Kurt Widmann - Schön ist die Nacht (1940)

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Today is Valentine's Day - so I would like to present a song from France and one from Germany.

The German recording is the beautiful tango "Schön ist die Nacht" (The night is beautiful) - performed by the Kurt Widmann orchestra with vocals by Ludwig Bernhuber.... This song is not only about the beauty of the night but also about the singer's love for the woman he loves...

The idea for presenting this Widmann-version came to me from fellow collector and YT friend Dairyman716 who presented the traditional waltz "Kornblumenblau" performed by Widmann. This a very unusual rendition by Kurt Widmann - who personified swing music in 1930s and 40s Germany. As it turns out Widmann recorded some fine tangos as well...

Kurt Widmann (1906-54) started his career in 1933 at the Imperator Hotel in Berlin... His band and its swing repertoire soon became very popular but also attracted the attention of nazi censors who warned him several times against playing "entartete Musik". He made his first recordings in 1938 and that same year played with his band at the Haus Vaterland, an enormous entertainment complex at the Potsdamer Platz. The would stay there until 1942 when he was drafted into the wehrmacht. He was released due to injuries in 1944 and returned to the partially destroyed Haus Vaterland which know housed soldiers on their way to the front. There - in front of an enthusiastic crowd - Widmann played pure swing music - even forbidden titels... This time the censors closed their eyes... After the war Widmann formed a band and entertained American troops. He started started recording again as soon as 1946... He died of a brain hemorrhage in 1954. He was the only German bandleader whose life was the subject of a biographical movie : "Musik im Blut", released in 1955.

The theme of the video is literally "the beauty of the night" with images from Berlin, New York, Paris and Brussels.

The French song is "Le Premier Rendez-Vous" (Her First Rendez-vous)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLdLpn5JCcI

About the record :

Tempo 732 / mx. 1493

Recorded 1940.
This record is in excellent condition.

Equipment used:
Turntable : Stanton T90
Stylus : Grado 78c
Terratec Phono Preamp

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tango
• Schön
• ist
• die
• Nacht
• Kurt
• Widmann
• Tanzorchester
• Ludwig
• Bernhuber
• Luigi
• Bernauer
• 1930s
• German
• music
• dance
• orchestra
• Beauty
• of
• the
• Night
• Berlin
• New
• York
• Paris
• Brussels
• Tempo
• Schellackplatte
• GrammophonPlatte
• 78rpm
• High
• Definition
• HD
• Video

[veronica3755]

Trés belle vidéo et magnifique chanson !!

[Leotaurus1975]

Merci beaucoup!

[snookerbee]

Wieder eine tolle und zugleich unübliche Platte von Kurt Widman. Vielen Dank! *****

[Leotaurus1975]

Danke! Dein "Roter Mohn" ist auch sehr gelungen!

[sbd650]

Great video and great song!

[Leotaurus1975]

Thank you!

[FalconSupreme]

Wunderbares Tango. Danke auch für die Beschreibung zur Kurt Widmann.

[PenrodSchofield]

Absolutely beautiful -- beautiful images, beautiful song, beautiful performance. Thank you.

[JennelleBelle]

lyrics please? in german? thx!

[materialistic680]

You can convert thiss to an mp3 at ezmp3grab..com

[MrScalvin317]

great video!

[gbpico]

Truly delightful tango. Thank you!

[MrLuiscastellanos]

Fantastico !!!!! Bellissimo !!!!!