Customer Reviews

Allegro (1947 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

I saw the original "Allegro" at its Boston tryout in 1947, and still remember Lisa Kirk standing alone on stage, singing "Why am I crying my eyes out; he doesn't belong to me." I have also seen all the other R&H plays, and believe that of their so-called flops (Allegro, Me and Juliet, Flower Drum Song, and Pipe Dream), Allegro is the finest of the lot. The score is excellent, and the Greek chorus works (for me, at least). The CD is good - what there is of it - and I wish there were more and that the recording quality was better, but the material is good enough to stand on its own feet. Rodgers often mused about bringing "Allegro" back for another go, and I hope that someone may yet try it. All it needs is some work on the book to temper Hammerstein's political message (good=small towns, country doctors; bad=big cities, rich people), plus maybe a little more humor. But the basic plot line is fine, and I especially like their courage in having the lead woo and marry his high-school sweetheart - and have the marriage turn out to be a disaster. That took guts for R&H in 1947!

I doubt anyone will argue when I say that "Allegro" does not represent Rodgers and Hammerstein at their best, but it is still necessary to have this recording in your musical theatre library. I cannot respond to the earlier reviews complaining about the truncated versions of the musical numbers as I am not familiar with the entire "Allegro" score. But, being all too aware of the "Carousel" recording of the same period, I don't find them difficult to believe. While this show has four phenomenal numbers -- "A Fellow Needs A Girl," "You Are Never Away," "Money Isn't Everything," "The Gentleman is a Dope" -- the overall score is more experimental than memorable. This score is better purchased as an historical document of the world's first concept musical -- more than 20 years ahead of its time -- than as a favorite listening experience. Just as Hammerstein was out of his element with the later musical comedy "Me and Juliet," so Rodgers was out of his element here. There just isn't the kind of cohesive musical structure here (perhaps because of score omissions) that one can find in master works such as "Carousel" and "South Pacific." But don't let me dissuade you, I still think this album is a valuable addition to your collection.

It is hard to judge ALLEGRO with this uncomplete cast album.The show was always dear to RICHARD RODGERS, who said in his autobiography that he always wanted a revival that never happened while he was alive.A new cast album should be made,even if the feeling of the period could not be recreated.The fact that both the father and brother of mister RODGERS were doctors tells a lot about his personnal feelings over this show.Since this recording is the only one we have,it is still a must for RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN fans.As experimental as it was in 1947 in it's structure,ALLEGRO is far from being a dud.You should buy it before it goes out of print forever.

This original cast album is not bad, but, considering the innovative format of the show, it just isn't good enough. If ever a musical called for a complete recording, this show is it. Well, according to Rodgers and Hammerstein Library friends of mine, one is in the works at last. I will not say who is performing, but it will have some of the best singers on Broadway and opera today.

The original just doesn't carry the pizzazz the show requires, and bear in mind that the original show is a very bold kind of show, with a Greek style chorus, consistently underscored dialogue, and a misunderstood
"message" that rubs some people wrong. It isn't about big city life being bad, small towns being good. It's about allowing your life to spiral out of control. This recording preserves the voices, but sonically it shows it's age much more than the original South Pacific does. The new recording of Allegro will be out early in 2009, so let's save our money and wait.

Contrary to what has been written on this website, Rodgers and Hammersteins original cast recording of "AllEGRO" is NOT out of print. I had a few bucks and so I ordered three copies of this cd from my Barnes & Noble store.The speical oder came in three days later. I then called Sony/Bmg and talked to a executive who confirmed that this title is still very much available to buy. He did add that it could be deleted as cast albums have been on the decline. Why? people download music on their computers, which hurts IN STORE sales. He also said that cds COULD go the way of the LP in five to fifteen years ( scary!!). Get them before they're gone!!. mrmusicals

This is one of the less successful musical plays of Rogers and Hammerstein. I think its limits in part stem from fewer beautiful songs than in most of their other shows (to go with a story that is not as interesting as that of the King and I or South Pacific). Yet they do have a few fine songs. They cast is excellent and they sing very well.

even on this truncated recording, you can tell it was an ambitious and often beguiling work. People have complained about the sound on this recording and the fact that a very large part of the score was omitted. Both of these complaints are valid. I do, however, disagree with the reviewer who criticized the voices, especially John Battles' - he had a lovely light tenor which may have wobbled occasionally, but suited his part very well. His rendition of "You Are Never Away" is achingly tender. It really makes me wish we had a recording of him in On the Town. The other voices were mostly very legit Broadway, which sometimes clashed with the poor sound quality of the recording. This is especially true of the sopranos. Nonetheless, I suspect (and from what I can recall from reading the NY Time review) that what the audience heard in the theater were mostly pretty fine voices.

The plot comes across as pitting country purity vs. city corruption, but again this is likely an oversimplification, or perhaps should be seen more as a vehicle for the (somewhat) deeper message about being true to oneself. The score is attractive, but generally ranked among the lesser Rodgers and Hammerstein. Given the limited portion that's available here, it's hard to say for certain just how good it was.

As discussed in some of the other reviews, Allegro was an extremely ambitious and innovative show for its day. The score was one of the most ambitious and innovative elements, and some of that does come across on the recording. However, given the descriptions I've read, I'd have to say that the more unusual elements are either downplayed (the use of the Chorus as a Greek style commentator) or almost completely missing (the underscoring, interweaving, repetition and building of themes). Thankfully, the reviewer who says that a complete recording is in the works is right. Playbill.com had an article in July '08 describing the work in progress, giving the cast, and noting that the recording part was pretty much done. It said a release date and label will be announced shortly. I'm really looking forward to that release because I so want to hear this score in a way that approximates what was originally done on stage, and this original cast album just doesn't do it. That said, I would say it's worth having for what it does do and for the collector's value. It is one of the few mementos we have of a show that was probably underappreciated in its day.

Finally, I have owned this on vinyl since it was rereleased in the late seventies, and I bought it on CD almost as soon as I saw it available. Despite any comments that sound to the contrary, I like Allegro, a lot. Frankly, I'm fonder of all the Rodgers and Hammerstein flops than I am of their more successful shows, as good as those can be. It seems to go with rooting for the underdogs and with preferring Rodgers' earlier work with Hart to what he did with Hammerstein. I'd say it's because the cynical and sophisticated and sad Rodgers and Hart works appeal more to my temperament than the more optimistic and folksy style that Rodgers found with Hammerstein. Maybe the more successful shows grate on me because they are so well known and as much as any Broadway show is nowadays, overexposed. They don't really need my attention or affection. Allegro, Me and Juliet and Pipe Dream, as worthy as they are, are much less known and remembered.