To much acclaim, Capriccio Records has released the first complete recording of Love Life, the landmark Broadway collaboration that brought together Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner. The recording captures live the Opera North production that was rapturously reviewed and recently honored as one of six finalists in the 2025 International Opera Awards category for Best Production of Musical Theater. The Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North are conducted by James Holmes, one of the most experienced Weill conductors in the world today. Quirijn de Lang, Stephanie Corley, Themba Mvula, and Justin Hopkins lead the cast. An extensive ninety-page booklet accompanies the release, including full libretto, cast biographies, production photos, and essays by Joel Galand and Kim Kowalke. A video release is also contemplated.
Here is a selection of the praise showered on the recording to date:
“Weill’s music is — no shock here — great Weill music. The cast, alongside Opera North’s orchestra and chorus, does justice to Weill’s feel for Americana. And the composer’s orchestrations for the snazziest ensemble numbers — ‘Progress,’ ‘Economics,’ ‘Women’s Club Blues’ — deserve to be savored.”
Seth Colter Walls, New York Times
“A fine recording of a truly visionary Broadway work; among the most ambitious music theater projects of Weill’s career.”
Matthias Käther, Radio Drei
“This excellent recording features wonderful singing, especially by the leads; while the orchestra, under conductor James Holmes, sounds wonderful throughout. Too bad this is an audio recording—a video of this staging would be unbeatable.”
Kevin Filipski, The Flip Side
“An idiomatic, convincing ensemble inspires just as much as does James Holmes’s atmospherically rich orchestral conducting. Thus, the final gap in the Kurt Weill discography is perfectly closed.”
Manuel Brug, Südwestrundfunk
★★★★☆
“In Weill’s familiar, flawless use of various musical styles, Stephanie Corley allows Susan to fully blossom, while Quirijn de Lang, as Sam, briefly loses himself in the ironically cheerful ‘This is the Life.’”
Maartje Stokkers, de Volkskrant
★★★★
“… an interesting piece, here given a second chance to succeed, and expertly done.”
BBC Music Magazine
“This album is much more than a curiosity. It’s a long-lost musical that will finally get the recognition it is due… I strongly recommend listening to this album… Such great music.
Craig L. Byrd, Cultural Attaché
“Among the most original works that Kurt Weill wrote for Broadway, Love Life mixes styles with intelligence… Highlights include the work of the baritone Qurijn de Lang, and the orchestra of the Opera North, which sounds brilliant and very flexible as conducted by James Holmes.”
Pedro Coco, Ritmo.es
“Love Life is essential. Stephen Sondheim called it ‘useful’ in his own development, a massive understatement. Love Life was foundational for Sondheim. There is no Company or Merrily or Pacific Overtures without it. It is the start of something new. Opera North deserve a Tony for this achievement.”
Norman Lebrecht, The Critic
