Bye-Bye Berlin

The music of 1920s Berlin was a reaction to the city’s conflicted political atmosphere. A new breed of composer emerged, eschewing the old and embracing a heady mix of cabaret, 12-tone serialism and New York jazz. With dramatist Bertolt Brecht as their muse, they wrote startlingly original, often beautiful, music with bold, anarchic messages. The rich, seductive voice of Marion Rampal and her incredible group of musicians give vibrant life to the best, from Hanns Eisler’s defiantly anti-Fascist Nein and Kurt Weill’s tribute to Rosa Luxemburg, Ballad of the Drowned Girl, to Hindemith’s riotous demolition of an overture by Wagner, Hitler’s favourite composer.