ROARING TWENTIES

Het lijkt wel dat wat Calefax ook aanraakt in goud verandert. Ongetwijfeld ook met dit project. Als het stof na het einde van WO-I is gaan liggen, breekt een tijd aan dat wordt omschreven als de 'The Roaring Twenties', een tijd van geluk en voorspoed, welke onverhoeds eindigt als in oktober 1929 de beurs crasht.

Calefax slaagt er in een beeld te schetsen van deze bijzondere periode in de (muziek)geschiedenis in samenwerking met mezzosopraan Cora Burggraaf. Een theatraal vormgegeven programma waarbij de echo's klinken van ondermeer het mondaine Parijs, het fatalistische Berlijn op de muziek van Copland, Britten, Gershwin, Weill, bluesinvloeden en ongepolijste liedjes die het randje opzoeken.

Burggraaf geeft vakkundig tegenwicht aan vijf fantastische blazers en mede door haar zang herleeft die heerlijke muzikale sfeer van toen.


Roaring Twenties

Calefax & Cora Burggraaf

Calefax and Cora Burggraaf have worked together for many years. Their joint project The Roaring Twenties was so successful that they decided it should be recorded on CD. The disc opens with the dance that epitomized the twenties: the Charleston. Breezin’ along with the breeze is a carefree ode to freedom and nature, and thanks its popularity to the singer/actress Josephine Baker. The poet W.H. Auden and Benjamin Britten had a tempestuous love affair that resulted in numerous artistic collaborations, including the Cabaret Songs. The texts are the fruits of Auden’s wild time in Berlin in the early thirties. If there is but one piece of music that symbolizes interbellum Berlin, then it is Die Dreigroschenoper by Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill. This is ‘dancing on the edge’ at its best. The opera – or, rather, the musical – is an ode to down-andouts, thieves, thugs, con men and whores. George Gershwin’s trip to Europe and sojourn in Paris had a significant impact on his career. He met Kurt Weill in Berlin and countless Parisian artists. More importantly, however, was his growing awareness of his unique, American and jazz-influenced style. In An American in Paris Gershwin seems to be looking for a meaningful synthesis of his own style and his newfound knowledge of classical form and composition. It is more complex and ‘classical’ than his earlier works; the autobiographical work sketches the awe-struck impressions of an American ambling through the chaotic Paris of the 1920s.

Tracklisting
1
Breezin’ along with the breeze
Composers: Haven Gillespie , Richard A. Whiting, Seymour Simons
2
Sentimental Melody (Blues)
Composer: Aaron Copland
3
Cabaret Songs Tell me the Truth about Love
Composer: Benjamin Britten
4
Cabaret Songs Funeral Blues
Composer: Benjamin Britten
5
Cabaret Songs Johnny
Composer: Benjamin Britten
6
Cabaret Songs Calypso
Composer: Benjamin Britten
7
Dreigroschensuite Ouverture
Composer: Kurt Weill
8
Dreigroschensuite Moritat von Mackie Messer
Composer: Kurt Weill
9
Dreigroschensuite Seeräuber Jenny
Composer: Kurt Weill
10
Dreigroschensuite Zuhälterballade
Composer: Kurt Weill
11
Dreigroschensuite Finale
Composer: Kurt Weill
12
La petite tonkinoise

Composers: Vincent Baptiste Scotto, Henri Marius Christine, Georges Auguste François Lascombe, Eugene Poncin

13
Youkali
Composer: Kurt Weill
14
An American in Paris Allegretto grazioso
Composer: George Gershwin
15
An American in Paris Andante ma con ritmo deciso
Composer: George Gershwin
16
An American in Paris Allegro
Composer: George Gershwin
17
Surabaya Johnny
Composer: Kurt Weill