Definitive Recordings...

[Nick Armstrong]

Thanks for the welcome and curiosity one and all.

Dr. Y. U. Thropplenoggin, self-styled ethnosexographer and boshmonger, is a satirical comedic creation of mine, who has run amok across the interwebs for a few years now. More of his exploits can be found here: Boshmonger

The source of the name remains a mystery even to me. Divine inspiration? Drunken afflatus? I honestly can't recall.

I think you should fit in JUST FINE here!

[johnb]

Not a definitive recording (I don't believe in such things) but one that I think is really worth hearing:

Beethoven Symphony No 7 performed by Franz Konwitschny/Leipzig Gewandhaus.

A remarkable performance which is available on Spotify, Nexus Music Library (and YouTube if you must).

[amateur51]

I think you should fit in JUST FINE here!

Bags you field all Anna's questions, Caliban

[Bryn]

At the risk of upsetting those who feel no singer by Lenya could present Die sieben Todsünden, I will nominate Gisela May's recording with the RSO Leipzig under Herbert Kegel. Of course it does not eclipse the famous Lenya recording, but to me it is on a par.



The other items on the disc are all songs from the works named on the cover.

[martin_opera]

At the risk of upsetting those who feel no singer by Lenya could present Die sieben Todsünden, I will nominate Gisela May's recording with the RSO Leipzig under Herbert Kegel. Of course it does not eclipse the famous Lenya recording, but to me it is on a par.



The other items on the disc are all songs from the works named on the cover.

Didn't know that Grayson Perry sang

[Pianorak]

At the risk of upsetting those who feel no singer by Lenya could present Die sieben Todsünden, I will nominate Gisela May's recording . . .

Not upset at all. Lenya was good but I felt had too much recourse to sprechgesang which was often, but not always, appropriate, IMV. Any votes for Ute Lemper?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Not upset at all. Lenya was good but I felt had too much recourse to sprechgesang which was often, but not always, appropriate, IMV.

Yes; by the time she recorded the works in the '50s, her never strong singing voice was past its prime, so she replaced it with this wonderfully growling delivery which became regarded for a while as "authentic" for the Brecht/Weill works. Her "original cast" recordings from the '20s reveal a very different Lenya - slight and sweet: she couldn't've auditioned for Rosa Klebb with this voice!

Any votes for Ute Lemper?

Yes.


Her singing's quite good, too.

[cloughie]

Not upset at all. Lenya was good but I felt had too much recourse to sprechgesang which was often, but not always, appropriate, IMV. Any votes for Ute Lemper?

Not keen on Lemper. Marianne Faithfull quite good in this material!

[Bryn]

Just before Christmas 2009 I was lucky enough to be one of the few who managed to get the 8 disc "Die May" boxed set from hmv.com for £11.99:



That had much of the Kegel recording of Die sieben Todsünden but not all of it. I thought what I heard was so special that I searched out and ordered the CD previously mentioned. I have now, belatedly, also ordered the Lemper.

[Pianorak]

Yes; by the time she recorded the works in the '50s, her never strong singing voice was past its prime. . .

Ah, that explains it - thanks, Ferneyhoughgeliebte.

I chanced across one of Ute Lemper's gigs while in Madrid about 10 years ago. Promptly bought her CD "Ute Lemper sings Kurt Weill" (Decca NL 425 204-2). My favourite track? No. 12 I'm a stranger here myself. It's hysterical!!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ah, that explains it - thanks, Ferneyhoughgeliebte.

You're welcome, Pianorak.

(By the way, "ferney" or just "fhg" saves a fair bit of typing and spell-checking! )

[Pianorak]

You're welcome, Pianorak.

(By the way, "ferney" or just "fhg" saves a fair bit of typing and spell-checking! )

Yeah - but - no - but - yeah - but no - I don't believe in dumbing down!

[Barbirollians]

Dinu Lipatti - Bach Partita No 1