With this recording, Anne Sofie von Otter dedicates herself to German chansons, film songs, and cabaret numbers from the 1920s through 1940s, an era between glamour and the abyss. Together with the Salon Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin under the direction of Adam Benzwi, a colorful panorama of Berlin cabaret, operetta, jazz, and Weimar melancholy emerges.

The catchy melodies of Friedrich Hollaender and Hanns Eisler, as well as the sharp lyrics of Bertolt Brecht and Bruno Balz, unite Berlin cabaret, operetta, and early jazz influences into that unmistakable "Prussian swing," whose mix of march rhythms and syncopation lends this music its austere elegance. Behind the humor, melancholy, and apparent lightness, the tensions and fractures of their era also become audible. From absurd humor to existential despair, from brilliant revue to intimate ballads, a colorful panorama unfolds full of longing, irony, and zest for life. Anne Sofie von Otter shows how timeless and relevant this music remains to this day.