Kurt Weill Diane Dufresne Yannick Nézet-Séguin Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montreal ACD2 2324 Kurt Weill's universal appeal rests foremost upon his unforgettable output of ballads and songs with their characteristic blend of satire and nostalgia.   Some of them have become jazz standards, such as the famous Ballad of Mack the Knife.   While many were written into one or the other of the composer's twenty-five-odd operas, operettas, musicals, or ballets chantés, others were composed independently of these genres. The deceptive simplicity of Weill's songs often dissimulates the breadth of his musical learnedness.   Weill's father, a cantor at the Dessau Synagogue, taught him his first music lessons and brought him to the opera.   At only twelve years of age, the young Kurt began to compose songs, and in 1918 (aged eighteen), he was admitted to the Berlin Conservatory.   ...     © Claudio Ricignuolo 2004     English translation Rachelle Taylor KURT WEILL (1900 • 1950) CHANSONS | SONGS   1. J'ATTENDS UN NAVIRE | l'M WAITING FOR A SHIP       [5:07]       Tiré de | from Marte Galante (1934, Jacques Deval)   2. LA FIANCÉE DU PIRATE | PIRATE JENNY       [3:45]       Tiré de | from L'Opéra de quat'sous (1928, Bertolt Brecht)   3. ALABAMA SONG       [3:52]       Tiré de | from Mahagonny (1927, Bertolt Brecht)   4. SURABAYA JOHNNY       [5:19]       Tiré de | from Happy End (1929, Bertolt Brecht)   5. TANGO DES MATELOTS | THE SAILORS' TANGO       [6:52]       Tiré de | from Happy End   6. YOUKALI       [5:23]       (1935, Roger Fernay)   7. NANNAS LIED       [3:45]       (1939, Bertolt Brecht)   8. JE NE T'AIME PAS | I DON'T LOVE YOU       [4:37]       (1934, Maurice Magre) SYMPHONIE N° 2 | SYMPHONY No. 2 (1933)       [28:15]   9. Sostenuto - Allegro molto       [10:21] 10. Largo       [11:10] 11. Allegro Vivace       [6:44] ATMA Classique is distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading PO Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone +61 (0)3 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile +61 (0)3 9444 6879