Lemper Fidelis

Where style meets substance

fanfair

Poised dramatically on a chair, her clear eyes and voice piercing the smoke, German-bom Ute Lemper has made a name for herself as a purveyor of Kurt Weill's decadent riches. Redefining unification, her stylings have broken down barriers of language, culture, and taste. Now the twenty-seven-year-old singer-dancer-actress (who has performed in Europe in everything from Cats to Peter Pan) has found projects that both plant her farther back in the past and bring her effectively up to date in a rush of ambience. She taunts Norma Shearer's memory as Marie Antoinette in a French film, L'Autrichienne. And a new album, Crimes of the Heart, showcases her in a contemporary vein, singing moody songs by the likes of Van Dyke Parks and Amanda McBroom. Brava, diva.

MICHAEL MUSTO