Robyn Archer is back with another selection of songs from between the two world wars in Dancing on the Volcano. She began with humorous songs from the German Kabarett at the time of the Weimar Republic although, of course, the humour was very dark, with topics including killing a grandmother for her money.
As the time moved on, with the rise of the Nazis, the humour in the songs dropped away and the political edge sharpened. Along with the well-known composers, such as Hanns Eisler, Friedrich Hollaender and, naturally, the team of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, Archer introduced us to some less famous or often overlooked people, including Frank Wedekind, Henrich Heine, Wilhelm Grosz, and Kurt Tucholsky.
As an aside, Archer reminded us that many fled Germany as the Nazis rose to power and, to make a living in their new homes, resorted to writing in a very different style, penning some popular songs. She pointed out that Frederich Hollaender wrote Falling in Love Again and Wilhelm Grosz wrote Red Sails in the Sunset.
Archer was accompanied by her two regular co-performers, Michael Morley on piano and George Butrumlis on piano accordion, Morley also acting as her co-researcher and translator.
Archer is acknowledged world-wide as an expert on the music of this era, and our Cabaret Festival doesn't get more solidly grounded than that, returning to its formative years. Along with the songs comes background information about the music, the composers, and the times to complete the picture, things that, had we lived in Berlin between the wars, we would have known. This is an invaluable aid to the audience, bringing us into that time and place and putting the songs into context.
Once again, Archer played to a full house of very enthusiastic and appreciative cabaret lovers, adding an encore followed by even greater applause than at the first bows. There was no doubt that her performance was a huge success but, then again, her appearances at this festival always are, and we all hope to see her again soon with another collection of Kabarett gems.
