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Reviews
GLCD 5123
The Golden Age of Light Music
: Salute to Richard Rodgers
Reformer Com February 15 2007
The program notes give short comments on Porter and the conductors. This is one
of the best of the Light Music series and should be purchased with last year's
"Great Light Orchestras Salute Richard Rodgers" (GLCD 5123). Enjoy.
Frank Behrens
Great Light orchestras salute
Richard RODGERS
Carousel Waltz (Rodgers, arr. Faith)
– Percy Faith & his Orchestra
The Blue Room (Rodgers, Hart, arr.
Hill-Bowen) – Melachrino Strings/George Melachrino
Lover (Rodgers, Hart) – Dolf
Van Der Linden & his Orchestra
Some Enchanted Evening (Rodgers,
Hammerstein, arr. Binge) Mantovani & his Orchestra
Song of the High Seas (Rodgers)
– Wally Stott & his Orchestra
My Funny Valentine (Rodgers, Hart)
– Jackie Gleason & his Orchestra (trumpet solo: Bobby Hackett)
The Lady is a Tramp (Rodgers,
Hart) – Kingsway Symphony Orchestra/Stanley Black
Failing in Love with Love (Rodgers,
Hart) – David Rose & his Orchestra
Little Girl Blue (Rodgers, Hart)
– Andre Kostelanetz & his Orchestra
Surrey with the Fringe on Top (Rodgers,
Hammerstein) – Morton Gould & his Orchestra
Beneath the Southern Cross (from "Victory At Sea") (Rodgers,
arr. Russell Bennett) – Members of NBC Symphony Orchestra/Robert
Russell Bennett
March of the Siamese Children (Rodgers)
– Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of NewYork/Richard Rodgers
It's Easy to Remember (Rodgers & Hart,
arr. Farnon) – Robert Farnon & his Orchestra
Wait till You see Her (Rodgers,
Hart) – Andre Kostelanetz & his Orchestra
It might as well be Spring (Rodgers,
Hammerstein) – Kingsway Symphony Orchestra/Stanley Black
Down by the River (Rodgers & Hart, arr.
Farnon) – Robert Farnon & his Orchestra Bewitched (Rodgers,
Hart) – David Rose & his Orchestra
Spring is Here, title song (Rodgers,
Hart) – Richard Hayman & his Orchestra
Guadalcanal March (from 'Victory at Sea") (Rodgers,
arr. Russell Bennett) – Ron Goodwin & his Concert Orchestra
Richard Rodgers Suite: Dancing on the Ceiling, Johnny One Note, With a
Song in My Heart The Girl Friend, There's a Small Hotel, Thou Swell, Little Girl
Blue, Mountain Greenery, Where Or When, Here in my Arms, My Heart stood Still,
The Lady is a Tramp (Rodgers) –
Louis Levy & his Concert Orchestra
rec. 1949-1955. mono
GUILD
GLCD5123 [78:03]
Adding to the Golden Age series by
Guild comes this disc devoted to the works of Richard Charles Rodgers
(1902-1979). The recordings would have been made when his musicals with Oscar
Hammerstein brought him lasting fame by the fifties.
Many of the numbers need little
mention. Rodgers had teamed up with Lorenz Hart for a Garrick Gaieties
review in 1925. The combination seemed ideal since Hart had been exposed to
operetta through translations of European operettas and Rodgers had previous
experience of writing for amateur musicals. Their first musical play, Dearest
Enemy, gave rise to a hit song Here in my Arms. Little
followed until Spring is Here, a musical comedy that was turned
into a film even. Its title song features here. The Lover waltz
comes from a 1932 film, Love Me Tonight: it was revamped for issue as a
song, the version that is heard here. The Hart numbers are generally less well
known than the Hammerstein ones, hence this explanation. Rodgers had wished to
set a western play called Green Grow the Lilacs but Hart was not
interested. A willing Hammerstein stepped in as lyricist, having worked with
Gershwin previously. Oklahoma followed in 1943 and staged on
Broadway and London’s Drury Lane Theatre, where it ran and ran for a total of
1543 performances. Although initially it was feared their first collaboration
might not be much of a success, it cemented their partnership. Hollywood noticed
the box office success and film versions were locked into future Rodgers &
Hammerstein musicals.
The Victory at Sea
(1952) and The Valiant Years numbers are from major television
documentaries made for NBC. The Victory at Sea track incorporates
three themes from this nostalgic look at history. It is useful to hear Rodgers
without vocals and confirm that he is very capable at conjuring up excellent
mental pictures of the situation. The Richard Rodgers selection is
conducted by Louis Levy, one of British Gaumont’s musical directors, and played
by the freelance orchestra put together by the company to record their
soundtracks.
The majority of the orchestras are
good, though a few operate with a small number of players. It is good to hear
how composers like Farnon handle another composer’s music.
The notes by
David Ades on Rodgers are good and make interesting reading: the source and
dates of tracks are not always indicated, however.
Raymond J Walker
Brattleboro Reformer
Thursday, May 25 KEENE, N.H
2
more from Guild -- Those with fond memories of the wonderful old LPs that were
filled with musical arrangements of popular songs conducted by Percy Faith,
George Melachrino, Mantovani and Andre Kostelanetz, among many others, will
appreciate the ever growing and delightful series, "The Golden Age of Light
Music" on the Guild label.
The
first of two of Guild's latest releases is "Great Light Orchestras Salute
Richard Rodgers" (GLCD 5123). Among the 20 selections are many of the Rodgers
and Hart classics, including "Lover," "The Blue Room," "Little Girl Blue" and
"Bewitched." From the Rodgers and Hammerstein team, there are "Some Enchanted
Evening," "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" and "It Might as Well be Spring." Add
to those some selections from Rodgers' score for "Victory at Sea" and a
marvelous 16-minute "Richard Rodgers Suite," and here is an utterly enjoyable
CD.
On a
somewhat different level, we have many composers and arrangers represented on
"British
Cinema &
Theatre Orchestras-Vol.
2" (GLCD 5122).
Few
of these 19 selections will be familiar to American listeners -- and I recommend
this CD all the more for that. A few titles are "Grasshoppers ' Dance," "Aisha,"
"My Lady Dainty" and "Yankiana -- American Suite." These are all transcriptions
from old 78-rpm discs that date from 1927 to 1939, which means that most of them
are electric recordings.
Thank
you yet again, Guild, for these light-karat gems!
Frank Behrens
Page revised Tuesday April 03 2007
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