Allegro (1947 Original Broadway Cast) [Cast Recording]

John Battles, Patricia Bybell, Lisa Kirk, John Conte, William Ching, Muriel O'Malley, Rodgers & Hammerstein | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 9, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: RCA Victor Broadway
• ASIN: B000002WEY
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,202 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #95 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Musicals > Classic Musicals

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cast album fails to capture essence of ALLEGRO, January 8, 2004

By 

Mark Andrew Lawrence "Theatre Reviewer" (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Allegro (1947 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

Highly experimental in form, ALLEGRO would lead the way for innovative productions many years later. The score was fragmented and although there were some complete songs, often dialogue and music would weave together. This makes for an awkward cast recording given the limitations of the 78 RPM discs in use in 1947. This was only the second cast album done by RCA Victor but a very different piece from their first show, BRIGADOON.

There are other problems too: none of the cast (with the exception of Lisa Kirk) are really strong singers and fail to make the characters come alive.

The original set of five 78s sold so poorly that RCA did not transfer it to LP until 1965 and by that time the masters had deteriorated: You will hear surface noise on this CD transfer.

This show cries out for a new full-length recording.

Most of the key musical themes are heard on the recording. But at 33 minutes more than half the score is missing, including:

1. The Overture (it is on the Rodgers & Hammerstein Overtures CD)
2. The extended choral sequence announcing Joseph Taylor's birth (the introductory segment is heard)
3. The choral segments documenting Joe's growing years
4. The Nursury School ballet
5. The reprise of "I know it can happen again" sung at Grandma's death
6. The Frehsman dance sequence
7. "A Darn Nice Campus"
8. "A Lovely Day for a wedding" (can be heard on Brynn Terfel's R & H CD)
9. The Entr'acte
10. Extended Party Chatter sequnce: "Yatata Yatata Yatata" (which can be traced as a partial inspiration for Sondheim in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG)
11. Ballet to the Title Song
12. The Finale

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maddening but necessary, October 20, 1999

By 

Michael K. Halloran - See all my reviews

This review is from: Allegro (1947 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

Until we get a decent recording of this wonderful score, fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein will have to settle for this stopgap. Providing only 33 minutes of the show in truncated versions of the songs, this is the only recording of "Allegro" ever made. Why did no one think to record the wonderful concert staging at "Encores!" a few years back?! If you love Rodgers and Hammerstein, you will want this, but the poor recorded quality and the brevity of the selections are drawbacks. 5 stars for the show, but 3 for the recording.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poorly sung and recorded but the only version available., July 7, 1998

By 

A. Andersen (Bellows Falls, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Allegro (1947 Original Broadway Cast) (Audio CD)

If any Broadway score needs a "new" recording, this is it. This was RCA's first Broadway Cast recording - the sound is atrocious. Performances vary. The 78 rpm format allowed only fourteen songs to be recorded - out of 25 - and some of those were abridged. This is one of R&H's most important shows - we need a complete and reverent recording of this work. For R&H buffs and cast album buffs only.