Barbara Sukowa

photographed by STEVEN KLEIN   Barbarba Sukowa is a German actress — and one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s last muses, appearing in his films, Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) and Lola (1981). Barbarba went on to have an international career, working for acclaimed directors Michael Cimino, Lars Von Trier, and David Cronenberg. What’s not well known is that she’s also a narrator for classical music and opera, and has performed in Schoenberg’s remarkably complex “Pierrot Lunaire,” appeared with the Brentano Quartet and Mitsuko Uchida at Carnegie Hall, and worked with such renowned conductors as Claudio Abbado, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and David Robertson. She’s also an accomplished singer, notably of Schubert lieder. Barbarba moved to New York City 15 years ago to live with her husband, the artist Robert Longo. She now sings in their Patsy Cline cover band, the X-Patsy’s. She agreed to model for Purple under the condition that she could break…