Carousel (1956 Film Soundtrack)
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Free Music Notes for Carousel (1956 Film Soundtrack)
Free Music Review: RICHARD RODGERS'S FAVORITE AMONG HIS SHOWS
Hit: 5 Stars
2002 is going to be quite a year for all musical comedy fans and it's greatest figure who will be celebrating his centenary anniversary.But you fan can start right away by buying this wonderful record which remains the best version of the show available.Everyone who saw the show knows that in the film YOU'RE A QUEER ONE JULIE JORDAN;the first half of WHEN THE CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP(a big mistake),GERANIUMS IN WINTER and BLOW HIGH, BLOW LOW were not edited because they thought the film would have been too long.This was not DICK and OSCAR's decision of course.In his latest years(RICHARD RODGERS died in 1979)nothing please more the composer than seeing his favorite show live in theaters.The cast in the film was simply perfect from JULIE to JIGGER and GORDON McCRAE was much more than a subsitute for FRANK SINATRA ;he gave to his character his own approach and he was a very good singer.I can understand SHIRLEY JONES when she says in the liner notes that she would like the show to be filmed again.For 1956, it was an excellent movie.More than 40 years after their last show,RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN remain unmatched and the reprise of their 5 masterpieces throughout the world is always an event.Free Music Review: CAROUSEL SOUNDTRACK THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE EVER!
Hit: 1 Stars
CAROUSEL represents Rodgers and Hammerstein's finest hour musically, the closest thing to Grand Opera the duo ever wrote. The 1956 film version showcases the finest performance, before or since, that this magnificent score has ever received.Nevertheless it is very difficult to recommend this latest expanded edition from EMI-Angel, which contains about 20 additional minutes of music not on the original album or previous CD editions. For while it is great to have Louise's Ballet, in a simply glorious arrangement by the great Alfred Newman and additional ballet music as well, the additional music is NOT from the original multi channel vocal and music separation soundtrack master recordings stored in the 20th Century Fox vaults but instead recorded directly from a final mix print soundtrack complete with foot stomping and extraneous sound effects, which besides having no place on a music only recording, actually detract from the listening experience rather than enhance it. If this were 42ND STREET, the foot stomping would make sense, since it is an integral part of the musical presentation, but without the visuals these random sounds don't make any sense in CAROUSEL, where the magnificent arrangements of Alfred Newman should be allowed to speak for themselves without intrusions from foley effects. If this were a live recording, such sounds would be an artifact of the original and impossible to remove and therefore have to be acceptable if one wanted to hear the score in its entirety. But in the case of CAROUSEL (and for that fact, OKLAHOMA, THE KING AND I and SOUTH PACIFIC) a wealth of unmixed original musical material exists in the studio vaults which could have been made available for this remastering, allowing the inclusion of even MORE MUSIC on this album. For instance, LOUISE'S BALLET could have been presented in its ENTIRETY without any worry about the ocean sound effects intruding at the beginning and the delicate and quite beautiful OPENING MUSIC lead up to the CAROUSEL WALTZ Main Title could have been presented minus the dialogue at the beginning of the album. That is the saddest part concerning this release. The original material could have been made available if anyone at EMI-Angel had cared enough to present CAROUSEL with the integrity that this classic recording deserves and should have gotten.
If you can get past these aberrations imposed on us by producer Didier C. Deutsch, whose name on any soundtrack usually means a DESTRUCTION rather than reconstruction of the material (there are some amateur sloppy fade-ins and fade-outs cross cutting the old and new material) the sound on this CD is at least as good as the previous CD version and offers a performance of the seven minute Soliloquy by Gordon Mac Rae which is one of the greatest vocal performances of the 20th. Century. In fact, the entire cast performs this music superbly and add to that the excellent orchestration and choral work by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby. No other recording even comes close to this level of brilliance. But even so, try to find the previous CD version of this album, which may not have the additional music but does include the entire vocal score without all the intrusive sound effects and sloppy edits making for a far more enjoyable listening experience.
By the way, the same criticisms listed above apply to the other two Rodgers and Hammerstein musical re-issues from EMI-Angel (Oklahoma, The King and I) as well with the exception being that on the other two the useless dialogue and sound effect intrusions are even worse.
Add three more classic soundtrack albums destroyed and mangled by the likes of Didier C. Deutsch and company. EMI-Angel would have done well to listen to the so-called EXPANDED versions of West Side Story, My Fair Lady and especially A Star Is Born before green lighting these projects.
Let's hope that someday EMI-Angel will give all three of the Rodgers and Hammerstein soundtracks their due and re-release them with added material from the untainted studio vault separations. That would really be SOMETHING SPECIAL.
Free Music Review: CAROUSEL FILM SOUNDTRACK THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE EVER!
Hit: 1 Stars
CAROUSEL represents Rodgers and Hammerstein's finest hour musically, the closest thing to Grand Opera the duo ever wrote. The 1956 film version showcases the finest performance, before or since, that this magnificent score has ever received.Nevertheless it is very difficult to recommend this latest expanded edition from EMI-Angel, which contains about 20 additional minutes of music not on the original album or previous CD editions. For while it is great to have Louise's Ballet, in a simply glorious arrangement by the great Alfred Newman and additional ballet music as well, the additional music is NOT from the original multi channel vocal and music separation soundtrack master recordings stored in the 20th Century Fox vaults but instead recorded directly from a final mix print soundtrack complete with foot stomping and extraneous sound effects, which besides having no place on a music only recording, actually detract from the listening experience rather than enhance it. If this were 42nd. Street, the foot stomping would make sense, since it is an integral part of the musical presentation, but without the visuals these random sounds don't make any sense in CAROUSEL, where the magnificent arrangements of Alfred Newman should be allowed to speak for themselves without intrusions from foley effects. If this were a live recording, such sounds would be an artifact of the original and impossible to remove and therefore have to be acceptable if one wanted to hear the score in its entirety. But in the case of CAROUSEL (and for that fact, OKLAHOMA, THE KING AND I and SOUTH PACIFIC a wealth of unmixed original musical material exists in the studio vaults which could have been made available for this remastering and even more music could have been included on this album. For instance, LOUISE'S BALLET could have been presented in its ENTIRETY without any worry about the ocean sound effects intruding at the beginning and the OPENING MUSIC lead up to the CAROUSEL WALTZ Main Title could have been presented minus the dialogue at the beginning of the album. That is the saddest part concerning this release. The original material could have been made available if anyone at EMI-Angel had cared enough to present CAROUSEL with the integrity that this classic recording deserves and should have gotten.
If you can get past these aberrations imposed on us by producer Didier C. Deutsch, (in addition to some amateur sloppy fade-ins and fade-outs cross cutting the old and new material) the sound on this CD is at least as good as the previous CD version and offers a performance of the seven minute Soliloquy by Gordon Mac Rae which is one of the greatest vocal performances of the 20th. Century. In fact, the entire cast performs this music superbly and add to that the excellent orchestration and choral work by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby. No other recording even comes close to this level of brilliance. But even so, try to find the previous CD version of this album, which may not have the additional music but does include the entire vocal score without all the intrusive sound effects and sloppy edits making for a far more enjoyable listening experience.
Let's hope that someday EMI-Angel will give all three of the Rodgers and Hammerstein soundtracks their due and re-release them with added material from the untainted studio vault separations. That would really be SOMETHING SPECIAL.
Free Music Review: After 45 years this is still a most enjoyable listen
Hit: 5 Stars
The rich stereo sound was way ahead of its time when this album first came out in 1956. The Broadway Angel remastering brings out the full dimensional sound spectrum. (WARNING: AVOID AT ALL COSTS THE EARLIER ISSUE ON CAPITIOL WHICH HAS VERY POOR SOUND AND NO LINER NOTES AT ALL. ALSO SOME PRESSINGS USE THE SHORTENED VERSION OF THE CAROUSEL WALTZ)Speaking of "The Carousel Waltz" - this is the best recording of that suite ever made. Perhaps a little over-orchestrated but so very effective. None of the theatre-sized orchestras can really do it justice. (Sadly Don Walker's re-orchestration done at Rodgers urging during the original Broadway run, is far less satisfactory than Robert Russell Bennett's orchestration which survives - in abridged form - on Decca's original cast album.)
Do not be alarmed that this fine CD is now listed as out-of-print: Anegl is apparently preparing a new edition of this (and OKLAHOMA! and KING AND I soundtracks) that will be expanded and include additional music that was not on the original Lp release. These new versions should be avaialble in teh spring of 2001.
Free Music Review: Song "You'll Never Walk Alone"
Hit: 5 Stars
"You'll Never Walk Alone" it's the best Song of the World.