Classical Cabaret

Track Listings
1. Love Is Here To Stay    
2. Embraceable You    
3. Someone To Watch Over Me    
4. I Love A Piano    
5. I Wonder What Became Of Me    
6. Blues In The Night    
7. But Not For Me    
8. Blah, Blah, Blah    
9. I'm always True To You    
10. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye    
11. Mood Indigo    
12. Voyage à Paris    
13. Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves)    
14. So In Love    
15. My heart Belongs To Daddy    
16. By Strauss    
17. I'll Be Seeing You    
18. Les Chemins de L'Amour    
19. La Vie En Rose    

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Classical Cabaret is a collection of American and French early 20th century song repertoire. Considered popular songs in their time they are now classics. All arrangements except the songs of Poulenc are by Betty Bullock, piano and Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano.

Classical Cabaret, Music, Berlin, Ellington, Poulenc, Piaf, Arlen Gershwin, soprano Rosa Lamoreaux, piano Betty Bullock
Eternelle: The Best Of
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Great Singer! Great CD!
  • Wonderful Compilation of Edith Piaf
  • Eternelle
  • Mesmerizing and enchanting...
  • The definitive single CD
 Eternelle: The Best Of
Edith Piaf
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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  1. The Voice of the Sparrow: The Very Best of Edith Piaf
  2. Edith Piaf: Her Greatest Recordings 1935-1943
  3. La Vie en Rose: La Mome
  4. Edith Piaf: 30th Anniversaire
  5. Aznavour: Ses Plus Grands Succes

ASIN: B000050ZM2
Release Date: 2002-01-29

Tracks:

  1. La Vie En Rose
  2. Hymne A L'amour
  3. Padam... Padam
  4. Johnny Tu N'es Pas Un Ange
  5. La Goualante Du Pauvre Jean
  6. Sous Le Ciel De Paris
  7. L'homme A La Moto
  8. Mon Manege A Moi (Tu Me Fais Tourner La Tete)
  9. Non Je Ne Regrette Rien
  10. Milord
  11. Les Flonflons Du Bal
  12. Les Mots D'amour
  13. Fallait-il?
  14. La Foule
  15. Tiens V'la Un Marin
  16. Le Droit D'aimer
  17. A Quoi Ca Sert L'amour?
  18. L'accordeoniste

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Great Singer! Great CD!.......2007-07-19

Definitely a must-have for those who grew up in the 40's and the 50's. Good listening music and what a solid voice! I will never get tired of listening to Edith Piaf.

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful Compilation of Edith Piaf.......2007-03-09

Such a pleasure to hear so many songs that Ms. Piaf made famous especially, "Milord", "La Vie En Rose", and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien". A great compilation! I only wish a word booklet had been included, but you can't have everything. Ms. Piaf's voice is more than enough!

5 out of 5 stars Eternelle.......2007-02-17

The songs are wonderful, Edith Piaf has a beautiful voice. The songs are sung in French, a masterpiece.

5 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing and enchanting..........2002-03-26

I love this collection. It has all of my favorite songs of Edith Piaf. This one is truly a classic. You won't be dissatisfied.

5 out of 5 stars The definitive single CD.......2002-02-11

EMI did a nice job of remastering these tracks, so that they are cleaner and more dynamic than ever before. This is significant since there is so much Piaf product out there from second-generation tapes/old records/etc. Including the most well-known of Piaf's songs this, then, has become the definitive single CD of her work. Highly recommended.
Hymn to Love: All Her Greatest Songs in English
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Huge surprise!
  • Better in French
  • Handy reference for lyric meanings in English
 Hymn to Love: All Her Greatest Songs in English
Edith Piaf
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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  1. The Voice of the Sparrow: The Very Best of Edith Piaf
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  5. 75 Chansons

ASIN: B0000C8WYE
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Tracks:

  1. Hymn To Love
  2. One Little Man
  3. La Vie En Rose (Version Anglaise)
  4. Chante Moi (Version Anglaise)
  5. Simply A Waltz
  6. My God
  7. Don't Cry
  8. Autumn Leaves
  9. I Shouldn't Care
  10. The Three Bells
  11. 'Cause I Love You
  12. My Lost Melody
  13. Heaven Have A Mercy
  14. No Regrets
  15. Lovers For A Day (Live)
  16. Heureuse (Live)

Amazon.com

Frankly, it feels a bit weird to listen to Edith Piaf perform in English. There aren't many singers so associated with a country as Piaf is with France. And yet she did record some of her hits in English in an attempt to facilitate her career in the United States. While newcomers to the singer's oeuvre should start with her French albums, this CD is fascinating for advanced Piaf listeners. Most of the sides were cut 1950 and show Piaf in fine vocal form on tracks such as "La vie en rose" (she switched from English to French for the title) and "Autumn Leaves" ("Les feuilles mortes"), a strangely compelling hybrid that alternates between French and English. Piaf was certainly more at ease singing in French, but her charismatic sense of drama could break through in just about any language. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Album Details

Digitally Remastered Collection of the "Little Songbird's" Hits that She Re-recorded in English.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Huge surprise!.......2007-05-12

What an unbelievable surprise - and joy - to discover Edith Piaf singing in English, and sometimes songs which she never sang in French! Her accent is ten times worse than mine... but the voice remains, outstanding!

3 out of 5 stars Better in French.......2007-01-06

I think Edith Piaf was one of the world's great chanteuses. However, she loses a lot in translation. Whereas her songs in French are effective, touching and powerful, in English they are somewhat bland. Perhaps this has to do with the translations which almost always water down the French. Perhaps it is because her command of English is not great. In any case, for the REAL Piaf, buy anything she recorded in French--you will be transported.

3 out of 5 stars Handy reference for lyric meanings in English.......2005-12-13

This is a nice enough album. I think she sounds a lot nicer in French, but some of these songs are fun, and if you have enjoyed some of her original music and been curious what they might mean in English, this is one way to get a sense of them. Of course, it would be nicer if all the albums came with liner pages of lyrics but they don't. (Edith Piaf sings clearly enough in French that even an amateur language scholar can try to follow the songs by ear however.) I bought this album when I bought "The Voice of the Sparrow," and while I like that one a lot better, and can listen to it more, this one is handy to have. If you do like lyrics in translation, you might also like to check out the music of Joni James and Nana Mouskoura. Their voices are very different from hers, but the multi-lingual aspect is fun.
Au Carnegie Hall 1956-1957
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The Sparrow
 Au Carnegie Hall 1956-1957
Edith Piaf
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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  5. Eternelle: The Best Of

ASIN: B0000C8WYC
Release Date: 2004-02-24

Tracks:

  1. Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin
  2. Sous Le Ciel De Paris
  3. Je T'ai Dans La Peau (Du Film Boum Sur Paris)
  4. Misericorde
  5. C'est A Hambourg
  6. Padam...Padam
  7. Hymn To Love
  8. Monsieur Le Noble
  9. Le Fanion De La Legion
  10. Merry Go Round (Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin)
  11. Bravo Pour Le Clown
  12. Les Amants De Paris
  13. Je Hais Les Dimanches
  14. The Little Man
  15. Escale
  16. L'homme A La Moto
  17. Autumn Leaves
  18. Mariage
  19. La Vie En Rose

Tracks:

  1. L'accordeoniste
  2. Monsieur Saint Pierre
  3. C'est Pour Ca
  4. Je T'ai Dans La Peau
  5. Les Amants D'un Jour
  6. Les Grognards
  7. C'est, A Hambourg
  8. Misericorde
  9. La Goualante Du Pauvre Jean
  10. Padam... Padam
  11. Un Jeune Homme Chantait
  12. La Fete Continue
  13. Heureuse
  14. L'homme A La Moto
  15. Telegramme
  16. Hymne A L'amour
  17. Bravo Pour Le Clown
  18. La Vie En Rose

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Sparrow.......2007-01-15

I love the fact you can find anything on Amazon. This was a gift I purchased for my mother. She loves Edith Piaf. It came quickly, I gave it to her for Christmas. She loves the CD. I would have spent a lot of time going to different stores to find this CD, it is not top of the charts. Thank you Amazon.
Greatest Hits: Broadway
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Great to Hear All those great Voices from the Past
  • A Good One!
 Greatest Hits: Broadway

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000029PM
Release Date: 1996-10-29

Tracks:

  1. Oklahoma!: Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' - John Raitt/Franz Allers
  2. On The Town: New York, New York - Michael Kermoyan/Adolph Green/John Reardon/Cris Alexander & Chorus/Leonard Bernstein
  3. Annie Get Your Gun: I Got The Sun In The Morning - Doris Day/Franz Allers
  4. Fiddler On The Roof: If I Were A Rich Man - Topol/Gareth Davies
  5. West Side Story: Tonight - Larry Kert/Carol Lawrence/Max Goberman
  6. The Sound Of Music: The Sound Of Music - Mary Martin/Frederick Dvonch
  7. My Fair Lady: On The Street Where You Live - Jerry Lanning/Theodore Saidenberg
  8. Annie: Tomorrow - Andrea McArdle/Peter Howard
  9. The Music Man: Seventy-Six Trombones - The Boston Pops Orchestra/John Williams
  10. Anything Goes: You're The Top - Eileen Rodgers/Hal Linden/Julian Stein
  11. Bye Bye Birdie: Put On A Happy Face - Dick Van Dyke/Elliot Lawrence
  12. Mame: Open A New Window - Angela Lansbury & Cast/Don Pippin
  13. Strike Up The Band: Strike Up The Band - The Chestnut Brass Co.
  14. Sweet Charity: Hey, Big Spender - Helen Gallagher/Thelma Oliver/Fan-Dango Girls/Fred Werner
  15. Bells Are Ringing: Just In Time - Judy Holliday/Sydney Chaplin/Milton Rosenstock
  16. Gypst: Together, Wherever We Go - Ethel Merman/Jack Klugman/Sandra Church/Milton Rosenstock
  17. Cabaret: Cabaret - Jill Haworth/Harold Hastings
  18. Phantom Of The Opera: The Music Of The Night - The Boston Pops Orchestra/John Williams
  19. Show Boat: Ol' Man River - William Warfield/Franz Allers
  20. A Chorus Line: What I Did For Love - Priscilla Lopez & Cast/Don Pippin
  21. A Little Night Music: Send In The Clowns - Glynis Johns/Harold Hastings

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Great to Hear All those great Voices from the Past.......2007-07-05

I just wanted to confirm what the first reviewer had to say about this CD. To hear Ethyl Merman, Mary Martin, Andrea McCardle etc. singing their trademark songs brought a lot of memories from the mid-centry musical theater back again. The last song by Glynis Johns is especially poignant.
You certainly can't beat the price!

5 out of 5 stars A Good One!.......2006-11-10

This is a very good CD, mostly because it's the original artists. I've had some that were re-recorded by no name artists that were ghastly. This one is a really good one--including the sound quality. If I had one wish, I would wish it were longer!
Charles Aznavour - Greatest Golden Hits
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Wonderful Songs, Strong voice
  • Wonderful
  • Formidable!
  • Formidable
  • The french frank sinatra???
 Charles Aznavour - Greatest Golden Hits
Charles Aznavour
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000002SIW
Release Date: 1996-04-23

Tracks:

  1. After Loving You
  2. Happy Anniversary
  3. It Will Be My Day
  4. La Boheme
  5. She
  6. The Old Fashioned Way
  7. What Makes A Man
  8. Yesterday When I Was Young
  9. You've Got To Learn
  10. How Sad Venice Can Be
  11. Ave Maria
  12. Hold Back The Night
  13. I Didn't See The Time Go By
  14. I'll Be There
  15. The Times We've Known
  16. You've Let Yourself Go
  17. La Baraka
  18. And I In My Chair
  19. Sunday's Not My Day
  20. A Blue Like The Blue Of Your Eyes

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful Songs, Strong voice.......2007-05-19

This album has many of his best songs. Well worth the cost. It will be a collector's item.

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful.......2007-02-01

Charles Aznavour's music is beautiful, his songs are soulful, and the way he portrays them is heartfelt. We continue to listen to this album and look forward to enjoying others like it.

5 out of 5 stars Formidable!.......2007-01-05

English version is almost as good as his french, but when he sings in french there is not enough stars.

5 out of 5 stars Formidable.......2006-09-22

I saw Mr. Aznavour perform recently during his farewell tour. This CD will give me fond memories of the songs he sang in English. He is a wonderful performer in any language. This CD will give those who do not speak French access to the beautiful songs he has written and his unforgettable voice.

3 out of 5 stars The french frank sinatra???.......2006-01-09

I got this CD because the cover looked interesting and well, based on my gut instinct i gave it a chance. It's OK
I mean i'm not a huge Sinatra fan and it sounds like that to me...a french sinatra in this case.

I guess you just have to be into it because in the end putting your tastes aside it's good.

Happy anniversary and la boheme are the highlights in my opinion.
Cabaret (Original Broadway Cast)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • a great original cast recording........
  • A Classic
  • A LANDMARK IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN MUSICALS
  • The Original "Cabaret"
  • Im Cabaret, Au Cabaret, To Cabaret
 Cabaret (Original Broadway Cast)
Fred Ebb
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000007OHR
Release Date: 1998-06-02

Tracks:

  1. Willkommen
  2. So What?
  3. Don't Tell Mama
  4. Telephone Song
  5. Perfectly Marvelous
  6. Two Ladies
  7. It Couldn't Please Me More (A Pineapple)
  8. Tomorrow Belongs To Me
  9. Why Should I Wake Up?
  10. The Money Song (Sitting Pretty)
  11. Married
  12. Meeskite
  13. Entr'acte
  14. If You Could See Her (The Gorilla Song)
  15. What Would You Do?
  16. Cabaret
  17. Finale
  18. Berlin Songs Intro
  19. I Don't Care Much
  20. Roommates Intro
  21. Roommates
  22. Good Time Charlie Intro
  23. Good Time Charlie
  24. It'll All Blow Over Intro
  25. It'll All Blow Over

Amazon.com

This original cast recording of Kander & Ebb's Cabaret is tough to beat: Jill Haworth as Sally Bowles, Joel Grey as the Master of Ceremonies, and Lotte Lenya as Fraulein Schneider all turn in classic performances that set a high-water mark for future reinterpretations. Lenya's "So What?" and "It Couldn't Please Me More" hark back to the dark cabaret work composed by her late husband, Kurt Weill, while other tunes ("Telephone Song," "Two Ladies") are much more upbeat. One of the best surprises found on this version--featuring liner notes by author Ken Mandelbaum--are the four previously unreleased (and fascinating) Kander & Ebb demo cuts and four brief intros for songs. The eight rarities are all low-fidelity but highlight the songwriting process of the pair nicely. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars a great original cast recording...............2007-05-14

I have never seen the film version of CABARET, nor the stage version. Yet, when I first heard the vinyl version of this original cast recording, I felt like I was in the audience, watching the creepy Master of Ceremonies (the wonderful and understatedly sleezy Joel Grey), beautiful British Sally Bowles (Jill Haworth), and her American boyfriend, Cliff (Bert Convy), from my seat on at mezzanine level, with a pair of field glasses on opening night!

The plot of CABARET is a bit elaborate, so, I won't go into details, here. What's more, giving away too much plot will ruin your experience. This is a musical that you just have to experience for yourself. Set during the height of Nazi occupation, the cabaret is the one venue people go to escape war and pain. The sleezy underworld of the cabaret runs rampant with sexual innuendo, dancing girls and hedonism. The Master of Ceremonies (Grey) presents sexy dancers, a dancing gorilla and welcome everyone to the venue in three languages ("Wilkommen"). Due to fate, he encounters Sally Bowles (Jill Haworth), a free spirited performer who falls in love with Cliff, an American (Burt Convey).

Okay, no more plot. I will tell you this. The music is catchy, wickedly bawdy and full of entendre. Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, it examines the ins and outs of cultural clash, identity and human violence. The instrumental is deceptively peppy, as if to conceal a reality that the performers are desperately trying to hide. I reccomend this as an engrossing period piece, as well as a great example of the musical theater repertoire.

5 out of 5 stars A Classic.......2006-07-22

If you want to hear Cabaret well sung, get the film soundtrack. Liza Minelli is sublime, and adapting the role of Sally Bowles to suit her talents was a stroke of genius, and part of the reason why so many consider the movie (arguably) a masterpiece.

If you want to hear it performed in the true spirit in which it was written, get the OBC. Not for Jill Hayworth as Sally, or even Joel Grey as the Emcee, both are excellent, but get it for Lotte Lenya as Frau Schneider. Her throaty, raspy, accented singing style is totally captivating. Her duets with Jack Gilford (also perfectly cast in the best role of his long career) are charming and bittersweet. But the real reason, and I think the core to Cabarets story, is the song, What Would You Do? It is gut wrenching, her delivery is full of pain, yearning and bewilderment. She asks the question that I'm sure thousands of Germans asked, pre-WWII, in the event of having to sacrifice or face painful consequences. No easy or pleasant answer, and what Cabaret is really about, the sacrifices each character must make, and the choices they have to choose.

5 out of 5 stars A LANDMARK IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN MUSICALS.......2006-06-29

This is one of those musicals that you may perfectly describe as a landmark in the History of Musicals. It helps to define the transitional period between the Golden Age of the fifties and the musicals that came right after. Impossible to classify it as a musical comedy, since it deals with most dramatic issues, as WEST SIDE STORY did it before. It's rough, dramatic, violent staff but so wonderfully conceived! If you have the movie soundtrack (who doesn't?) and you think that's it, you're wrong. The musical play differs a great deal from the movie, which was "remodelled" to stress Liza Minelli's talent. She certainly did a wonderful job in the excellent movie adaptation, but the musical play contains some songs that were cut out or replaced to fit Miss Minelli's leading performance. Even the story line suffered some changes once translated into the silver screen. Both the movie and the play are excellent, but different. So, if you have the movie soundtrack, get this one as well, and you'll be surprised to find some different material from the movie recording.

5 out of 5 stars The Original "Cabaret".......2005-07-15

While the 1972 movie starring Liza Minnelli is probably the most well-known version of "Cabaret", this 1966 Broadway version is where it all started.

Led by a talented cast, including Jill Haworth (Sally Bowles), Lotte Lenya (Fraulein Schneider), and the incredible Joel Grey (Master Of Ceremonies), this Kander & Ebb musical is excellent and contains a classic score.

Best tracks include:

Wilkommen (Mr. Grey's signature song)
Two Ladies
It Couldn't Please Me More
Tomorrow Belongs To Me
The Money Song
Married
If You Could See Her
Cabaret

One should note, however, that two classic "Sally Bowles" songs were added for the movie: "Mein Herr" & "Maybe This Time".

This is a great cd! ... but if you want a version that includes these songs, try the movie soundtrack or the 1999 Revival Cast (which also includes "I Don't Care Much").

5 out of 5 stars Im Cabaret, Au Cabaret, To Cabaret.......2004-06-06

That chilling introductory drumroll and cymbal crash, followed by the equally chilling sound of Joel Grey's voice singing "Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome," is enough to tell the listener that CABARET is an exceptional show and that its original cast recording is exceptional, too. In CABARET, realistic book scenes are interspersed with floor show-style sequences that comment on the action. The result is a moving, disturbing take on the rise of the Nazis in 1930's Berlin. There is no question that the librettist/composer/ lyricist team of Joe Masteroff, John Kander, and Fred Ebb - aided by the innovative staging of director Harold Prince - created a revolutionary musical in CABARET. The recording is justly dominated by Grey's epicene Master of Ceremonies, while Bert Convy and Jill Haworth are in wonderful voice as the two lovers (just listen to Convy's gloriously sung "Why Should I Wake Up?"). However, the "secondary couple" - the legendary Lotte Lenya as Fraulein Schneider and Jack Gilford as her Jewish suitor, Herr Schultz - are the stars here. Lenya (aided by two character-defining solos, "So What?" and "What Would You Do?") gives a vivid characterization of the aging landlady whose engagement to Schultz is doomed, while Gilford sings his part of the duet "Married" with affecting simplicity and is adorably droll in the comic narrative "Meeskite." The orchestral playing is spectacular and the digitally remastered sound equally so. And included as one of eight bonus tracks on this reissue is Kander and Ebb's haunting rendition of "I Don't Care Much," a song cut from the original production (but restored in the recent revival). This has quickly become one of my favorite original Broadway cast recordings.
Happy End (2006 ACT Cast)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Best Cast recording EVER!
  • Happy with "Happy End"
  • Buy this recording!
  • Great Recording
 Happy End (2006 ACT Cast)
Bertolt Brecht
Manufacturer: Ghostlight
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000M06KFM
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Tracks:

  1. Prologue
  2. The Bilbao Song
  3. Lieutenants of the Lord
  4. March Ahead
  5. Time in a Shot Glass
  6. The Sailor's Tango
  7. Entr'Acte
  8. The Sailor's Tango (Reprise)
  9. Brother, Give Yourself a Shave
  10. Song of the Big Shot
  11. Don't Be Afraid
  12. In Our Childhood's Bright Endeavor
  13. The Liquor Dealer's Dream
  14. The Mandalay Song
  15. Goddam It
  16. Surabaya Johnny
  17. The Heist
  18. Ballad of the Lily of Hell
  19. Song of the Big shot (Reprise)
  20. In Our Childhood's Bright Endeavor
  21. Epilogue
  22. The Bilbao Song (Reprise)

Album Description

Happy End follows the struggle of the passionate Salvation Army lieutenant Lillian Holiday to save the soul of down-and-out mobster Bill Cracker, whose gang is led by the mysterious Lady in Grey (AKA The Fly). Soon the gangster and and "Hallelujah Lil" fall in love as chaos erupts in both their groups and builds to a dramatic showdown on Christmas Eve.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Best Cast recording EVER!.......2007-06-26

Finally an English-language version of this classic Brecht-Weill work and A.C.T.'s production delivers the goods, particularly the stunning and beautiful soprano of Charlotte Cohn as "Halellujah Lil" who gets to tackle the show's most famous numbers. Cohn's 'Sailor's Tango' is gorgeous and haunting and her rendition of 'Surabaya Johnny' soars: dynamic and beautiful. Definitely an album worth owning!

5 out of 5 stars Happy with "Happy End".......2007-04-06

Excellent recording and cast - from California, of course! A must for Becht - Weill fans...

5 out of 5 stars Buy this recording!.......2007-02-18

If you are reading this review stop now and click the buy button immediately. This is the best Weill "show" recording to come out in a long time. Happy End, which has been always described as that "difficult" sequel to The ThreePenny Opera is shown here to be a vital and vibrant piece of Musical Theater. This CD should be in every Weill enthusiasts collection. In fact everyone interested in the Musical theater should buy it now. I liked it. Can you tell?

5 out of 5 stars Great Recording.......2007-02-08

I've enjoyed the Capriccio German-language recording of Happy End for years. Most of this material has been recorded over and over, and it would be easy to pick out anything seriously lacking. The good news is that this new ACT English language version completely measures up. Charlotte Cohn as Lillian Holiday is excellent; all the other voices and orchestrations are just right too.

The 2006 American Conservatory Theatre production of Happy End had all the bite that their version of Threepenny Opera lacked a couple of seasons before. (That effort was fluffy and rather defanged, with an English translation that felt G-rated in contrast to the well-known Blitzstein version.) ACT's Happy End was visually splendid and a lot of effort, craft and clowning went into it. Too bad the entire show was apparently not recorded for release on DVD.
Ute Lemper - Berlin Cabaret Songs
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Fabulous Ute. Buy both German and English versions!!!
  • Eine Schoene Album!
  • English version available?
  • Un disco de primera categoría.
  • Stellar
 Ute Lemper - Berlin Cabaret Songs
Mischa Spoliansky , Friedrich Hollaender , Rudolf Nelson , Berthold Golschmidt , Ute Lemper , Jeff Cohen , and Martrix Ensemble
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000042FA
Release Date: 1997-05-13

Tracks:

  1. Alles Schwindel
  2. Sex-Appeal
  3. Peter, Peter, komm zu mir zur|ck!
  4. Das Gesellschaftslied
  5. Wenn die beste Freundin
  6. Ich bin ein Vamp!
  7. L'heure bleue
  8. Zieh dich aus, Petronella!
  9. Raus mit den Mannern!
  10. Der Verflossene
  11. Gesetz den Fall
  12. Ich weiss nicht, zu wem ich gehore
  13. Das lila Lied
  14. Raus mit den Mannern!
  15. Mir ist heut so nach Tamerlan!
  16. Eine kleine Sehnsucht
  17. Wir wollen alle wieder Kinder sein!
  18. Munchhausen

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Fabulous Ute. Buy both German and English versions!!!.......2005-10-04

`Berlin Cabaret Songs' by Ute Lemper are issued as part of London recording company's `Entartete Musik' series or music suppressed by the Third Reich. One of the very best things about this issue is the fact that Ms. Lemper and London have issued the album in two versions. One is in the original German and one is sung entirely in English.

For starters, I strongly suggest you listen to both, but if you simply have no interest in listening to the German version, I will reassure you that the English performance is musically virtually identical to the German. The instrumentals almost sound as if they were done Kareoke style, with Ms. Lemper's English or German mixed in afterwards. I'm almost certain this was not actually done, as the translations probably changed a few things here and there about the meter of the lyrics, but I could find nothing in the instrumental or vocal performances to prefer in one over the other, except for the genuine experience of hearing it the same way as the cabaret audiences in Berlin would hear it.

Ms. Lemper's English interpretations, as they are in all her earlier albums, is impecible. It also seems to be about as accent free as you can imagine. Not only is it free of German inflections, it is free of a British accent as well, so it should sound great to American ears.

The first thing which strikes me about the lyrics of these songs is that to my ear, there is practically nothing which is critical or even satiric of a specific government. There is not even much which is sexually explicit, let alone lewd. Some pieces from Kurt Weill in `Mahagonny' may be more objectionable than most songs in this album. One thing that tells us is exactically how extremely conservative the Nazis were about any art whatsoever. The most strident politically oriented song is in favor of women's rights and makes no mention of the Nazi government or any other political party for that matter.

The only weakness of the album may be that virtually all this material is unfamiliar to the average listener, so we don't have the pleasure of seeing how Ms. Lemper does a new version of, for example, `Bilbao Song' or Jacques Brel's `Amsterdam'. But then, I relish any chance whatsoever to hear Ms. Lemper sing. She is still fresh and free of the kind of syrupy sweetness we get from, for example, Barbra Streisand, these days from her `Guilty Pleasures' album.

5 out of 5 stars Eine Schoene Album!.......2004-09-25

Wow! This beautiful and immensely talented dame knows how to thrill. The album is absolutely superb. And auf Deutsch! There are many jazzy and big band type numbers and some that are a little more folky. But the satire, the humour, the depth of the lyrics, along with the pure artistry and sophistication Ute Lemper brings to the material is quite refreshing, despite the fact that some uncomfortable and depressing topics are covered. What a relief, a modern artist that encourages her audience actually to think! Thank you so much Ute for such a treasure and bringing these important songs to our attention; with all that is going on in our politics and the world these Berlin songs are even more poignant for our times than one may suppose.

5 out of 5 stars English version available?.......2001-07-05

I recieved this disc for review when I was a radio station DJ about three years ago. However the disc I got, which was on Polygram, was in English. So try to get the English disc if you don't speak German - the translations are great, you'd think the songs were written in English. It has the same title I think, if it is still available. One other reviewer here said that he found the album more relevant to his life than the entire top 40 and I say 'hear, hear' to that. And Ms. Lemper's heffy Cherman eccent is delightful!

5 out of 5 stars Un disco de primera categoría........2001-03-27

Sencillamente extraordinario, la maravillosa voz de Ute Lemper nos hace vivir unos momentos de fantasía y alegría indescriptibles. Muchas de mis secciones musicales terminan con éste maravilloso disco (Obviamente que lo tiene que comprar cantado en Alemán). Es uno de mis discos favoritos y tengo más de 2.500 CDs.

300% RECOMENDADO

5 out of 5 stars Stellar.......2000-10-29

A beautiful album, dripping with emotions: longing, irony, cynicism, sarcasm, love (yes, love), anger, humor. And Ute Lemper transmits those emotions like no other performer I know. At least some of the song writers/composers fled to the US to escape Nazi Germany, and had distinguished careers here, too. The songs are beautiful, with meaningful lyrics that aren't just the blindingly obvious ideas and sentimentality offered by a lot of recent "political" songs.
The Rare Piaf 1950-1962
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Good bonus tracks
  • Close But No Cigar
  • Finally I know what she's saying!
  • Piaf Hits Sung in English a rare treat for Piaf fans!
 The Rare Piaf 1950-1962
Edith Piaf
Manufacturer: Drg
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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  5. Hymn to Love: All Her Greatest Songs in English

ASIN: B000005ZVF
Release Date: 1998-04-21

Tracks:

  1. Hymn To Love
  2. The Three Bells
  3. La Vie En Rose (English)
  4. Simply A Waltz
  5. Autumn Leaves
  6. One Little Man
  7. Heaven Have Mercy
  8. My Lost Melody
  9. I Shouldn't Care
  10. Don't Cry
  11. 'Cause I Love You
  12. No Regrets
  13. Toi, Tu L'Entends Pas (Bonus Track)
  14. Bonus Track 1: Fallait-IL

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Good bonus tracks.......2001-12-01

"The Rare Piaf" is chiefly a collection of English versions of some of her tunes. The real prize on this CD, however, is the pair of c. 1962 studio sessions. The first is some 22 minutes long. You hear the orchestra alone practicing, then Piaf attempting the song multiple times and you can also hear her lauhging with or barking at the musicians or directors. The English tracks on this disc can be obtained on other compilations, but this one is worth getting because of the bonus tracks.

4 out of 5 stars Close But No Cigar.......2001-03-08

I have a Columbia Records album titled "La Vie en Rose" from the 50s with a picture of two lovers on a bench kissing on a Paris street. This album features Piaf singing completely in English. A few of the songs on Rare Piaf sound alike, but are obviously different takes?!?! The album I have has far superior versions of these songs with better vocals and instrumentation. So I'm patiently waiting for Columbia to dig into their vaults and come up with the wonderful takes I'm used to from my fast wearing vinyl.

4 out of 5 stars Finally I know what she's saying!.......1999-11-28

Do you remember the scene in Bull Durham where Nuke shouts through the door, "I know your in there, I can hear that crazy Mexican singer"?

Annie should have played him this recording instead of reading Walt Whitman. Buy this CD and you'll understand and better love the original. Oh, and buy Bull Durham, too.

5 out of 5 stars Piaf Hits Sung in English a rare treat for Piaf fans!.......1999-01-19

These recordings were made by Edith Piaf in 1949/1950 as she was trying to help American audiences understand her music more closely. She toured America several times but it took some doing to get a following. These songs are many of her French hits, especially "La Vie En Rose", and are a good way to get to know this exceptional chanteuse. Several other of the CDs offered by Amazon are well worth a visit as well as her early songs were and still are very powerful.

My first copy these songs is a scratchy old 10" LP I found in an antique shop. I treasure it but this new transcription makes them sound recorded just yesterday.

For you movie buffs who saw "Saving Private Ryan" many Piaf songs were heard on the soundtrack some of which are on this album. This album is a "must have" for Piaf fans.
Punishing Kiss
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A guilty pleasure...
  • Oh so very good
  • The Best CD of All
  • SWEET TORCH SONG TORTURE
  • She Is Never What You Expect
 Punishing Kiss

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00004RC8F
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Tracks:

  1. The Case Continues
  2. Tango Ballad
  3. Passionate Fight
  4. Little Water Song
  5. Purple Avenue
  6. Streets Of Berlin
  7. Split
  8. Couldn't You Keep That To Yourself
  9. Punishing Kiss
  10. You Were Meant For Me
  11. The Part You Throw Away
  12. Scope J

Amazon.com

Despite her roles in mainstream musicals such as Cats and Chicago, Ute Lemper has never been a typical Broadway baby. Her long association with the works of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, as well as her one-woman shows based on the repertoires of Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, has always marked her as a maverick in a world overpopulated by bland belters and cute ingénues. Lemper's distinctive voice isn't an instrument for easy listening. At full tilt, it's dangerous and edgy. In subdued mode, it's dark, ironic, and despairing. The cruelty that runs through many of her interpretations is taken on the chin. Lemper deals in defiance rather than submission. With just one, edgily updated Weill song ("Tango Ballad") and a host of contributions from Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Philip Glass, and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, Punishing Kiss is a modern, bleak look at love in the 21st century. At times the tone is murderous, even apocalyptic ("The Case Continues"). The duet "Split," sung with Hannon, is a grimly humorous riot of punches and counterpunches in a disintegrating relationship. There's fleeting, poignant beauty too, in tracks like Waits's "Purple Avenue." Essential listening for anyone who likes their torch songs blood-stained, not just dampened by a few tears. --Piers Ford

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A guilty pleasure..........2006-09-30

Is this woman awesome, or what?
I have to say, this is probably one of my fav's. A very deeply moving, emotionally intense project. I keep coming back to it. It's just absolutely awesome!

5 out of 5 stars Oh so very good.......2003-03-06

I fell in love with Ute Lemper when I heard a recording of her singing Kurt Weill's "Bilbao Song." I know she has her detractors, all of whom argue that other people are better at performing Kurt Weill. These people are idiots.

This album came as a shock for me, as she truly stretches out farther than I had expected. Yes, there is a Kurt Weill song here, taken from the Threepenny Opera, but it's rearranged like you've never heard before - with a drum and bass loop churning underneath lush strings and keyboards (but not cheesy keyboards, mind you).

The rest of the album follows in a similar style, though the instrumentation does subtly change for different composers' songs - most notably the addition of a bandoneon for the two Tom Waits songs.

What is amazing about the album is the sense of continuity running through it, in spite its being a collection of songs of different people. The gem of the album, however, is Nick Cave's "Little Water Song," in which, over a beautiful string section, Ute Lemper lets her theatre training and singing mix freely - producing a performance that simply floors me.

What else is there to say? She's simply amazing

5 out of 5 stars The Best CD of All.......2001-07-11

Simply stunning performance of unusual new songs written expressly for her, entirely captivating, imaginatively written and performed. May not appear to be a 'hit' first time round but you will play it again and again, hear more, find new meanings and so much depth.

It is performed dramatically (not as a routine studio tune and lyric) a most stimulating performance. In many ways it is a 'dark' album, not something you will be able to whistle in the bathroom, and all the better for that. If you are looking for real entertainment, look no further.

Ute has to be the most under-rated artist of the current era, wildly flexible in how she performs, in many ways outrageously kitsch. She has performed this album in a tour, which I was privileged to attend and this underlined just how good she - and the album - is. A 'must buy'. Just wish she had a video/DVD as well!

4 out of 5 stars SWEET TORCH SONG TORTURE.......2001-06-03

The statuesque Ute is a beauty so monumental, she's almost architectural. And she's got a voice and delivery to match, plus on this album, a taste for superb material.

My favourites are the Nick Cave, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits songs, but what is really impressive is how her voice holds together the Scott Walker song Scope J (If one can call it a song).

Anyone who can sing along to, let alone intelligently interpret, such a bizarre and dark little symphony, deserves 5 stars just for the effort. I like my divas dark and brooding, like Nico of Velvet Underground, so Ute fits the bill. Investigate and enjoy!

4 out of 5 stars She Is Never What You Expect.......2001-02-01

We all know Ute Lemper as the foremost interpreter of Weill and art songs, but who would have guessed that she is adept at popular tunes too? Well, let me re-phrase, these songs are not "standards", however, they are written by contemporaries that more people would have heard of than Weill. Nick Cave and tom Waits, for example, are two the lyricists whose music is given life on this album. Let's start with the voice: it has a timbre totally unlike any other that you would have come across in pedestrian music circles. It can be warm, it can be cool (with ice-cold precision), it can be smooth or rough. She does whatever she wants to with her voice and the listener sits there with open mouth, awed by the sheer sound of this woman. She doesn't treat her voice as if it is some precious antique, she slams it around and all for the sake of song. Which brings us to her interpretive gifts: they are ample. When I read some of the lyrics in the booklet, I asked myself how she was going to pull it off but she always did and in an approach at odds with whatever you were expecting. Her song selection is most interesting, the only one I was familiar with prior to my purchase was "Streets of Berlin" which I had heard in the movie BENT. In her version, she is very intimate and quiet at first in a way that out-shimmies Mick Jagger (who sang the song in the movie) but then she gets loud and audacious in a way that is totally in keeping with the song's intent and works with instead of against the melody. My only complaint is that occasionally Ms. Lemper lets her voice get the better of her and crosses *that* line into melodrama. Other than this one small quibble, I recommend this disc for listeners who want to be throttled rather than soothed, to think rather than be spoon-fed. Enjoy... I know I did!

Track Listings:

  1. Classical Chillout Gold: the Most Relaxing Classical Music of All Time [Import]
  2. Dancing In Colombia
  3. Debussy & Ravel: String Quartets (Italian Quartet) [IMPORT] [Import]
  4. Delibes: Coppélia; Sylvia
  5. Ernest Ansermet
  6. Etudes, Music for Ballet Class
  7. Fischer: Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3; Bartók: 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs
  8. Françaix: L'heure du berger; Octet
  9. Franz Ignaz Beck: Symphonies Op. 3, Nos. 3-5
  10. Gluck: Alceste / Ostman, Ringholz, Lavender, Degerfeldt, et al [Box set]

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

The Collection [Import]

1 Year 1 Voice: 1949

10

Shall We Swing?/Sounds of the Great Bands! [Import]

Rock Music rock-music-23

11 [Import]

A Portrait of Chris

24 Preludes & Fugues

World Music Spain [Import]

Where Fortune Smiles

Weezer - Deluxe Edition [Original recording remastered]

World Hits With a Latin Touch

Zarzuela XXI

Crossing

The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 1