Zarah Leander & Sven-Olof Sandberg sing "The Merry Widow", 1940

Zarah Leander, Sven-Olof Sandberg & Orchester und Chor, Gesamtltg. von Otto Dobrindt - Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow Potpourri, part 1,2) (Musik: Franz Lehár, Text: Victor Léon/ Leo Stein), Odeon 1940

NOTE: Sven-Olof SANDBERG (b.1905, Stockholm, d. 1974, Danderyd, Sweden) Swedish baritone singer. In 1924 he started public performances in a summer theatre in Stockholm, but he owes his great popularity in Sweden to his radio programms, starting in 1927. In the years 1940 -1944 he had engagement in the Stockholm Opera.

Zarah LEANDER (Sara Stina Hedberg) (1907 -1981) Swedish film actress who made her great career in the Nazi Germany. That green-eyed and red haired diva was one of the brightest stars of the Third Reich film industry, launched by Goebbels propaganda as „Nazi-Deutsche Grete Garbo" and a worthy heiress of Marlene Dietrich, after her „traitorous emigration from Vaterland to America", in 1933. She acted in the hugest German film productions: „La Habanera", „Zu neuen Ufern" (Towards New Shores) (1937), „Heimat" and „Blaufuchs" (1938), „Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht" (It Was A Breathtaking Ball Night) (1939), „Der Weg ins Freie" (Way To Freedom) (1941), „Damals" (Long Ago) (1943). Leander rejected numerous proposals from France and even from Hollywood to join the international great movie star family; instead, she remained honest to UFA, being rewarded by her nazi-homeland with one of the highest actors salaries ever paid in Germany (ca.180 000 Reichsmarks per year). Even as late as Spring 1943, when large parts of Berlin the capital of Hitlers Thousand Years Empire - lay in ruins, she sung with her soft contralto in a new film „Damals" - a hit song entitled: „Davon, geht die Welt nich unter" (After all, the World is not falling apart). A few months later, she was on her way back to the peaceful Sweden.

After the war, Leander's attempts to win back for herself hearts of the German audience, failed. She performed in one decent movie - „Gabriela" (1950), and recorded a couple of very good - perhaps her best - songs (e.g. two sad tangoes „Frag mich nicht" and „Lass mich geh'n"). Unfortunately, she also used to appear in rather lamentable comedies, presented in the old fashioned pretentious operetta style, that completely missed the taste in the post war, ruined Germany.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Wiener
• Operetta
• Swedish
• actor
• Thirties
• Forties
• World
• War
• Weltkrieg
• 1930
• 1940
• nazi
• Germany
• film
• UFA
• Deutschland
• Franz
• Lehar

[RoLorenz]

beautiful! is there any chance to get the whole soundtrack??

[Randidan]

Love the "widow"!!! and, though I don''t collect either of these artists, it is fun to hear this. Thanks for posting it!

[eaj1es]

great version congrats.

best regards

eaj

[bobinobaker]

Leider machst Du einen Fehler ! Zarah sang das Lied "Davon geht die Welt nicht unter" niemals in dem Film "DAMALS" sondern in dem Film "DIE GROSSE LIEBE"

[BobBakeliet]

Hallo number 240252 !

You are writing quite an interesting story, its only a pity that it is far away from the truth !

Zarah Leander did not sing "Davon geht die Welt nicht unter" in the film "Damals",

but in her picture "Die grosse Liebe" !!

[cattleman6420012000]

Sorry I performed this work many times years ago. I am being sentimental. I meant to say I love this actual recording. My apologies.

[bobnweave99]

For this recording??

[scala78]

Thanks for this beutyful recording.

I actually thinks it was very strange that Sven-Olof Sandberg escaped so much criticism for his tours in Gemany, back in Sweden. They actually started when World War II was a fact. And Zarah had at least signed her contract in 1936, much before the war came, and actually attended shows back in Sweden, criticizing Hitler Germany as late as 1935. But let us leave the politics and just listen to, how beautifully they sanged.

[dzheger]

A delicious slice of Sachertorte for the New Year. Thanks G.

[barbcard]

Her contralto comes through as harsh, not soft,

but I still love this schmaltzy New Year music.

Yet another crisis (the Gaza situation) looms; can't help but think it's got something to do with the Presidential transition here in the USA.

But danke schon for this very generous video.