Max Raabe (born Matthias Otto, 12 December 1962) is a German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer. He is best known as the founder and leader of the

Palast Orchester The Palast Orchester (literal translation, Palace Orchestra) is a German orchestra, based in Berlin, constituted in the manner of dance bands of the 1920s and 1930s. Its repertoire specialises in cabaret and popular songs of the Weimar period in G ...

Career

Raabe developed an interest in the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 1930s, such as the songs of the

Comedian Harmonists The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Frommerm ...

, from seeing old films on television and from his parents' record collection. He formally studied music at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

, intending originally to become a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer. He and eleven other students formed the Palast Orchester in 1985. The ensemble initially used music arrangements that Raabe found at various flea markets. The orchestra practised these arrangements for one year without any public engagements or performances. The orchestra first performed publicly at the 1987 Berliner Theaterball, in the lobby as a secondary act, but with such success that the audience left the ballroom to hear the orchestra's performance in the lobby. Raabe and the Palast Orchester had a hit with his 1992 original, Schlager-styled song "Kein Schwein ruft mich an" ("Nobody ever calls me", almost literal translation: "No sow calls me"), a pop song in 1920s style. In addition to covers of vintage music, Raabe writes original songs and music, including film music. He and the orchestra have also created covers of modern pop songs in a 1920–1930s band style, including songs by

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

, Tom Jones, and Salt'n'Pepa. Raabe has also made a number of cameo appearances as a stereotypical 1920s and 1930s singer and entertainer in a number of films by German directors, such as ''

Der bewegte Mann ''Der bewegte Mann'' (international title: ''The Most Desired Man'', U.S. title: ''Maybe ... Maybe Not'') is a 1994 German comedy film directed by Sönke Wortmann and starring Til Schweiger, Rufus Beck, Joachim Król and Katja Riemann. The film ...

'' (1994; English title "Maybe, Maybe Not"),

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with un ...

's ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

'' (2001), and

Wenzel Storch Wenzel Storch (born 1961, Braunschweig, West Germany) is a German film director and producer. His low-budget fantasy films tend to be critical towards the church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian r ...

's ''Die Reise ins Glück'' (2004). His live theatre performances have included a 1994 appearance as Dr. Siedler in the Berlin "Bar jeder Vernunft" version of ''

The White Horse Inn ''The White Horse Inn'' (or ''White Horse Inn'') (German title: ''Im weißen Rößl'' ) is an operetta or musical comedy by Ralph Benatzky and Robert Stolz in collaboration with a number of other composers and writers, set in the picturesque Salz ...

'', and 1999 performances as

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" (german: "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", italic=no, link=no) is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (german: Die Dreig ...

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

and

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' alongside

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the Punk subculture, punk and New wave music, new wave movements in the late 1970s a ...

. Raabe first performed in the USA in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 2004. In 2005, he performed his first concert in New York City's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

and returned for subsequent engagements with the Palast Orchester in 2007 and 2010. In 2011, Raabe produced an album, ''Küssen kann man nicht alleine'' (You cannot kiss alone), with former new-wave musician and producer

Annette Humpe Annette Humpe (born 28 October 1950) is a German singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her band Ideal was one of the most important and seminal representatives of the Neue Deutsche Welle. In 2004, she returned as a singer with the project Ich ...

, who also wrote the lyrics. His latest album, also with Humpe, is ''Für Frauen ist das kein Problem'' ("It's no problem for women"), released in 2013.

Discography

* ''Die Männer sind schon die Liebe wert'' (1988, Monopol) * ''Kleines Fräulein, einen Augenblick'' (1989, Monopol) * ''Ich hör' so gern Musik'' (1991, Monopol) * ''Live im Wintergarten'' (1992, Monopol) * ''Dort tanzt Lu-Lu!'' (1994, Monopol) * ''Bel Ami'' (1995, Monopol) * ''Music, Maestro, Please'' (1996, Monopol) * ''Die größten Erfolge'' (1996, Monopol) * ''Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus'' (1997, Monopol) * ''Tanz-Gala'' (1997, Monopol) * ''Ein Freund, ein guter Freund'' (1999. RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Junger Mann im Frühling'' (1999. Monopol) * ''Krokodile und andere Hausfreunde'' (2000, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Ich wollt ich wär ein Huhn'' (2001, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Charming Weill'' (2001, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Superhits'' (2001, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Vom Himmel hoch, Da Komm' Ich Her'' (2002, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Superhits Nummer 2'' (2002, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Palast Revue'' (2003, Warner Special Music) * ''Max Raabe singt'' (2005, Monopol/Sony Music Austria) * ''Wochenend & Sonnenschein'' (2006, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''Komm, lass uns einen kleinen Rumba tanzen'' (2006, Warner Special Music) * ''Advent'' (2006, RCA Local/Sony Music) * ''In Der Bar'' (2008, Sony BMG Music) * ''Heute Nacht Oder Nie (Tonight or Never)'' (2008, SPV) * ''Übers Meer'' (2010, Decca/Universal) * ''Küssen kann man nicht alleine'' (2011, Decca) (with

) * ''Für Frauen ist das kein Problem'' (2013, Decca) (with

) * ''Für Frauen ist das kein Problem – Zugabe Edition'' (2013, Decca) (with

) * ''The Golden Age'' (2013, Decca) * ''Eine Nacht in Berlin'' (2014, We Love Music) * ''Der perfekte Moment... wird heut verpennt'' (2017, We Love Music) (with

Peter Plate Peter Plate (born 1 July 1967) is a German musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Between 1991 and 2012, he was the keyboardist and occasional vocalist of Rosenstolz, a German pop duo that had chart hits in Germany, Austria and Switzer ...

) * ''MTV Unplugged'' (2019,

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

GmbH, Berlin)

References

External links

Max Raabe's home page
(English, German and French)
Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester on MySpace

Opus3 Artists agency page

"Max Raabe's Palast Orchester: Timeless Elegance". ''All Things Considered'' (National Public Radio), 19 October 2008.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra page on Max Raabe

* ttp://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=23410 All About Jazz, "Max Raabe & Palast Orchester Release and US Tour". September 24, 2008
Max Raabe in Israel. Documentary, Germany 2012, Production: BR, Bavarian Broadcasting TV, (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raabe, Max 1962 births German bandleaders German baritones German parodists Living people Parody musicians People from Lünen Berlin University of the Arts alumni 20th-century German male singers 21st-century German male singers Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin