|
|
|
Titanic (1997 Original Broadway Cast)
: :Unlike the boat it's named after, this show truly rose from the bottom. Despite detractors predicting doom before it had even opened, Titanic overcame hectic previews and endless technical problems to win a Tony for best musical and turn into a commercial success. Despite the fact that favorite performers like Judith Blazer or Victoria Clark disappear in the crowd and don't get solos of note, the show still manages to bring to life affecting characters. Maury Yeston's (Grand Hotel) score has the required majesty without ever being turgid, and the choral ...
|
|
|
Children of Eden (Papermill Playhouse Cast)
from: RCA Victor Broadway
: :Unlike the boat it's named after, this show truly rose from the bottom. Despite detractors predicting doom before it had even opened, Titanic overcame hectic previews and endless technical problems to win a Tony for best musical and turn into a commercial success. Despite the fact that favorite performers like Judith Blazer or Victoria Clark disappear in the crowd and don't get solos of note, the show still manages to bring to life affecting characters. Maury Yeston's (Grand Hotel) score has the required majesty without ever being turgid, and the choral ...
|
|
|
American Dreamer: Songs of Stephen Foster; Thomas Hampson; Jay Unger; Molly Mason
: :Unlike the boat it's named after, this show truly rose from the bottom. Despite detractors predicting doom before it had even opened, Titanic overcame hectic previews and endless technical problems to win a Tony for best musical and turn into a commercial success. Despite the fact that favorite performers like Judith Blazer or Victoria Clark disappear in the crowd and don't get solos of note, the show still manages to bring to life affecting characters. Maury Yeston's (Grand Hotel) score has the required majesty without ever being turgid, and the choral ...
|
|
|
Girl Crazy (1990 Studio Cast)
: essential recording:Widely known for its (very loose) 1943 Hollywood adaptation with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, this musical is among the Gershwins' very best. Originally a star vehicle for Bert Lahr, the original 1930 production also featured Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman. This new complete recording includes pros like Lorna Luft, Judy Blazer, Vicki Lewis, and David Carroll, and all of them do a bang-up job. The book is a mere pretext: most of the songs are self-contained and could be used in just about any story, and many quickly ...
|
|
|
Prima Voce Treasury of Opera, Vol. 1
from: Nimbus Records
: :This spectacular collection of more than 90 arias sung by 46 of the greatest singers of the century consists of recordings made between 1906 and 1943. Naturally, they are in far from high fidelity, but this is more charming than disturbing. And all the greats are here: from the tenors Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, John McCormack, and Jussi Bjoerlong, to the sopranos Rosa Ponselle, Amelita Galli-Curci, Claudia Muzio, and Kirsten Flagstad, to mezzos Conchita Supervia and Ernestine Schumann-Heink, to baritones Giuseppe de Luca and Mattia Battistini, and basses Ezio Pinza and ...
|
|
|
On the Town (1992 London Concert Cast)
from: Polygram Records
: :Three sailors on shore leave chasing after women in the Big City--that's the premise for On the Town, the brilliant, innovative, and electrically vibrant 1944 show by Leonard Bernstein (and Jerome Robbins, Adolph Green, and Betty Comden) that literally overflows with great songs and dance music. This version features a strong cast and three numbers cut from the New York premiere. It's well worth a visit. --David Vernier
|
|
|
Show Boat (1988 Studio Cast): Von Stade; Hubbard; Hadley; McGlinn
: :John McGlinn's sprawling, monumental three-CD set is about all the Show Boat any listener could ever ask for. In an obvious labor of love, McGlinn reconstructs the show as it ran on opening night, November 15, 1927, including every song, the original orchestrations, and all underscored dialogue. The most significant restoration is the dark choral number 'Mis'ry's Comin' Aroun',' as Show Boat's serious subject matter helped establish its place as the most important turning point in the history of American musical theater. McGlinn also adds an appendix that includes songs cut ...
|
|
|
Bells Are Ringing (2001 Revival Broadway Cast)
: :Although she's not averse to doing new material (she appeared in William Finn's Falsettoland, for instance, and let's not forget that brilliant bomb called Nick and Nora), Faith Prince is a living embodiment of Broadway's golden age. From her star-making turn as Miss Adelaide in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls to superb performances in the recent revivals of Little Me and The King and I, Prince always is perfectly attuned to classic material. In this short-lived revival of the 1956 musical Bells Are Ringing (directed by Tina Landau, whose ...
|
|
|
Kern & Hammerstein II: Show Boat - Frederica von Stade, Teresa Stratas, Jerry Hadley, Bruce Hubbard, John McGlinn, London Sinfonietta & Ambrosian Chorus
from: EMI Classics
: :John McGlinn's sprawling, monumental three-CD set is about all the Show Boat any listener could ever ask for. In an obvious labor of love, McGlinn reconstructs the show as it ran on opening night, November 15, 1927, including every song, the original orchestrations, and all underscored dialogue. The most significant restoration is the dark choral number 'Mis'ry's Comin' Aroun',' as Show Boat's serious subject matter helped establish its place as the most important turning point in the history of American musical theater. McGlinn also adds an appendix that includes songs cut ...
|
|
|
Back in Baroque: The String Quartet Tribute to AC/DC
from: Vitamin Records
: :John McGlinn's sprawling, monumental three-CD set is about all the Show Boat any listener could ever ask for. In an obvious labor of love, McGlinn reconstructs the show as it ran on opening night, November 15, 1927, including every song, the original orchestrations, and all underscored dialogue. The most significant restoration is the dark choral number 'Mis'ry's Comin' Aroun',' as Show Boat's serious subject matter helped establish its place as the most important turning point in the history of American musical theater. McGlinn also adds an appendix that includes songs cut ...
|
|
