Weill: Songs [In Search of Youkali]

British mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Award at the ‘BBC Cardiff Singer of the World’ competition, is known for her magnetic stage presence and radiant, expressive sound. Katie writes about “Youkali”: This song was my first encounter with Kurt Weill more than twenty years ago, and this yearning, hypnotic tango has stayed with me ever since. The mood of “Youkali” moved me deeply and seemed to reflect Weill's own search for a place of personal and artistic freedom—a German Jew forced into exile in 1933 due to the rise of the Nazi regime. He moved all over the world, and with each new country came a reinvention of himself and another wondrous musical transformation. “Youkali” is Weill’s “Somewhere over the rainbow,” an idea that resonates deeply with me and which, as I write this in 2025 in a world once again at war, seems painfully relevant. My interpretations of Weill’s songs have always revolved around “Youkali” and Weill’s search for a place where he belongs and where he can be free. I have wanted to make this album for many years and am thrilled that I have finally had the opportunity to do so with such a special team of collaborators and friends. It is my homage to Kurt Weill, the chameleon, in all his splendor, and a tribute to all of us in our search for goodness, love, and peace.