Ute Lemper
(born 4 July 1963) is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.
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UTE LEMPER TICKETS
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Biography
Born in
Münster,
Germany, Ute Lemper joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16. Later, she graduated from the Dance Academy in
Cologne and the Max Reinhardt Seminary Drama School in
Vienna.
[1]
Her diverse credits include musicals, such as her breakthrough role in the original
Viennese cast of
Cats
, the title role in
Peter Pan
, a recreation of the
Marlene Dietrich-created Lola in
The Blue Angel
, the original European Sally Bowles in a
Paris production of
Cabaret
, and the original
London revival Velma Kelly in
Chicago
. She also dubbed the voice of Ariel in Disney's
The Little Mermaid
for
German-speaking audiences.
Lemper, named
Billboard's
Crossover Artist of the Year for 1993/1994, is a prolific recording artist, appearing on numerous
cast recordings and compilation
concerts, including
Roger Waters' The Wall
concert in 1990. As a solo artist, her extensive discography includes ubiquitously well-reviewed interpretations of
Kurt Weill's compositions from the late 1980s, in addition to German cabaret songs, which were very
political songs sung in underground locations in 1930s
Berlin and elsewhere. She recorded
Illusions
in 1992, devoted to the songs of
Marlene Dietrich and
Édith Piaf. She has numerous
pop albums, variously in
English,
French, and
German, and 2000s lauded modern
Punishing Kiss
.
Punishing Kiss
featured songs written especially for her by the likes of
Scott Walker,
Nick Cave,
Tom Waits,
Elvis Costello,
Philip Glass, and
Neil Hannon, the latter of whom performed with her on two of the album's tracks. Lemper is known for wild interpretations on discs like the Sondheim tribute
City of Strangers
, containing a particularly mannered version of the
Elaine Stritch-popularized song "
The Ladies Who Lunch". In 1998, a Lemper compilation,
All That Jazz: The Best of Ute Lemper
, was released. In 2003 and 2006 Lemper's songwriting talents were shown on her discs from those years as she moved from being an interpretive singer to a singer/songwriter.
A painter in the
neoclassical style, Lemper's paintings have been showcased in numerous galleries.
She starred as
Marie-Antoinette for
L'Autrichienne
(1989, directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre), and subsequently appeared in films such as
Prorva
,
Bogus,
Jean Galmot, aventurier,
Prospero's Books,
Appetite
and
Prêt-à-Porter
(in the latter appearing in a well-publicised nude scene filmed while she was pregnant, and she received
National Board of Review for Ensemble Cast award). She has contributed to the soundtracks of numerous films, including
The Voyager
,
Kissing Jessica Stein
and
Appetite.
Lemper, a mother of three, resides on the
Upper West Side section of
Manhattan in
New York City. She performs worldwide, recently even in the war-torn Middle East. Her autobiography was published in Berlin in 1995.
[2] She has also authored several journal articles.
Discography
- Cats
(original German cast recording, 1983)
- Ute Lemper Singt Kurt Weill
(1987) [3]
- Life is a Cabaret
(1987) [4]
- Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill
(1988) [5]
- Starlight Express
(original German cast recording, 1988) [6]
- I Dreamed a Dream
(1988) [7]
- Crimes of the Heart
(1989)
- Die Dreigroschenoper
(1990)
- The Seven Deadly Sins
(1990)
- The Wall - Live in Berlin
(1990)
- Arielle, die Meerjungfrau
(1990) [8]
- Andrew Lloyd Webber Welterfolge
(1990) [9]
- Prospero's Books
(1991)
- Ute Lemper Live: Ihre Grossen Tournee-Erfolge
(1991)
- The Michael Nyman Songbook
(1991) [10]
- Homo Faber
(1991)
- Guarda La Fotografia
(1991)
- Illusions
(1992)
- Komisch' Wetter
(1992) [11]
- Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill - Volume 2
(1993)
- Espace Indécent
(1993)
- Portrait of Ute Lemper
(1995)
- City of Strangers: Songs by Sondheim, Prévert...
(1995)
- Die Eisprinzessin
(1995)
- Birds in Cages
(1995)
- Der Glöckner von Notre-Dame
(1996)
- ''Bogus (1996)
- Berlin Cabaret Songs
(versions in English and German, 1996/1997)
- Nuits Étranges
(1997)
- All That Jazz: The Best of Ute Lemper
(1998)
- Chicago
(London cast recording, 1998)
- Kurt Gerrons Karussell
(1999) [12]
- Punishing Kiss
(2000)
- Little Water Song
(2000)
- But One Day...
(2002, Decca/Universal Classics)
- Blood & Feathers: Live from the Café Carlyle
(2005)
- Between Yesterday and Tomorrow
(2008)
- Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (US)
(2009)
References
- Decca Music Group" Biography
- Lemper, Ute. ''Unzensiert''. Berlin: Henschel, 1995. ISBN 9783894872137
- Bayer Records: BR 100 018
- CBS Records 460493
- Decca/PolyGram Records 425 204
- CBS Records 462585
- CBS 651425
- Polydor/PolyGram Records 847 642
- Polydor/PolyGram Records 843 648
- Decca/PolyGram Records 425 227
- Mood Records 6392
- Red Moon/WEA 3984-27075