Readers may wonder why we are reviewing this disc, but I view cabaret as a specialized form of the art song, and I am not alone in holding this perspective.  The performance settings, and often the purposes, are different, but there are otherwise many similarities.  Many cabaret songs were and are written by composers who also wrote/write art songs as well (William Bolcom in our time).  Some of these, Eisler’s Zeitungsausschnitte (Newspaper Clippings) and Ullmann’s Břzulinka (Yiddish Songs), bear Opus numbers (11 and 53 respectively).  Cabaret songs often make a political statement; art songs rarely do.  Cabaret songs are usually performed in a nightclub or theatre setting; art songs were/are usually conceived for a salon or concert hall recital.  To me, cabaret songs lie somewhere between the concert/recital hall and the music hall or musical theater, and they have a definite artistic quality.

Two of the composers, Ullman and Yiddish composer Mordechai Gebirtig, perished in the Holocaust.  The former was among those deported (in 1942) to Terezin, where he was able to continue composing, writing his satirical opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis (The Emperor of Atlantis) for performance by internees.  [See my Feature item on Commonwealth Opera’s Brundibar Project elsewhere in these pages for more information about Terezin and the artistic activities there.]  Indeed, it was there that he 1st learned Hebrew and Yiddish, having grown up in a completely assimilated way.  Some of the composers, Edmund Nick, and the poet with whom he worked, Erich Kästner, for example, were, in fact, not Jewish.

These songs were composed for voice and piano, but many of the performances here have been arranged by pianist Ilya Levinson for violin, bass, and percussion in addition.  The New Budapest Orpheum Society, taking the name of a similar ensemble (ca. 1900 – 1920) during the height of the cabaret vogue with “New” added, consists, in addition to Levinson, of: Julia Bentley, soprano, Stewart Figa, baritone, Iordanka Kissiova, violin, Stewart Miller, bass, and Hank Tausend, drums.  Peter Blagoev, Kissiova’s husband, was the violinist until his death, and can be heard in the ensemble’s 1st recording: Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a 2-CD set of Cabaret, Popular, and Political Songs from 1900 – 1945 (Cedille 90000 065), which adds a flutist and a cantor; this recording is dedicated to his memory.

The songs use a variety of standard forms, such as: ballad, romantic love song, lullaby, prayer, all with or without a refrain; and the music uses standard rhythms, such as: tango, waltz, ländler, polka, drinking song, and march.  Humor, often ironic, sometimes satirical, is usually an essential ingredient in the texts.  One of them, “Poisoning Pigeons” brought the songs of Tom Lehrer to my mind.  Nostalgia for better times or places is also a dominant theme.  The “exile” of the title is interpreted in various ways: an individual still living where he grew up now feeling separated from those around her/him who were his friends, one who has had to flee to another country, and one who has been interned in a camp.

The accompanying 64-page booklet (Dancing…’s has 78 pages) contains a lengthy scholarly essay with bibliography and some illustrations, bios and a group photo of the musicians, and the texts and translations of all the songs.  The author of the essay(s) is the ensemble’s Artistic Director, Philip V. Bohlman.  It is well thought out, well organized, and well written, interesting and informative, although the general reader may find it a bit daunting due to information overload.

The performances are all very good, appropriately styled by their musicians to suit the texts and the moods.  Many of the songs are quite lively and energetic; others are serious and somber.  Some of them, such as Hermann Leopoldi’s “Ich bin ein unverbesserlich Optimist” (“I’m an Irrepressible Optimist”), Mischa Spoliansky’s “Heute Nacht oder nie,” (“Tonight or Never”), and the 2 offerings by Holländer (who wrote the score for Germany’s 1st talkie [1930], that introduced Marlene Dietrich to the world, Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), partially filmed in the cabaret of that name in Hamburg), are real gems.  The CD provides a very enjoyable listening experience.

The New Budapest Orpheum Society is to be commended for its clearly extensive research and dedication to this repertoire; the University of Chicago, where the NBOS is ensemble in residence, deserves thanks for supporting the effort; and Cedille Records deserves recognition for understanding the importance of preserving its fruits for posterity.  This is a musical form that no longer enjoys the huge vogue it experienced in the 1st half of the 20th century, but one that has both musical merit and historical significance, and ought not to be forgotten and relegated to the dustbins of musical history.  The CD is, therefore, an important document as well as downright good entertainment.

© 2009 Marvin J. Ward