Today's video features "Tabu" composed by Margarita Lecuona - one of the most sensual compositions of the 78rpm era... The best known recorded version is the one by the Lecuona Cuban Boys yet many other recorded versions exist... Most of these recordings were made in the mid-1930s but many more were made at the end of the 1930s and the 1940s.

In January 1939, Peter Kreuder recorded two versions of "Tabu" - one very intimate with his small combo (Telefunken A 2837/mx. 23820) and a big band version which is featured in this video. I presented the intimate version in my channel over a decade ago :    • Peter Kreuder plays Lecuona's Tabú (1...  . The big band version is has a very full and rich sound which is both haunting and sensual.

Other versions of "Tabu" in my channel can be found here :
Herbert Ernst Groh with Otto Dobrindt in 1939 :    • "Tabu" (Lecuona) ... Herbert Ernst Gr...  
Juan Llossas in 1941 :    • Juan Llossas plays Lecuona's Tabú (19...  

This video combines the 78rpm release of "Tabu" with sequences from the 1938 movie "Der Tiger von Eschnapur" (The Tiger of Eschnapur) directed by Richard Eichberg and starring La Jana, Frits van Dongen (later Philip Dorn in Hollywood), Gustav Diessl, Kitty Jantzen, Hans Stüwe, Theo Lingen, Alexander Golling and Gisela Schlüter. Loosely based on Theo von Harbou's novel "Das indische Grabmal" (The Indian Tomb) the movie and its sequel called "Das indische Grabmal" were partially shot on location in India in a German as well as a French version (with a different cast).

"Der Tiger von Eschnapur" centres around the Chandra - the maharaja of Eschnapur (Van Dongen) who loses his wife the maharani Sita (La Jana) - a former dancer - to her old flame Sacha Demidoff (Diessl). On the run and afraid of the maharaja's revenge they end up in Berlin where Sita now called "Indira" returns to the stage. At the same time the ambitious architect Fürbringer (Hans Stüwe) wants to build a dam in Eschnapur. When the maharaja and his aide prince Ramigami who wants to overthrow Chandra and make Sita his wife arrive in Berlin, Fürbringer's girlfriend Irene (Kitty Jantzen) decides to use her female charm on the maharaja. One evening all of them (with the exception of a jealous Fürbringer) end up at the theatre where Sita/Indira is performing...

These sequences have been restored and upscaled to a 4K resolution using Topaz Video Enhance AI. They were then colorized (purely for entertainment purposes) in Adobe Photoshop. I do not claim the colorization to be historically correct but it does give an impression of what the sets and costumes may have looked like.

The 78rpm recording was transferred using the Graham Slee Revelation M phono preamp in combination with the ReK-O-Kut Dehisser. The settings for the Preamp are : Mono with Bass Turnover set at 375 Hz - Roll-Off Flat. On the Rek-O-Kut Dehisser a Lo-Cut filter was applied at 40hz to reduce rumble. Further editing was done in Adobe Audition.

About the record :

"Tabu"
Peter Kreuder mit seinem grossen Tanzorchester

Telefunken
A 2826 / mx. 23881
Berlin,
January 1939