Search - Kurt Weill, Markus Stenz, London Sinfonietta :: Kurt Weill: Der Silbersee

Schonheit Musik (and in a good performance, too)!

Sean | LOOK | 07/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording is almost perfect in every single way! H. K. Gruber is a brilliant performer, and a male interpreter of the work of Kurt Weill who is on level with Weill's chanteuse wife Lotte Lenya. He is as brilliant here as he is on the RCA release of the Kurt Weill edition of THE THREEPENNY OPERA. Graham Clark in his cameo appearance as the Lottery Agent almost steals the recording. His cackling at the end of his song will scare the pee out of you! I have warmed up more to Juanita Lascarro now. At first I thought that Fennimore needed more of someone like Ute Lemper in that role, but I appreciate Lascarro's performance more now, and realize that this type of a singer is just fine. Helga Dernesch and Heinz Zednik give a helluva performance of the "Schlaraffenland Song." (This song has an encore, and I find that funny to find in an avante-garde German theatre piece.) The only principal that I have a quibble with is Heinz Kruse as Severin. But this is only with pronunciation. He pronounces the word "Leben" (LAY-bin) as if it were "Lieben" (LEE-bin), and there are several others that I can't recall as of right now. However, his singing and acting are top-notch, and he and the four very able comrades do a great job with my personal favorite SILBERSEE song, "Der Backer backt im Morgenrot." The two shopgirls (Catrin Wyn-Davies and Katarina Karnéus) are in perfect harmony on their duet, singing so sweetly that it gives the bitter words a bittersweet harmony that is SOOOOO perfect. And the London Sinfonettia doesn't make a wrong turn (or a wrong note) at any given point on the recording. So now that you are done reading my rave, buy this fabu recording!"