| Lost In The Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill | ||||
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| Compilation album by Hal Willner | ||||
| Released | October 1985 | |||
| Length | 60:08 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Hal Willner, Paul M. Young | |||
| Hal Willner chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Village Voice | A [2] |
Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill is a 1985 tribute album to German-American composer Kurt Weill. [3] It was executive-produced by Hal Willner [4] [5] and John Telfer, and produced by Hal Willner and Paul M. Young.
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Introduction" (from Mahagonny-Songspiel ) | Steve Weisberg | 0:48 |
| 2. | "The Ballad of Mack The Knife" (from The Threepenny Opera ) | Sting and Dominic Muldowney | 2:43 |
| 3. | "The Cannon Song" (from The Threepenny Opera) | The Fowler Brothers and Stan Ridgway | 2:17 |
| 4. | "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" | Marianne Faithfull and Chris Spedding | 4:21 |
| 5. | "Johnny Johnson Medley"
| Van Dyke Parks | 5:44 |
| 6. | "Alabama Song" (from Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ) | Ralph Schuckett with Richard Butler | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Youkali Tango" | Armadillo String Quartet | 4:39 |
| 8. | "Der Kleine Leutnant Des Lieben Gottes" ("The Little Lieutenant of the Loving God" from Happy End ) | John Zorn | 5:22 |
| 9. | "September Song" (from Knickerbocker Holiday ) | Lou Reed | 4:15 |
| 10. | "Lost in the Stars" | Carla Bley with Phil Woods | 6:10 |
| 11. | "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" (from The Threepenny Opera) | Tom Waits | 2:10 |
| 12. | "Surabaya Johnny" (from Happy End) | Dagmar Krause | 4:07 |
| 13. | "Oh Heavenly Salvation" (from Mahagonny) | Mark Bingham with Johnny Adams and Aaron Neville | 2:34 |
| 14. | "Call From The Grave/Ballad In Which MacHeath Begs All Men For Forgiveness" (from The Threepenny Opera) | Todd Rundgren with Gary Windo | 5:21 |
| 15. | "Speak Low" (from One Touch of Venus ) | Charlie Haden and Sharon Freeman | 4:22 |
| 16. | "In No Man's Land" (from Johnny Johnson) | Van Dyke Parks | 0:51 |
| Total length: | 60:08 | ||
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Introduction" (from Mahagonny-Songspiel ) | Steve Weisberg | 0:48 |
| 2. | "The Ballad of Mack The Knife" (from The Threepenny Opera ) | Sting and Dominic Muldowney | 2:43 |
| 3. | "The Cannon Song" (from The Threepenny Opera) | The Fowler Brothers and Stan Ridgway | 2:17 |
| 4. | "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" | Marianne Faithfull and Chris Spedding | 4:21 |
| 5. | "Johnny Johnson Medley"
| Van Dyke Parks | 5:44 |
| 6. | "The Great Hall" | Henry Threadgill | 3:38 |
| 7. | "Alabama Song" (from Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ) | Ralph Schuckett with Richard Butler | 4:24 |
| 8. | "Youkali Tango" | Armadillo String Quartet | 4:39 |
| 9. | "Der Kleine Leutnant Des Lieben Gottes" ("The Little Lieutenant of the Loving God" from Happy End ) | John Zorn | 5:22 |
| 10. | "Johnny's Speech" | Van Dyke Parks | 1:44 |
| 11. | "September Song" (from Knickerbocker Holiday ) | Lou Reed | 4:15 |
| 12. | "Lost in the Stars" | Carla Bley with Phil Woods | 6:10 |
| 13. | "What Keeps Mankind Alive?" (from The Threepenny Opera) | Tom Waits | 2:10 |
| 14. | "Klops Lied" ((Meatball Song)) | Elliott Sharp | 0:48 |
| 15. | "Surabaya Johnny" (from Happy End) | Dagmar Krause | 4:07 |
| 16. | "Hurricane Introduction" | Mark Bingham | 1:00 |
| 17. | "Oh Heavenly Salvation" (from Mahagonny) | Mark Bingham with Johnny Adams and Aaron Neville | 2:34 |
| 18. | "Call From The Grave/Ballad In Which MacHeath Begs All Men For Forgiveness" (from The Threepenny Opera) | Todd Rundgren with Gary Windo | 5:21 |
| 19. | "Speak Low" (from One Touch of Venus ) | Charlie Haden and Sharon Freeman | 4:22 |
| 20. | "In No Man's Land" (from Johnny Johnson) | Van Dyke Parks | 0:51 |
| Total length: | 67:18 | ||
The CD re-release contains these additional tracks:
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his best-known work, The Threepenny Opera, which included the ballad "Mack the Knife". Weill held the ideal of writing music that served a socially useful purpose, Gebrauchsmusik. He also wrote several works for the concert hall and a number of works on Jewish themes. He became a United States citizen on August 27, 1943.
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull is an English rock singer. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single "As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States.
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama The Threepenny Opera. The song sings about a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld from the musical named Macheath, the "Mack the Knife" of the title.
Lost in the Stars is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949; it was the composer's last work for the stage before he died the following year.
Dagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups including Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler. Her unusual singing style makes her voice instantly recognisable and has defined the sound of many of the bands with whom she has worked.
Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album Miss America, released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a contributor to compilation albums and as a guest collaborator on other artists' albums.
Hal Willner was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles. Willner died during the COVID-19 pandemic from complications brought on by the virus.
A Kurt Weill Cabaret was a Broadway and off-Broadway production featuring the music of Kurt Weill. A precursor, The World of Kurt Weill in Song, opened off-Broadway at One Sheridan Square in the West Village on June 6, 1963, starring Will Holt and Martha Schlamme. In 1979, it was revised as A Kurt Weill Cabaret and opened at the Bijou Theater on Broadway, with Alvin Epstein and Martha Schlamme and ran for 72 performances. The Harold Clurman Theatre showed it in 1984.
Steve Weisberg is an American composer, pianist, recording artist, and producer. In the 1980s, after studying with Michael Gibbs at Berklee College in Boston, Massachusetts, he recorded the XtraWatt/ECM release "I Can't Stand Another Night Alone ," produced by Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, recorded and performed with Karen Mantler and her Cat Arnold, and contributed arrangements for Hal Willner's Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (A&M). He was also a member of infamous Boston band Sons of Sappho. In addition, he has contributed music to the films Atlas Shrugged - Part 1,Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Don't Say a Word, Impostor, Runaway Jury, Bewitched, the 2006 documentary The Ground Truth, Step Brothers, The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, and the documentary Banner On The Moon.
Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films is a 1988 tribute album recorded by various artists performing songs from Disney films.
Strange Weather is a 1987 studio album by British singer Marianne Faithfull.
Easy Come, Easy Go is a studio album of cover versions by English singer Marianne Faithfull, which was released in the EU on 10 November 2008. The album is produced by Hal Willner and features guest appearances from a variety of musicians. It was released as both a standard 10-track CD and a special 18-track edition with a DVD documentary by Anne Rohart under Jean-Baptiste Mondino's artistic direction, with both Faithfull and Wilner commenting on the song selection. A collectible 2-disc vinyl pressing is also available. The album was recorded with Pro Tools in NYC at the Sear Sound Studio.
Unspeakable is a 2004 album by American jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, his 22nd album overall and his 17th to be released on the Elektra Nonesuch label.
September Affair is a 1950 American romantic drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Joan Fontaine, Joseph Cotten, and Jessica Tandy. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis.
20th Century Blues is a live 1996 album by English singer Marianne Faithfull, in collaboration with pianist Paul Trueblood.
Mark Bingham is an American music producer, composer, musician, and engineer.
"What Keeps Mankind Alive?" is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama The Threepenny Opera which premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The title refers to the central line from the finale of act 2, Denn wovon lebt der Mensch?. In the opera, the two stanzas of the strophic piece are sung by Macheath and Mrs Peachum and the final line is sung in fortissimo by the chorus.
September Songs – The Music of Kurt Weill is a music video of 94 minutes recorded on VHS in 1994 for Rhombus Media, ZDF (Germany), CBC (Canada) and RTP (Portugal). It was produced and directed by Larry Weinstein, and written by Weinstein and David Mortin. The film was conceived as a follow-up to the album Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill whose producer Hal Willner served as the music supervisor in this project. The film was nominated for the 1995 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Cultural Program; it won five Gemini Awards in 1997. An album was released in 1997.
Abbey Is Blue is the fourth album by American jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln featuring tracks recorded in 1959 for the Riverside label.
Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill is a musical revue with a book by Gene Lerner, music by Kurt Weill, and lyrics by various songwriting partners Weill worked with over his career. The plot follows Weill's life as he begins his career in Germany writing the music for controversial musicals, through his journey fleeing Nazi persecution, immigrating to the United States, and becoming successful on Broadway. Songs featured include those Weill collaborated on with Maxwell Anderson, Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Jacques Deval, Michael Feingold, Ira Gershwin, Paul Green, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Ogden Nash, George Tabori and Arnold Weinstein.
