The German hits from
the 1930s have sadly faded from the
scene. In America, aside from "Falling
in Love Again" and "Mack the
Knife", two songs that now appear
to be relegated under "kitsch",
little else remains. This is a shame,
really, as there are some wonderful
tunes out there, by some masters of
the genre. Cole Porter, Harold Arlen,
and Jerome Kern all deserve their place
in the sun, but the likes of Friedrich
Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky, and Werner
Richard Heymann have been unduly neglected
outside their homeland.
Of the songwriters
represented on this disc, I am most
familiar with Heymann, who wrote the
music for more than forty films, composing
his first song at five years of age.
He composed for many types of audience;
for the cabaret stage as well as the
orchestra hall, dance hall, and silent
film theatre. One of his biggest hits
is the opening track, originally sung
by Lillian Harvey in 1931 for the film
Der Kongress Tanzt. I have two
performances, both evidently from the
film, and Salonorchester Schwanen with
Annette Postel singing do much better
with their rather sentimental arrangement.
Both of the versions for the film (one
a reprise) are quirkier (the reprise
prominently features xylophone) and
Postel soars over Harvey’s rather wobbly
soprano. Liebling, mein Herz läßt
dich grüßen, sung originally
by the legendary Comedian Harmonists
in 1930, again for a film, is performed
beautifully here by Postel, the whole
performance languid and silky.
But all isn’t quiet
background music for elegant couples
at intimate tables just off the polished
parquet dance-floor. The parquet makes
its own demands on occasion, especially
with these pieces by Gerhard Winkler,
known for snappier dance numbers. Hexentanz
as well as the wonderful Rumanisches
Zigeunerfest as well as the then-quite-exotic
Im Harem sitzen heulend die Eunuchen
are perfect introductions to Winkler’s
style. The ensemble’s musical saw in
Hexentanz is a lovely touch here,
and the whimsical playing for all three
of these calls to mind the recordings
of another wonderful dance orchestra,
the New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra,
which has somewhat of a cult following
in the US.
As Jonathan Woolf so
aptly stated in his review of this disc
(link),
your enthusiasm for this disc will depend
on a liking for a certain amount of
recreated kitsch. One thing about the
music of this time, though, was its
stance toward sentimentality. For the
most part, these were decidedly anti-nostalgic
tunes, performed by and enjoyed by the
good-times young men and women crowding
into the bacchanalia of Berlin before
things fell to pieces — the Berlin of
Isherwood’s youth, and it’s this tone
that the Salonorchester Schwanen sometimes
misses. Lillian Harvey’s performance
of Irgendwo auf der Welt has
a definite sense of sadness and longing
that adds a depth to the tune, whereas
here, with this modern performance,
it tends to come across as merely light
music; a nostalgic pleasant song.
The tunes on this disc
are memorable and certainly should be
played more — Guild and Naxos do a service.
For the real deal though, the original
recordings of many of these tunes are
still available and should certainly
also be looked up.
David Blomenberg
see also review
by Jonathan Woolf
Annette Postel (vocals)
