Opera North Cast, 2025 (Capriccio) (4 / 5) Since its 1948 Broadway premiere, Love Life has existed primarily as a legend in musical theater history, a famously unrecorded collaboration between Kurt Weill (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics). Despite the show having been a trailblazer for the “concept musical” and a cited influence on Stephen Sondheim, here is the first commercially available cast album. Captured live during an Opera North staging in Leeds. and officially billed as the “First Complete Recording,” this release finally grants the ambitious work the definitive treatment it deserves. The score is a master class in Weill’s ability to synthesize American musical idioms. The music shifts with the decades, moving from 18th-century polkas to mid-century swing, mirroring the fraying marriage of the protagonists, Sam and Susan Cooper, as they travel through 150 years of American history without aging. The story is constantly interrupted by vaudeville sequences that offer a wry look at marriage and America’s changing social values over time. Among the recording’s highlights, “Here I’ll Stay” stands out for its beautiful melody; performed with tender sincerity by Quirijn de Lang as Sam and Stephanie Corley as Susan, the song serves as a poignant anchor for the couple’s early optimism. This romanticism is sharply undercut by “Economics,” a sardonic quartet that showcases Lerner’s biting lyrical wit and Weill’s genius for embedding social commentary into his infectious tunes. Meanwhile, bass-baritone Justin Hopkins delivers a haunting rendition of “Love Song,” an aria in which a down-and-out hobo comments on the death of romance in a commercial world. Likewise, Themba Mvula exudes a snaky charm as the Magician, providing a captivating thread through the surreal vaudeville acts. The second act number “Mr. Right” is a knockout send-up of Broadway torch songs, delivered by Stephanie Corley with a brilliant blend of operatic power and musical theater belting. Unfortunately, such standout vocal distinction is a bit rare on this recording, as the cast overall is more suitable than sensational. Still, throughout, the Opera North Orchestra, led by James Holmes, supports the singers with a whip-smart precision and takes advantage of the lush orchestrations, all of which were notably penned by Weill himself.  — Forrest Hutchinson