Bacharach's Collaboration with Marlene Dietrich
Before he became a songwriter, Bacharach at 28 first achieved major success as Marlene Dietrich’s arranger and conductor for her concert career. Per Dietrich’s daughter Maria Riva, his transformative influence shaped her mother’s work and image in a manner similar to that of the man who made her a star, director Josef von Sternberg. “No one ever was a better arranger for Dietrich’s vocal capacity than Bacharach,” she wrote. What had been a nightclub act became a wildly successful multi-year international tour that cemented the Dietrich legend.” It was during his time with her that he, in his spare time, started to write songs.—TB