"In April 1958, one year after becoming General Director of the New York City Opera, I launched the first of several seasons devoted to 'American' Operas. Kurt Weill was one composer whose works were critical to the popularity and success of those seasons. Originally written for Broadway, Lost in the Stars (and Street Scene, which we mounted in a later season) seemed to me to be an important work of music theatre. Now, more than three decades later, Lost in the Stars strikes me even more as a composition of great depth, deceptively couched in simple settings. Like the music, the drama has lost none of its desperate urgency in the intervening years. The recording sessions for this disc were somewhat akin to a religious experience. I hope the passions of Lost in the Stars will move you as deeply as they have me." Julius Rudel