Customer Reviews

Teresa Stratas - The Unknown Kurt Weill

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I don't review many classical recordings - but this one, from 1981, has always been one of my favorite Weill collections, and after reading the rather negative comments from one reviewer, I felt I had to add my two cents' worth to the fray. Everyone is of course entitled to his or her own opinion - and music in SUCH a subjective topic that this should go without saying.

I've been a big admirer of Weill's work - particularly his collaborations with Brecht - for years. His songs tread the thin, tricky line between classical and cabaret more daringly that most. Brecht's collaborations with Hanns Eisler, for example, are closer to the theatrical than are Weill's. In my humble opinion, Stratas walks this `razor's edge' very nimbly on this recording - her voice is obviously a finely trained instrument, but she is also able of conveying a lot of feeling and emotion with these lyrics. Her choice - or perhaps the producer's - of accompanying here with only a piano is a good one. Woitach does a fine job - and the recording itself is crystal-clear.

My only real complaint with the cd version of this album is the size of the type in the liner notes - Nonesuch could have easily `sprung' for a lengthier booklet, to allow us `old fogies' the opportunity to read it without a magnifier, and also to include the lyrics and translations. I can't recall for certain if the lp version offered the lyrics, but I believe it did. At any rate, these complaints are indeed small ones - this is a timeless, beautiful recording, and one that any fan of Weill's work should at least hear.

Until I heard this recording, I did not understand Weill nor his appeal. I rate this as one of the best records ever made. I only heard the superficial cabaret sound of the music a la Dietrich but this recording is a revelation. Stratas interprets these songs so one can understand the effect of Berg and other composers on Weill, always maintaining the hypnotic melodies of each song. Stratas is uncanny in her ability to capture the correct emotion and meaning of each word of the songs. I find an urge to listen to this recording at least once a month after owning it for several years.

Teresa Stratas was asked by none other than Lotte Lenya herself to keep Weill's music alive. And what a job Stratas has done! Like Lenya says, Stratas sings like the songs were written for her!

On this album, she has dusted off such early Weill jems as "Die Muschel von Margate" and "Klops Lied" and given them totally charming, fresh treatments. Her voice is a sparkle, and her singing has an incredible musicality that is sometimes lacking in others' performances of Weill.

All the songs were brought to Stratas by Lenya, and they are all good. Notable are "Es Regnet," a poem set to music, and "Wie Lange Noch," which is "Je Ne T'aime Pas" with anti-war (WWII) lyrics.

This is a splendid collection, sung beautifully and with authority. The accompaniment, like a good official at a sports event, is essential to the performance, but unnoticed. Why four stars instead of five? There is no libretto, let alone a translation. If you aren't fluent in German, you can enjoy the music(!), but don't expect a message.

In my opinion, this is a 5 star album. I don't even know German, but I am continually intrigued by the way Teresa Stratas sings each song and her wonderful expression. She makes each recording sound current, fresh and melodic. I had read a review long ago and picked up the compact disc, not knowing what to expect. It is easily my favorite vocal classical CD of all time. If you want to try some music that is definitely different, I recommend this album highly. It is a true gem.

This is one of the best recordings of Kurt Weill ever and one of the best recordings of the magnificent Teresa Stratas.

I ditto the first reviewer...this albums provide the ultimate way of how to sing Weill in the most correct style. Stratas is ingenious.

'The Unknown Kurt Weill' sung by Teresa Stratas is a fine recording. The problem is that there are many fine recordings of Kurt Weill songs done by Lotte Lenya and several other Weill specialists, lead by Ute Lemper and Gisela May.

So, this album may be valuable if indeed it included a lot of numbers which do not appear on other recordings, but that is not the case either. On my collection of about ten (10) disks, not including recordings from specific shows, I have other recordings of at least half of these songs.

I really think Weill's legacy is better served by recordings who do his complete works rather than 'interesting' selections of his songs.

This is a good, enjoyable recording. I listen to it at least once a year, but it is not as good as other Weill records.

It is a disgrace that there are no lyrics enclosed. This is NOT a budget cd.

I don't know just what Lotte Lenya said on her deathbed, but I personally feel that other singers carry the torch for Kurt Weill as well or better than Teresa Stratas. Of all my Weill albums, this one gives me the least pleasure. The German is bad, the interpretations are shrill and forced. Some of the tracks are almost unlistenable. Was Teresa Stratas simply the first world class singer to rediscover this body of work? Was Lenya giving her a sympathy vote? I love Stratas' singing elsewhere, in the Boulez recording of Lulu (for example), but she is no good here.

For a newcomer to Weill, I highly recommend Anna Sophie Von Otter (excellent in every way) or even Ute Lemper's entertaining album. For that matter, go back and pick up Lotte Lenya's remastered Threepenny Opera -- it doesn't get much better than that. This Weill album, however, is tellingly named: it deserves to be unknown.