Search - Michael Wager, Louis Armstrong :: Lenya

Almost forgotten, but still breathtaking: Lenya

Meik (michael.streif@infotech.co.at | Austria | 10/22/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lotte Lenya, the Austrian born actress and singer, was much more than only "Kurt Weill's wife". This 11 CD box brings Lenya's greatest performances back to our minds, but it also contains rare material like Lenya reading Kafka, Lenya reading Brecht, Lenya reading German poetry. Of course, her songs from "Three Penny Opera" and "Mahagonny" are featured as well as songs recorded during World War II, like "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" and "Lied einer deutschen Mutter". Lenya, with her Viennese accent and her extraordinary voice (which was not beautiful at all, but fascinating and so full of character) is one of the most amazing figures in 20th century's music theatre. Strangely enough, she seems to be almost forgotten nowadays. Maybe this great CD box which also contains a very interesting book with many impressive pictures and a LP recording of "Mahagonny" will help that Lenya will not be completely forgotten ..."

Comprehensive

John Ellis | New York, NY United States | 07/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This box set on the great Austrian born, German and later Broadway star Lotte Lenya collects almost everything she ever did in front of a microphone. From the first recordings she made of the iconic "Threepenny Opera" ("Die Dreigroshenoper") to the erzatz James Bond theme song "Youngblood", and even her appearance on Dick Cavett (commenting on his attire as "you look like a pimp") where she sang "I'm A Stranger Here Myself" arranged down to a three note range. Besides the 11 CDs with many very rare or unreleased recordings, the box includes a book with extraordinary photographs (particularly the set shot on the docks in postwar Germany, one of which was used for the German "Happy End" LP cover, stunning). Particularly welcome is the score of "Mother Courage" extracted from a television production. Lenya as she depreciated herself had a limited instrument yet always did unforgettable things with it. As a record of her extraordinary role in reviving her late husband's reputation, her part in the great theater of the Weimar republic and her later role in bringing its influences into the work of Kander and Ebb via "Cabaret" and American theater, this is a monumental edition. About the only thing left out (naturally) is her stellar performances in such films as "From Russia With Love", "The Appointment" and "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone". That she ended her career playing a Rolfing therapist treating the backside of Burt Reynolds through unconventional means is a joke she probably enjoyed a lot. Anyone who is completely smitten with "Threepenny" should love this, however steep the price. Note: one of her friends assures me her most Lenya-like performance is on the DVD of the television production of Tennessee Williams' "Ten Blocks on the Camino Real", the first drama PBS ever produced."