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-
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