Probably, there is no classic composer of this century that may have been capable of establishing a bridge between what is high and what is mundane, between what is erudite and what is profane, better than Kurt Weill. A very personal and unmistakable author, his music participates by equal of the best of the cultural of the beginning of century in Germany, as well as of the worst emerged from the revolutionary and critically social environment on which he grew; left-wing declared, migrated to the United States with the uprising of the nazis, Weill composed also stupendous scores for the American theatre, and leave a long bouquet of works whose quality and variety accredit him as one of the most interesting authors of the century. A good example of all this is found in this disk, actually the soundtrack of a movie on his music, fruit of the interest and dedication of director Larry Weinstein. The fourteen themes included covered a wide spectrum of Weill's vocal work, from songs of very significant works from the mid twenties, in the summit of his collaboration with the great Bertolt Brecht, till some of his better scores for Broadway. Equally wide and various is the performers and interpretations spectrum, something almost innate in Weill's work, whose pieces have always been in the mouth of the best classic and popular singers in multitude of arrangements; between them there are versions evidently close to the more pure Weill spirit in their performance, as the two pieces that performs Teresa Stratas, or the 1955 recording that Lotte Lenya, friend and direct collaborator of the composer, performs. Very far away, but equally curious, are the versions that interpret Lou Reed or Nick Cave, more related to their own music than to Weill's. In the middle, the surprising Elvis Costello or Betty Carter, and three curious cues: the old William S. Burroughs reciting in an aggressive way the obscure verses that Bertolt Brecht wrote for Der Dreigroschenoper (1928); the own Weill intoning the very well-known Speak Low from One Touch of Venus (1943), in an old recording curiously remixed and arranged with the bass-player Charlie Haden; and a 1930 recording of the famous Mack the Knife by an incredible Brecht, with a ripped voice. Soul, pop, rock, jazz, any environment seems valid for the all-time music of this international German.

Mack the Knife (Die Dreigroschenoper, 1928) [Arrangements: Spanish Fly]
Nick Cave, Spanish Fly and Kenn Wollesen - 4:53
Ballad of the Soldier's Wife
PJ Harvey - 4:26
Alabama Song (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, 1927-29) [Arrangements: Ralph Schuckett]
David Johansen, Ellen Shipley, Bob Dorough and Ralph Schuckett - 4:43
Youkali Tango
Teresa Stratas, Richard Woitach and Joseph Macerollo - 6:39
Lost in the Stars (Lost in the Stars, 1949)
Elvis Costello and Brodsky String Quartet - 3:56
Pirate Jenny (Die Dreigroschenoper, 1928)
Lotte Lenya - 4:04
Speak Low (One Touch of Venus, 1943) [Arrangements: Fred Hersh]
Charlie Haden, Fred Hersh and Kurt Weill - 5:31
Oh, Heavenly Salvation (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, 1927-29) [Arrangements: The Persuasions]
The Persuasions - 3:36
Lonely House (Street Scene, 1946) [Arrangements: Betty Carter]
Betty Carter - 7:32
Surabaya-Johnny (Happy End, 1929)
Teresa Stratas - Chamber Symphony, Conductor:Gerard Schwarz - 5:58
Fürchte Dich Nicht (Happy End, 1929) [Arrangements: Mary Margaret O'Hara]
Mary Margaret O'Hara - 4:25
September Song (Knickerbocker Holiday, 1938) [Arrangements: Lou Reed]
Lou Reed - 7:51
Mack the Knife (Die Dreigroschenoper, 1928)
Bertolt Brecht - 2:48
What Keeps Mankind Alive? (Die Dreigroschenoper, 1928) [Arrangements: Anthony Coleman]
William S. Burroghs - Selfhaters Orchestra - 2:46
SONY CLASSICAL 01-063046-10 / 69'

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