Lotte Lenya

Enjoy this beautiful reproduction of a 10 inch picture disc (78 rpm) sold at Lotte Lenya’s Berlin premiere of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny   Lenya, American singing actress of Austrian birth and wife of Kurt Weill, was famous for her unique vocal style and her musical collaborations with Weill.

She originally studied dance at her young age and intended to be a professional dancer in Berlin.   However, she turned her focus to theatre two years later and achieved great reputation by playing various roles in musical productions by Wedekind, Marieluise Fleisser and, above all, Brecht and his outstanding musical collaborator, Kurt Weill.  She and Weill married in 1926. 

The Conservatory Library owns all commercial recordings made by Lenya plus previously unissued tracks, interviews, television performances, etc (total 6 volumes).  Her papers are now housed in the Weill-Lenya Archive at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University. The reproduction disc is one of the unique items in our collection.  Check out the flip side as well!

Source consulted:  “Lenya [Lenja], Lotte [Blamauer, Karoline Wihelmine]. 

David Drew, J.Bradford Robinson. Grove Music Online.  http://www.grovemusic.com