More Teresa Stratas on September Songs
Performing "Youkali Tango"
see comment for SM's information regarding the production.
===
I was asked by the team of Rebecca Williams and Steven Mayoff if I might comment on their collaborative piece, Searching for Youkali. It is a real privilege to be asked, and so I am researching what I might about the subject. I came across Teresa's gorgeous take on the original (Music Kurt Weil, Lyrics Roger Fernay).
Rebecca brought this to my attention. This clip is from a film called September Songs. It is a series of music videos with different artists - Teresa Stratas, Elvis Costello, PJ Harvey, David Johansen, and many others - performing songs by Kurt Weill. It was filmed in a warehouse in Toronto and produced by a Toronto company, Rhombus Media, and spawned a soundtrack album of the same name. The film was inspired by an earlier album, Lost In the Stars, a tribute to Kurt Weill, where different artists from jazz, pop and classical worlds performed Weill's songs. That project was put together by New York producer, Hal Willner. Both albums are worth hearing to get an idea of the universality of Weill's music. On September Songs there are recordings of Weill himself singing Speak Low in English and Bertolt Brecht singing Mack the Knife in German.
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting to note that this is Teresa Stratas' second recorded version of Youkali Tango. The first was on her amazing album, The Unknown Kurt Weill. Another album worth hearing.
Thanks for posting this. All the best.
Steven Mayoff