Lost in the Stars

Nelson Mandela was born on this day in 1918. In honor of his birthday, today’s Song of the Day is Lost in the Stars, from the musical of the same name, with music by Kurt Weill and book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson. Based on Alan Paton’s book Cry The Beloved Country (written in 1948), the musical was produced on Broadway in 1949 and was Mr. Weill’s last work.  Lost in the Stars movingly tells the story of apartheid in South Africa.

Mr. Bennett’s recordings of this song are all wonderful. We feature this song from the album Tony, recorded in 1957. He also sang it beautifully in his 1962 Carnegie Hall concert.