Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester
from Germany
Sunday, March 7, 2010
7:00 p.m.

Founded in 1986 by the charismatic baritone Max Raabe, Max Raabe & Palast Orchester embodies the high style and musical glory of the 20's and 30’s. Based in Berlin, they currently perform over 150 concerts a year around the world celebrating this timeless music with uncanny precision, drama and irony.

Max Raabe’s art lies in revealing the enigmatic intelligence, ambiguity, universal power and complexity of the “German chansons” from the turbulent Weimar Republic. A singer of incredible range, Raabe has a singular ability to capture the cunning rasp of the cabaret singer, the confident belcanto hero, the carefree timbre of early jazz, and the falsetto of ragtime, all backed by his stellar 12-member band.

With repertoire focused on German and American standards, they keenly remind us that between melancholy and irony, rebellion and resignation, elegy and farce there is often only half a measure, sometimes just a single note or a mere word. Max Raabe & Palast Orchester are slick and nostalgic and unmistakably modern through Raabe’s skewed humor, sardonic wit, and spot on interpretations.