Moods of the Weimar Republic are brought to the surface by vocalist Marion Rampal, the Quatuor Manfred of Marie Bereau/vi, Luigi Vecchioni/vi, Emmanuel Haratyk/via and Christian Wolff/vc along with Raphael Imbert/sax-bcl as they bring us material from Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, Erwin Schulhoff, Alban Berg and Friedrich Hollaender for a Teutonic cavalcade.
Rampal sings in English, French and German while the strings provide Old World support on a tango of “Youkali” while the strings and voice reach a Wagnerian shrill on the dramatic “Fliegenden Hollander.” Mixes of slashing bows and pizzicato’d plucks team up on “Barbara Song” and “The Lavender Song” before Imbert’s bluesy sax sears on “Solidaritatslied.” Imbert brings things to a poetic close on “I Saw Many Friends,” with the whole encounter making you feel like it’s between the wars on Bavaria. Teutonics are better than one.