Wolpe: Zeus und Elida, Op. 5a / Schöne Geschichten, Op. 5b / Blues / Stimmen aus dem Massengrab / Marsch
This disc, part of Decca'sEntartete Musikseries of composers  suppressed by the Nazis, featuresStefan Wolpe's political theater works of the  1920s, enabling a more complete picture of his artistic development.Zeus und  Elidais a Dada-esque work that Wolpe accurately labeled a "musical  grotesque." The story line has Zeus retiring to earth and obsessing over Elida,  a  whore. Things go frantically downhill from there, to music derived from dances  ranging from the Charleston and tango to csárdás.Schoene  Geschichtenis a surrealistic chamber opera of seven brief vignettes, the  text of some reading like Abbott and Costello routines. The disc's last work includes a ghostly choral chant,Stimmen aus  dem Massengrab("Voices from the Mass Grave"), a chilling augur of the coming  horrors.--Dan Davis