Der Blonde Engel – Die Retrospektive

Der Blonde Engel – Die Retrospektive is a box set compilation album by German-American actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, released in 2001 by EMI to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth on December 27, 1901. Spanning four discs, it covers recordings made between 1928 and 1978, including studio tracks, singles, rarities, and live performances in multiple languages. The set was issued with remastered sound and a booklet containing photographs and historical notes.

The release received positive critical reception, with reviewers praising its completeness and archival value. A condensed single-disc edition, Der Blonde Engel – 25 Lieder, was also issued in 2001 and entered the German albums chart in January 2002, peaking at number 98 for one week. Both editions contributed to renewed attention to Dietrich’s musical career during her centennial year.

The collection spans four compact discs (CDs) and features a comprehensive retrospective of her musical career from 1928 to 1978, including remastered recordings in German, English, French, and Hebrew. It highlights Dietrich's style blending cabaret, jazz, and wartime ballads, with themes of love, nostalgia, and anti-war sentiment. The box set includes a booklet with photographs, credits, and historical context, positioning it as a tribute to her legacy as a global entertainer who defied traditional vocal norms.^[3]

The album's content is divided thematically across the discs, starting with classic album tracks from the 1950s and 1960s on the first two CDs, focusing on German-language songs like "Sag' Mir, Wo Die Blumen Sind" (a German version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?") and multilingual covers such as "La Vie en rose" and "Blowin' in the Wind". The third CD compiles singles from 1928 to 1949, including hits from her film career like "Lili Marlene" and "The Boys in the Back Room" while the fourth features rarities and live performances, some released for the first time.^[4]

A companion single-CD edition, Der Blonde Engel – 25 Lieder, was also released in 2001, offering a condensed selection of 25 tracks from the larger set for broader accessibility. While less comprehensive, it shares the same remastering quality and focuses on Dietrich's most famous songs, serving as an entry point for new listeners.^[5]

Writing for the magazine Neue Musikzeitung in July 2002, critic Helmut Hein reflected on Dietrich's distinctive vocal style and her status as a performer. Hein emphasized that Dietrich’s artistry lay beyond conventional measures of vocal technique, recalling Ella Fitzgerald's description of her "great non-voice". He highlighted the singer's ability to transform songs across genres into part of her own repertoire, attributing some of this achievement to her collaboration with musical director Burt Bacharach. Hein described Dietrich's career as that of a cosmopolitan entertainer whose performances embodied both desire and irony, noting that the EMI box set presented a wide-ranging retrospective of her work, encompassing both familiar standards and rare material.^[7]

The album was highlighted by critic Viktor Rotthaler in the German publication Neue Musikzeitung (nmz). In his December 2001 article entitled "Ich weiß nicht, zu wem ich gehöre" ("I Don't Know to Whom I Belong"), Rotthaler featured the box set as a key recommendation for comprehending Marlene Dietrich's enduring cultural and musical legacy.^[8]

In Germany, the single-disc edition of the release entered the albums chart on 14 January 2002, reaching number 98. It remained on the chart for one week.^[9]

Credits adapted from the box set Der Blonde Engel – Die Retrospektive (EMI, 7243 5 37567 2 7).

• Marlene Dietrich discography