It might be on record that the Berlin light music scene was its most exciting in the 1920s, but this CD shows that there were many good things to be heard in the 1930s too. It begins with a rhythmic little piece, "Gipsy Wine", played with heavily accented snaps from the strings, some bubbling saxophone and a dash of cimbalom astringency by the Barnabas von Geczy Orchestra. Two "schatz" of German cinema then provide a luscious duet: the matinee idol Willi Fritsch and the English-born Lilian Harvey. And so the "cabaret" goes on. Even singers who sang opera, such a Wilhelm Strienz and Herbert Ernst Groh, can be heard, together with the short-lived Lizzi Waldmüller whose singing always conveyed so much joy and sunniness. Of course the Comedy Harmonists are here, proclaiming with perfect ensemble and beguiling ease that "happy days are here again", a prediction that denies the growing anti-Jewish persecution that would soon force them to disband. Included also is the original 1940 recording of "Lili Marlene", a song that became one of the major hits of W W 2.
All of the items found here were also included in a "Schlagerparade" series - 15 CDs covering the years 1930 to 1944. Interested collectors might search for them to find more of the important culture that is glimpsed in "Berlin by Night".