Rufus Wainwright’s fascination with Kurt Weill’s music goes back for decades — in his early twenties he wore out the vinyl grooves of Teresa Stratas’ famous Weill album. Never has he dedicated an entire evening to singing the German musician’s songs. With the Paci?c Jazz Orchestra under the baton of Chris Walden he is now expanding the orchestral palette for his approach to Kurt Weill. Wainwright interjects some of his own compositions, old and utterly new ones that have been in?uenced by the German composer who had a long career in the US after migrating here from Nazi Germany. Furthermore, the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles now o?ers a stage that provides the perfect visual setting for the period in which Weill’s songs were written.
Gaby Moreno – Live at the Troubadour
Get ready for a legendary concert: Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno performs at the legendary Troubadour club in Los Angeles. The song collection celebrates the migration of song across the Americas: various Latin American music genres blend with a wide spectrum of American music including R&B, soul, pop, rock, country and more. Many of Moreno’s songs in both English and Spanish explore themes of hope, love, nostalgia and desolation. Armed with a warm, soulful sound, Gaby Moreno continues to create music that offers an intoxicating invitation into her musical world for English and Spanish speakers alike.
Emerging from the Shadows – The Legacies of Weinberg and Korngold
This documentary uncovers the poignant stories of Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Erich Wolfgang Korngold: two 20th-century composers of profound artistry, whose legacy is only recently being rediscovered after having been overshadowed in the aftermath of the Holocaust. The documentary follows the album recording of Constantine Orbelian, chief conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper. In recording lesser-known cello concertos by Weinberg and Korngold, Cooper and Orbelian hope to facilitate the transcendence of the two composers’ legacy — out of the shadows and towards the recognition their music deserves. Narrated by Cooper and Orbelian, we delve into the history of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s contrasting yet intertwining lives. The composers’ life-stories are paralleled by visuals of Kaunas’ own historic landmarks, commemorating the history of the city’s estimated 37.000 Jewish inhabitants before the Shoah. Always returning to the recording sessions of the beautiful cello concertos, viewers are drawn into a compelling story of cultural identity and rediscovery.