Search - Kurt Weill, Elisabeth von Magnus, Jacob Bogaart :: Tonight: Kurt Weill

Superb Recording of Kurt Weill's German & American Songs Fro

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 05/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a serious fan of Kurt Weill's music, then you'll certainly want to acquire this CD, especially when it features some of his most memorable (and least known too) songs composed during the Berlin, Germany and USA phases of his prolific career. Austrian mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Magnus is a convincing, persuasive interpreter of Weill's music (She may be better known for collaborating with her father, distinguished conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, in a series of Teldec recordings of works for voice and orchestra composed by Haydn, Mozart and Mendelssohn.), and has in Dutch pianist Jacob Bogaart (He's a fine pianist I haven't heard of before, whose most influential teacher was the great Claudio Arrau.), an equally accomplished artist, as her pianist collaborator (Indeed, the CD's cover features a photograph of the pair in traditional 1940s grab, as if they were Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in a scene from the film "Casablanca", or a more seasoned version of the young Parisian lovers depicted by the great French documentary photographer Robert Doisneau in one of his most famous images.). This recording is based on a Weill song recital which the pair have taken on tour throughout Europe, and now, most recently, to New York City too (I had the pleasure of hearing them perform some of the songs from this CD and others composed by Weill, including a few in Paris, late last week at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York.). Since I'm not familiar with Weill's music, I won't go out on a limb and say that this is a definitive recording of these songs, but it still earns high praise from me."