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Title: A Disappointed Lemper Fan
Review: I discovered Ute Lemper years ago and love her interpretations of Weill's unique music. However, I was sadly disappointed with this DVD for two reasons. Firstly, Lemper's approach to the music is as much acting as singing, therefore the lack of English titles is unforgivable. Trying to watch/listen to her performance while reading the translation from a booklet simply does not cut it. Secondly, although the piano accompaniment was first rate, it definitely wasn't "piano" but drowned out Lemper's singing in the softer passages. The production could have used a better sound engineer.The Michael Nyman section was just plain awful. The orchestral "overture" sounded like a noisy Phillip Glass knock off. The songs were repetitive and boring, lacked any kind of original musical ideas, and used Holocaust photos to (unsuccessfully) add "gravitas". I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than to experience that travesty again.
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