments have been re-orchestrated and the songs play like good theatre. It feels fresh and innovative with Teshin's crisp, clear singing against Weill's beauty. If you're tired of the same old same old when it comes to Kurt Weill, then I highly recommend this cd for you. Plus...Mr. Teshin includes a thank you to Katherine MacGregor (she played Harriet Oleson on Little House on the Prairie...anyone??) in the "Special Thanks" section of the liner notes. Wonder what the connection is?? It's almost as intriguing as the music he's created.

This is a dramatic departure from the Weill we're all familiar with, but one I think the composer would have welcomed with a wry nod. After all, Weill wasn't setting out to repeat the old and tried but to bring something robust and new to the German stage. He was a man of his times, and this is music of our own time, with respect to the composer's intentions and an ear for what works among contemporary listeners. I hope this gets lots of airplay, as it will no doubt give people a very new idea of what Weill was really all about. It's a masterful production.

This is the best creative version of Kurt Weill's Music, Ever. Between the Vocals and synthesized music, there is not a dull moment. It is a beautiful combination of 2 genres. If you love K. Weill, you have got to listen to this!

If you care at all about the future of serious reinterpretation of classic 20th-century songs, stop reading, click onto amazon.com and buy The Kurt Weill Project. A. J. Teshin, an exciting new tenor, has achieved the near-impossible: He presents Weill in a 21st-century setting without fracturing the meaning or style of the music. "Alabama Song" has been worked over by such disparate artists as Lotte Lenya and The Doors, but here it is, a most chilling dash for the next whiskey bar, the next pretty boy, the next dollar . . . before death takes us all. "Lonely House," "Speak Low" and especially "It Never Was You" have never sounded better. Weill, who died in 1950, is a much-loved composer who could well have been left in the dust of memory, has been spectacularly rescued by Teshin. Now, if he would only set his sights of Jerome Kern . . .

Just finished listening to this for the first but not the last!) time. What impressed me most was this amazing tenor voice that captured and expressed the emotions of the lyrics. Being able to convey this in other than his native language is truly remarkable.