SONG OF NORWAY - studio

I'm so glad I listened to the other SoN first before this one. Irra Petina , who was the star of the original, was not let out of her recording contract to do the Decca cast recording with the rest of the company and orchestra. Columbia decided to release an album with her singing her songs from the show. I can't say I'll ever wanna throw this record on to hear the show. It's not really fair to compare the two offerings since the Decca album is more of a OBC album, while the Columbia/Petina is more of a solo album. I can't imagine her with the rest of the original cast; her voice is too thin and stringy to me- especially when she sings the last high note of each song. I find it interesting that the orchestrations are not the same as the original. Some sections I like better, but overall I'd rather hear what was played in the theater. This album embodies everything I thought Song of Norway was going to be before I actually heard it: lofty, boring, too operatic, no acting, etc. I'm glad I've got the other album to show me that it is in fact interesting, fun, and theatrical.

Grade: C-

SONG OF NORWAY - 8/21/44

What an awesome cast album. I had no idea this is what it would be like. I've had a two disc studio recording for over ten years and I never could make myself listen to the damn thing. Now, however, I'm singing a different tune. This original cast album (minus the female star, Irra Petina) is the first I've heard that convincingly interpolates singing and speak, back and forth, in such a natural manner. Yes, they sing in a much loftier way, but I don't mind since it is seemingly act-able. This is considered an operetta, but I'm calling it a legit musical. Robert Shafer, who leads off the album, has an incredible tenor voice. The ending of the opening made me applaud from my reclined leather man-chair. Incredible. Also, I've never heard Kitty Carlisle sing like this, and I like it. The songs never bored me. Like I said, I've always had this impression that it would be an utter snooze fest. This is simply not the case. The melodies are very theatrical; they soar when they need to soar and get quiet when they need to be quiet. I'm excited to listen to the next recording of this starring Irra Petina, who wasn't allowed to record with a different record company from the one she was signed to. Stay tuned.

GRADE B+

MEXICAN HAYRIDE - 1/28/44

This album is pretty amazing. The first track, Sing To Me Guitar, blew me away the first time I heard it. I literally stopped everything I was doing and just listened. I love the way the strings weave into the guitars so seamlessly. Great orchestrations. But why is June Havoc impersonating Ethel Merman? She keeps doing those little flips on the first note of each phrase. ie. Ethel's "There's nnnnnnnoooooooOOO business like shoooooOOOOOw business",... I don't know if that's how Havoc really sang or not, but it seems copycat-like. That being said, I love hearing Wilbur Evans singing this kind of material. I first noticed him in the studio recording of MERRY WIDOW, but this now furthers my interest. Other songs on the album are fun and typical Porter. It isn't his best score, but it certainly isn't the worst. The show was a success at the time, running over a year. I find it strange that Bobby Clark was the star of the show, but he doesn't appear on the recording at all. Speaking of; this recording is particularly worth having if just for the bonus material. Mary Martin sings six fantastic Cole Poerter songs.

Grade B+

THE MERRY WIDOW - 1943 Studio

Studio recordings were just starting to be made in the mid-40's. Once record companies started making money from cast recordings like OKLAHOMA! they started putting singers together to make money on other older shows that never got a proper recording. Operettas were so popular in the early 20th century, but hardly any of them where recorded in tact back then. Operetta was still going pretty strong at the outbreak of WWII, but audiences were starting to learn that musicals would give them acting, dancing, singing, AND storytelling throughout. Thus, musical comedy started to take the place of both operetta and vaudeville. Lengthy dissertations could be constructed discussing the reasons that musicals over took operetta in popularity, but I won't even attempt to explain that here. I'll leave that for my Masters degree. For now, we have Kitty Carlisle singing The Merry Widow. She sounds fine. I'm not sure if I love her voice on this; sometimes it sounds a little thin. Wilbur Evans has an interesting sound and performance. Think Marc Kudisch. A 1920's version at least. Every time I hear him sing I think of that. I'll look forward to hearing his voice on other shows and recordings. I like the songs well enough. Overall, it is a decent representation of this popular operetta. I can't say I'll listen to this studio recording all the time, but it embodies the general sound of that specific musical era to me-especially since we don't have many pre-1940 operetta recordings.

Ps. Did you know that 'merry widow' also refers to the lingerie number showed above? HOT.

Grade: B

CARMEN JONES - 1943

What an interesting listen. Carmen Jones was quite the success of it's year, running over 500 performances. Maybe it was an escape from the war. Maybe it was the opera tunes pretending to be musical theater. Maybe it was the all Black cast. Who know? But listen to 'Dis Flower' and tell me that isn't musical theater? It's incredible to me how these opera songs make the transition. Yes, there are the familiar tunes you know from pop culture. For me, it's the rarer known ones that are the most interesting listen. Of course, there are are the painfully of date 'dem's and 'der's, but it's not that bad. Overall, Hammerstein succeeds in making plot moving songs out of arias (which are written to pontificate on one idea the whole song). Rarely do they actually further the plot. Here we have songs that give us information and feelings, and also further the plot. The singing is ok, not the best. There are a couple stand alone solos, but there is a final soprano note in a group number that is particularly bad...otherwise it's all passible. Sometimes the singing is muddy and I can't hear the orchestra, but that might be the dated recording techniques. Either way, I'd like to listen to this again with a cleaner/newer recording. Ps. The bonus track is interesting... Kitty singing all the 'dem's and 'der's makes me feel kinda funny...

Grade: B+

WINGED VICTORY - 1943

This isn't a cast album, so I'm a little loathe to type this up; I've typed it up, so I might as well. There a couple solo's on here. They are fine. Most of it is chorus stuff that is quite melancholy. This was really a Moss Hart play with some music added. It takes place, you guessed it, in the air force division. It seemed everyone wanted their own THIS IS THE ARMY. So they got it. It lasted for a while and was very successful, recorded in Hollywood as well. I won't listen to this just to hear the songs, but the record (with Song of Norway, and Up in Central Park) is a nice send back. I'll listen to the other shows presently. I'll just this as a separate show, not the whole album.

Grade: C (but the album so far is a solid B)