David Farneth Bücher

The legendary iconoclast Kurt Weill has become a figure central to the cultural life of the twentieth century. An artist known for his relentless exploration of the boundary between high and low art, Weill left behind a treasury of classical music and unforgettable songs, Mack the Knife and Alabama Song, among them. Working with Bertolt Brecht and others, he used musicals such as The Threepenny Opera to address the most serious of social and political issues. In a lavish style suitable to the subject, Kurt Weill's life is explored with in-depth scholarship and more than 900 photographs, many in full-color, from archives in five different countries, to form the essential addition to any theater or music lover's collection.

Born Karoline Blamauer in 1898, Lenya began her career as an actress and dancer in Zurich. In 1920's Berlin she met and married the young composer Kurt Weill, and the two of them brought their talents to American theater when they left Nazi Germany. This first visual biography of the extraordinary performer is an intimate and revealing portrait that Lenya fans and theater buffs won't want to miss. 80 color photos. 350 illustrations.