Mandalay song kurt weill biography

This arts documentary on the music of Kurt Weill interweaves an eclectic series of performances by contemporary artists in music video format with a history of Weill's career presented through the words of Weill, Bertolt Brecht, and Lotte Lenya (as spoken by actors), and comments by other notables of their period.

A deserted industrial backdrop sets the scene for a program that opens to the sound of a 1930 archival recording of Brecht singing "Mack the Knife" in German, followed by a rendition in English by Nick Cave. The following individuals perform Weill's music in roughly chronological order: Stan Ridgway sings "Cannon Song" amidst reenactments of World War I violence; Mary Margaret O'Hara sings "Don't Be Afraid" to an instrumental jazz background; in a cafe setting, opera diva Teresa Stratas sings "Surabaya Johnny" in German to Weill's original orchestration; P.J.

Harvey sings "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" while sorting through some gifts from her dead husband; David Johansen,