"A Streetcar Named Desire" w/ Cottbus Ballet - Billie Holiday

Last but not least on the playlist for “A Streetcar Named Desire” is none other than Billie Holiday, my favourite singer of all.

She had a significant impact on me in my youth - and to this day -, tender voice that accompanied my lonely evenings, sweet presence when I was feeling blue. For “Eine Winterreise”, she was, of course, part of the journey and now again with “Streetcar” as a pivotal piece in the ballet, making the perfect transition from the bright and sunny side of the piece to a much darker part.

“Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made a significant contribution to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.

Billie Holiday was a jazz singer who began singing in nightclubs in Harlem. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935 and had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca throughout the 1930s and 1940s. By the late 1940s, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of heart failure on July 17, 1959, at age 44. She was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR and was ranked fourth on the Rolling Stone list of “200 Greatest Singers of All Time” (2023).” (Source Wikipedia)

In the ballet, I am using “Easy Living”, symbolizing Blanche’s unfulfilling need to find a man after her husband’s tragic death. Her husband, Allan Grey, had an affair with another man before killing himself.