The provocative, politically charged club scene that flourished in 1920s Berlin was not just a flash in the pan to be swept away by the Nazis. As Anne Sofie von Otter’s enjoyably eclectic recital demonstrates, its influence on film, musical theatre and popular song stretched across several decades. While émigrés such as Friedrich Hollaender and Mischa Spoliansky embraced Hollywood escapism, others, including Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler, wrapped anti-government rhetoric in satirical songs that pulled few, if any punches.
This programme is intentionally diverse, aiming to highlight the aesthetic friction between romantic ballads, saucy burlesque, cinematic dreamscapes and political firecrackers. In this it succeeds, though the stylistic through-line lurches at times. Regardless, the Salon Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin delivers thoroughly authentic performances under the strict, idiomatic baton of conductor Adam Benzwi, and the piquant orchestrations and arrangements are a treat.
Most of the songs here will be unfamiliar. There’s a jazzy Balkan stomp, cimbalom and all, from the 1939 movie Song of the Desert, and a gutsy number by Günter Neumann, which kicks off like a Prussian striptease. Musik! Musik! Musik! from the movie Hallo, Janine sounds like it’s channelling the theme from The Muppet Show.
Otter, now 71, is as ever the consummate artist, although her range is naturally narrower these days. That doesn’t prevent her bringing a deep understanding to these texts even as she negotiates transitions from her still potent chest voice to a close-miked crooned top.
