ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- www.vaimusic.co...
Lotte Lenya sings "Alabama Song" from Mahagonny (excerpt) (Brecht/Weill) (1958)
From: VAI DVD 4319 Theater Songs of Brecht & Weill
Starring Lotte Lenya and Gisela May
Lotte Lenya and Gisela May were the two most prominent interpreters of Brecht and Weill in the last century. Here, from 1958, is Lenya performing five of Kurt Weills songs from The Threepenny Opera, Happy End, Mahagonny and the Berlin Requiem. Gisela May performs Brecht songs with music by Weill, Heymann, and Dessau (1972). As a bonus, Martha Schlamme performs two songs of Weill, joined by Will Holt in one number.
Approx. 80 min. B&W/Color.
TO PURCHASE THE COMPLETE DVD, PLEASE VISIT www.vaimusic.com OR CALL TOLL-FREE IN THE US 1(800)477-7146 (OUTSIDE OF THE US, CALL 914-769-3691).
And for those who stumble upon this clip without knowing who Lotte Lenya was, she also sang the original German version of Mack the Knife (that's why Bobby Darin's version mentions her), and played Rosa Klebb in the 1963 James Bond movie From Russia With Love. She died in 1981 at the age of 83.
She was wonderful.
Thank you, I down 3 to go, thank you!
She was married to Kurt Weil who wrote the music.
She also married 2 guys that were gay.
She played the part of Jenny in the original Threepenny Opera, but the first version of Mack the Knife (Die Moritat von Mackie Messer) was sung by Kurt Gerron who was murdered in the Holocaust.
She was a fantastic singer. I luv this song. First fell in love with The Doors version. =)~
All my life I thought this song was originally written and sung by The Doors. A man of limited culture I am. And least I know before I die.
I’m right there with you. And I bet 95% of people have also had their minds blown as well.
@@MrJvilleJoey Mine is whipping in the breeze too. Heard her on Theme Time Radio Hour. Thought to myself, "I heard the Doors do a version of this."
She does this with an unexpected sweetness.
What an amazing, revolutionary woman. What a voice. Such a fantastic rendition.
She was Kurt Weill's wife. She knew exactly what he wanted
one great talent
geweldig, de muziek van mijn kindertijd
Always great to see a masterful singer on a song you expect o sound another way
Just finished watching From Russia With Love. Such a cutie pie. 🥰
A cutie pie at 65?
I'd rather not compare this to the Door's version. Let each version be loved for themselves. That said, this is great!!!
I've been reading "The Partnership", and this "Alabama Song"is presented as the first joint project that Brecht and Weill worked on together, way back in 1927. Weill had a commission to present an opera in Baden Baden, and he ditched his current project because he was so unbelievably excited to set Brecht's poetry to music and present it as an innovative new opera. I haven't had a chance to read far enough to be sure, but I believe that this turned into "Mahogonny". The book is quite good. I've always wanted to know more about these two powerhouses of musical theater!
The first production was in Baden (Rouletteberg) in 1928 and began with the sound of a gunshot, the first scene set in a boxing ring -
If there’s more to the story, inquire of Elizabeth Hauptmann... she would say, « I remember it exactly as it was written », and her archifes are somewhee I’m sur
@@davidmehnert6206 Here's a good fun fact (you probably both know this already if you've read The Partnership). The words of the Alabama Song and the Benares Song from Mahagonny are the work of Hauptmann, not Brecht. He didn't know any English at the time. Hauptmann was half American.
@@jimmeven1120 This story of her writing Brecht's work for him is speculative and unsubstantiated.
Patti Smith's book Just Kids brought me here. Loved it.
Watching this makes me so emotional for some reason. Imagine being alive during this time watching this on TV and comparing it to today's world. Its so unbelievable how different the world used to be. Its amazing how such innovative music came from such simple times and these times are eventually to be forgotten. I dont know how the Beatles or other artists from years ago were able to be groundbreaking but the 2000s+ generation needs a popular musical act to take the world by its balls.
Those times weren't simple.
Una autentica Actriz/Cantante, muy personal, un estilo unico. Era una Gran In-
terprete, verdaderamente, en este genero, solo ella sabia hacerlo.
She was in From Russia With Love. The gal who had the dagger in her heel. Also in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. Both good movies.
OMG!...love the low level opera feel!
1:11 to 1:20 is my favorite part. So charming how her voice does that wavey up lilt on the pitch at 1:15 "I tell you-oo-oo, I tell you!"
I was listening to it at half speed I liked it so much!
Rosa Klebb as Jim Morrison!
The way she incorporated her hat falling off into her performance almost seamlessly displays her astute showmanship. Great lady.
Also, I am the 100th comment, Yay Me!
Reading Lenya's biography by Donald Spoto brought me here...I had no idea! I love this woman!
Wonderful! (beats every other performance.)
thanks! wonderful clip.
Thanks! wonderful playlist.
Bette Midler used to do this song in her live show. Certainly Ms Lenya must have been an early influence. She was an amazing talent. Watch her performance in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.
Es agradable reafirmar que no hay nada nuevo bajo el sol
Que obra prima!!!!!
Love it.
I first heard this song in the mid 60s on a record by the Chad Mitchell Trio owned by someone in the dorm. None of us had ever heard of Kurt Weil, but the song was a shocker to college freshmen.
ROSA KLEBB from FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Wow!
Funny you mention the Beatles... never thought about it before, but without musicians like Weill and Lenya coming before, I don't think the Beatles could have been.
Steve Hugel Great point. In human history, nothing happens in a vacuum, I guess.
How grand.
Cool!
This is bizarre in a cool way. I'm used to Morrison's voice on this one but, this is really good.
Jim emulate her voice really good!
Lotte also created "Fräulein Schneider" in "Cabaret."
Wow great thanks for post it!!
Aριστούργημα !!!!
She played the Russian agent who tried to kick Bond with a shoe blade in From Russia With Love.
Yes, Rosa Kelb, a great performance at the end of her career.
Too bad she's gone. Jabs are popular these days.
@pgnorgan
I think Manzarek played a record of the opera to Morrison and suggested they could do a rock version of this song.
He really brought all the classical music influences in the Doors anyway...
The Lenya recording is availabled for download from iTunes. It's the same version that is the Columbia Masterworks double CD set. Only problem is not libretto.
nice
This song was written a few years before the play. I suspect the original intent was a play version of the American novel, The Rise and Fall of Quaker City by Lippencott if I remember the name right. The song is consistent with the first scene in the book where some of the louts in the novel are drunk on the town of Philadelphia.
Muito bom!!!
i love this version but also love bowie's one
@Geieraugen yes, as true today as it will be tomorrow
David Bowie does an excellent version of this song as well, and played Brecht in a play he produced I think in 2006(?) Well worth the search!
@Gefilta: When Morrison and the Doors are a dusty curiosity of a deranged capitalist "culture", the work that Lotte did with Weill and Brecht will still be one of the heart-piercing wonders of the world.
💓
Although I like The Doors a lot. Back in the early ninetees; we( "Kitchen Of Insanity"-a Belgian rockband,then)covered this song from Jim & co. Now I must say there are plenty versions to choose from. Ute Lemper is also great(more theatrical). But in my opinion Bowie's the best. It sounds like a funfair or an old carnival at times. Amazing stuff!
Oops, terribly sorry, didn't read down and notice the Bowie remarks! :)
However to me, Morrisson's version is more truthful, somehow.
Perhaps because Jim did it "first" RnR-wise, but its an old Brecht number that Bowie captured as the character HE was. Just sayin.
Stupendous! Brava, bravissima. And don't forget the composer who wrote this amazing piece.
You should listen to her sing Pirate Jenny, another great creepy song by Kurt Weill.
oooooooooooh mooooooon of alabama
@machine1313 Precisely. I love The Doors, but this is much earlier and different. Great stuff!
Fantastic. Marianne Faithfull eat yer heart out
Alabama Song ¿ a quien pertenece? a ¿Lotte Lenya o a jim morrison?
Check out Tom Waits songs from Alice and Blood Money.
@Brooker0606
Jim Morrison just changed the second verse from: "Show us the way to the next pretty boy" to "Show me the way to the next little girl" ... of course, or it would not have sounded right.
money and lust
great post!
いいね
@QuimChaos Er, I didn't say that. I said she was by no means a fascist. By no means means NOT fascist.
Where did you get that? I've been looking for a recording of "Mahagonny " but have thus far come up empty. Also, is your recording on CD or an LP record?
Kurt Weill died in 1950 at age 50. Lotta Lenya, who was actually older than Weill by a couole years, outlived him by 31 years. Kinda sad, really.😟
The original = the best.
@bigfolkie5418 i´ts the shoes m8 and since a kid and i´d found out who the little evil rosa was and i´ve found out her background i love her WHAT A FUCKING LADYXX
Love this song! Love this singer!
PS, can someone tell me to what "Alabama" this song refers? I don't imagine it's the American state.
Im sorry to admit that just today i realized this song and mack the knife are from this opera...i tought the were by armstrong and the doors, haha!
The two songs are from two different operas, both by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. Mack the Knife is from The Threepenny Opera and Alabama Song is from Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Lotte Lenya recorded them both for CBS, today Sony, as well as The Seven Deadly Sins.
1:33 Lenya sings Weill indeed
the Doors hicieron una versión de este tema, fijense en los años no más
Hee hee! I didnt know this was Weill! It was just so FRIGGIN AWESOME even knowing she sung lit....let alone hearing it. She had a gorgeous voice despite the fact she had a harsh German accent and she's damn near a baritone^^ As far as prettiness goes? Tops Morrison by a long shot....but then again, I'm a guy.
It's a harsh Austrian accent.
👍👍👍mehr kann ich nicht schreiben.
"Lotte Lenya singing the German patter songs of Kurt Weill"
They were both human beings.
@sissillian1 Thank you very much! What a shame, really . . . "Alabama" sounds so mystic. I was hoping it had some deeper meaning. :/
I'll be sure to look out for Mr. Spoto's book.
Lotte Lenya ran with Brecht-Weill, who co-wrote explicitly Communist plays. She fled to Paris in 1933. Definitely not a fascist.
And to the States four years later.
@alexuniverse i know... i was not criticizing you, only confirming what you said. it just felt kind of odd to me the reference to fascism... it was 1 year ago but you were probably responding to another reply?
Have a weird fixation for this lovely song
Listen to The Doors sing this song...and, it'll be weird (GOOD-WEIRD) on yet another level - A GREAT SONG! :)
oh yeah? People are Strange...got to get...it...right? Don't We?
lol
James Bond brought me here
@ieatlotsoftoast no Jim copied her :)
dave van ronk does a version that can't be beat, as good as lotte is! the doors' version is good but at LEAST third in my estimation.
g
Well, she was married to the guy who wrote the song.
You obviously know nothing about Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and the period in which this song was written.
Doors - definitely best version of this song. Sorry for those who can't appreciate it because you still have a grudge against one member of the band that has been dead for almost 40 years.
This is from The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Weill's take on the dreadful spectre of fascism. You have to see the whole opera to really "get" it, I think, but it's not performed all that often, which is too bad.
doors copy this song, but their version is the best, a beautiful trip
doesn't she look like she lost the Koffer somewhere?
@alexuniverse and weill was a jew... so it's kind of odd to say that she was nazi or even fascist
@alexuniverse she was dadaismus m8 she had to leave m8
Her husband was Jewish...
She was by no means a fascist -- in fact she fled Germany when the Nazis took over. She couldn't be more traditional -- she was married to Kurt Weill, who wrote this song. She's not everybody's cup of tea, but this is gritty and authentic and I personally think she's amazing. I love the Doors version too, btw. Jim Morrison was prettier and had a prettier voice!
the doors version is the most boring version of this song. I like Ute Lemper's version. No discuission.
she copied this off the doors