Kurt Weill on Broadway

Donald Maxwell (Performer), Simon Keenlyside (Performer), Stephen Alder (Performer), Kurt Weill (Composer), John McGlinn (Conductor, Performer), London Sinfonietta (Orchestra), Elizabeth Futral (Performer), Justin Lavender (Performer), Vernon Midgley (Performer), Brian Parsons (Performer), Christopher Dee (Performer), Jeanne Lehman (Performer), Jeffrey Carl (Performer), Jerry Hadley (Performer), Michael Dore (Performer), Michael Magee (Performer), Peter Sidhom (Performer), Richard van Allan (Performer), Robert Fardell (Performer), Simon Birchall (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Donald Maxwell, Simon Keenlyside, Stephen Alder, John McGlinn, Elizabeth Futral, et al.
• Orchestra: London Sinfonietta
• Conductor: John McGlinn
• Composer: Kurt Weill
• Audio CD (March 11, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B000002RVU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #329,458 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Westwind

2. It Never Was You

3. How Can You Tell an American?

4. Song of the Hangman

5. Civic Song -- Come to Florence

6. My Lords and Ladies

7. Farewell Song -- There Was Life, There Was Love, There Was Laughter

8. Love Song -- You're Far Too Near Me

9. Procession/Chant of Law and Order -- The World Is Full of Villains

10. Trial by Music -- You Have to Do What You Do Do

11. Love Is My Enemy

12. Who Is Samuel Cooper?/My Name Is Samuel Cooper

13. Here I'll Stay

14. I Remember It Well

15. This Is the Life

16. Johnny's Song

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

These little known selections from Weill's extensive Broadway career--including the entire Act I, Scene 1 from his operetta The Firebrand of Florence--are unpopular for good reason. They lack the melodic brilliance of his more familiar material. The only memorable song is the familiar "There Never Was You," known for its lush vocal lines, moving sentiment, and ease of interpretation. Thomas Hampson excels in this material; his rich baritone resounds with vibrant overtones and crystal clear diction. In contrast, Elizabeth Futral has no affinity for Weill's music, singing with an unappealing huskiness and vibrato-burdened tone. Miles Kreuger's program notes provide a fascinating historical perspective of Weill's American career, and alone are worth the price of admission. --Barbara Eisner Bayer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Little Broadway Weill, April 13, 2006

By	G. Dowling (St. Louis, MO, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It would seem a bit disingenuous to criticize a disc called "Kurt Weill on Broadway" for excluding selections from "Die Dreigroschenoper," a work written in 1920's Berlin in a style so distinctly different from that of his Broadway years. There are many, many recordings of "3-Penny" in both German and English, both complete and selections; there's no reason for their inclusion here. These Broadway years called for a very different Weill, one whose work is not well-enough represented on disc. Would that these beautifully-assembled selections had been more extensive, in a 2-disc set -- and that the full scores from all his American productions could be so well presented as these little-known selections.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I didn't know Kurt Weill wrote that!, October 7, 2005

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

'Kurt Weill on Broadway' sung by Thomas Hampson is a good Kurt Weill album, but not the best it could have been. I have a strong suspicion that rather than do a collection of those English stage songs for which Weill is best known, Hampson simply did a collection of songs by Kurt Weill in which Hampson has already performed. Most of Weill's more famous English songs such as 'Sing Low' and 'September Song' are missing. And that doesn't even touch on the fact that there is nothing from 'The Threepenny Opera' which, although it was written in German, ran for a very long time on Broadway (or off Broadway)in a famous English translation by Mark Blitzstein. And, a third of the album is taken up by selections from 'The Firebrand of Florence', not one of Weill's best pieces.

I am happy to have these performances, but as an album, it probably only appeals to Kurt Weill fans. One thing I will say, however, is that it is really nice to have a male voice doing some Weill, since so much of his stuff was written and is performed by female Weill specialists.