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Many American theatergoers discovered Germany's Ute Lemper when she took on the part of
Chicago's Velma Kelly on Broadway. Except that Lemper already was well known as an actress and singer in Europe, where she got noticed with her performance of
Kurt Weill and Weimar cabaret songs. (I even remember seeing her as Sally Bowles in a 1986 Paris production of
Cabaret, whose "Don't Tell Mama" is included here). To say Lemper is a mannered interpreter would be an understatement. On the Weill songs, she makes Lotte Lenya sound downright minimalist. In addition to Weill, this CD includes a fairly comprehensive selection of the range of Lemper's repertoire, from tunes popularized by Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf to an excerpt from the
Michael Nyman Songbook album. (No trace of the singer's downright strange take on "The Ladies Who Lunch," though.) The embodiment of the European tradition of art-song interpretation, Lemper may be a bit of an acquired taste, but her fans are certainly as passionate as her detractors.
--Elisabeth Vincentelli
See all 21 tracks on this disc
