Customer Reviews

CAROUSEL SOUNDTRACK

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The sumptuous orchestrations, superb vocal and dramatic interpretations (courtesy of Alfred Newman/Ken Darby) and the wonderful stereo sound make this the finest recording of the score to date. True it is incomplete but until the new 1994 cast recording this was true of all prior releases. The CAROUSEL WALTZ is heard in its entirety (7:11) though this performance is not heard in the film. Likewise YOU'RE A QUEER ONE, JULIE JORDAN and BLOW HIGH, BLOW LOW appear on the album but not in the film - excised from the final print due to running lengths. This is the first time the first half of the WALTZ is heard in stereo. The stereo LP cut it in half. Barbara Ruick is a wonderful Carrie and her MR. SNOW is the definitive version - there's a musical intro not heard in the film. IF I LOVED YOU has little of the bridging dialogue but is superbly sung by MacRae and Jones and sumptuously orchestrated. Part of the bridge "I can just see myself..." is not heard in the film. JUNE is a fabulous stereo sound spread with exceptional work from Claramae Turner as Nettie and the chorus and orchestra - this contains a musical intro and closing music not heard in the film. The SOLILOQUY is MacRae's finest hour dramatically and vocally and is the best recording of the song to date. The first half of WHEN THE CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP heard here does not appear in the film - it is an infectious performance vocally (Ruick and Robert Rounseville) and orchestrally. A REAL NICE CLAMBAKE is rousing - here another musical intro not in the film. STONECUTTERS CUT IT ON STONE (again with a musical intro not in the film) is great fun and very well done - part of the women's chorus is not in the film. Jones' WHAT'S THE USE OF WONDRIN is plaintive and introspective - a fine performance. Turner is again fabulously voiced in YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE. The poignant reprisal of IF I LOVED YOU is first recorded here. The Finale as heard here does not appear in the film, with the exception of the last repetition of the title concluding the work, tacked onto this recording of Jones and chorus performing YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE. Not present here are: GERANIUMS IN THE WINDER and THE HIGHEST JUDGE OF ALL. Recording time differs in liner notes and jewel case as either 50:53 or 47:08 - my calculations favor the latter. All in all, a superb, extremely sensitive combination of acting, singing and orchestration - the finest moment for this score. A must have!

This film adaptation of Carousel came shortly after the Oklahoma! film and reunited Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. Although the film was not well-received at the box office, the soundtrack shows MacRae, Jones and the superb cast performing their roles to their heart's content. Their performance helps bring out the pathos in this tragic R&H musical, which Rodgers himself considered his favourite of all his works.

MacRae shines vocally as Billy Bigelow, bringing an open-hearted musicality and sincerity to his stout-hearted portrayal. MacRae stands out in Billy's pivotal Soliloquy, which some reviewers have considered one of the finest vocal performances of the 20th century. He is well-partnered by Shirley Jones, who lends her tender voice and personality to her portrayal as Julie. Listen to the chemistry they exude during the pivotal If I Loved You duet, as if they're overcoming their shyness and drawing sustenance from each other with their love. The supporting cast also gives its all in performing their roles. Claramae Turner's hearty Nettie brims with sincerity, warmth and tenderness, and she leads a rousing rendition of June is Bustin' Out All Over and renders You'll Never Walk Alone touchingly. Barbara Ruick and Robert Rounseville are superb as Carrie and Mr. Snow, although I admit I would have liked a little more humour. I also admit I would have liked Cameron Mitchell as Jigger to sound more sinister, like Fisher Stevens did in the 1994 Broadway revival recording. But even as it is, everyone sings gloriously and is given sumptuous backing from Alfred Newman's superb arrangements and the 20th-Century Fox Orchestra, when it shines out in the ballets.

If I'm adding to the praise of these critic-proof performance, you'll wonder, why am I giving only 4 stars? Well, it's because the extra sound effects from the unreleased sequences tend to jar after a while. I know some of you are complaining that the dance sequences are plagued by extraneous sound effects and noise. I share the same feelings too and also wish that the producers had utilised the original studio pre-recordings for a sumptuous listening experience. However, let us at least be grateful that Didier Deutsch and his production team have made these unreleased sequences available on a soundtrack CD reissue. At least it's a step in the right direction before the entire canon of R&H film soundtracks (yes, including South Pacific and The Sound of Music) gets its due as deluxe 2-CD sets, complete with underscore.

However, don't let this gripe dissuade you from buying this soundtrack. It offers a complete musical experience that one could only dream of in the previous CD reissues of the soundtrack. And it demonstrates the element that Rodgers & Hammerstein were discovering in their musicals.

This remastered and expanded edition of Carousel has never sounded better. Here we have the entire contents of the original soundtrack LP plus a whole slew of other, unreleased tracks. The previously released tracks are taken directly from the soundtrack album masters. The unreleased tracks are lifted from the edited film soundtrack. Because of this we notice a slight difference in fidelity between the released and unreleased cuts. The unreleased tracks are nice, except that on a music only CD we do not need to be bombarded with extra sound effects such as hand clapping and foot stomping (a good example is the "June" dance sequence). Those are appropriate when viewing the picture, but not when listening to it in soundtrack form. Similar sound effects are also had with the remastered OKLAHOMA, MY FAIR LADY, and (to a small extent) THE KING AND I and THE MUSIC MAN. For future releases of this album (and Oklahoma, which suffered the same downfall) more effort should be made to locate the original recording masters, where they exist, and incorporate them into the album.

If you can get past that, CAROUSEL has never sounded better. Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones are in top form, and fresh from their successful pairing in the Academy Award Winning OKLAHOMA (1955). Barbara Ruick and the rest of the support cast are excellent as well. While I dearly love the 1945 Original Broadway Cast album of CAROUSEL, the recording methods of 1945 will forever keep that album sounding like it was recorded in 1945 for 78 RPM records.

Those that still have their copies of the previous (1993) CD release of CAROUSEL will want to hang onto them, as that album is how a music only CD of Carousel should sound.

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.

The film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" may have had its flaws, (a dissapointing beginning being foremost among them), but the score was performed very well, even though more than a little of it was deleted from the final print. This soundtrack recording of the film is just as good. The performances and orchestrations are quite fine, and fortuanatly, we get the added bonus of the addition of much of the music deleted from the film, including the songs "You're A Queer One, Julie Jordan" and "Blow High, Blow Low" and verses of "If I Loved You" (although the introductory verses are apparently still missing or were never recorded) and "When The Children Are Asleep".

All of the songs are beautiful, definitly the best score R and H ever created. And they are perfectly performed here by Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones, the stars of the film. "If I Loved You," despite the still-missing verses diminishing its power a little bit, remains a beautiful ballad. As in the film, McRae's "Soliloquy" is a tour de force, and Jones gives a lovely reading of "What's The Use of Wond'rin." In addition, the entire cast give a spirited rendition of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," as in the film, and are also good in "This Was A Real Nice Clambake." Supporting actress Barbara Ruick's rendition of "Mister Snow" comes off better here than it does in the film, where it comes out of left field because of the deleion of "Queer One," and Ruick and Robert Rounsville perform "When the Children..." with complete charm. Cameron Mitchell, known more for his dramatic talents than his singing voice, sounds just fine in "Blow High..." and is a delight in "Stonecutters Cut It On Stone," as well. "You'll Never Walk Alone" remains sentimental, but it's a nice song, anyway. Also, the music is marvelously orchestrated, in the songs and in the thrilling opener, the "Carousel Waltz."

This is probably one of the best recordings available of this great score. I suggest also getting the recording of the 1994 Broadway revival, which has even more material and is at least as good as this soundtrack.

Pay no attention to those decrying this release because of the sound of clomping footsteps during the "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" sequence. I'll wager that those same people who complain about the sound of footsteps during this dance don't raise a single complaint over the sound of prolonged applause or coughing during a live recording of a rock or classical concert, or a live recording of a Broadway show (there ARE some of those around). What is commendable is Angel Records's conscientiousness in trying to keep out the extraneous sound effects as much as possible. The additional material has been obtained, not from the original music and vocal tracks, but from the final, printed version of the soundtrack, and Angel no doubt realized that too many extraneous noises would probably annoy the listener. This is probably why the actual "carousel sequence" (in which crowd murmurs, as well as Gordon MacRae's voice shouting "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Ride on the carousel",etc., can clearly be heard) was omitted, and why "Louise's Ballet", finally captured here in breathtaking stereo sound, begins after the lapping of the ocean can no longer be heard.

In fact, this album is the answer to any R&H fan's prayers, and as far as I'm concerned, the finest recording of "Carousel" ever made. Gordon MacRae, in his best screen role as Billy Bigelow, easily eclipses all other Billys ever recorded, and that includes John Raitt, as well as Michael Hayden of the recent smash London and Broadway revival. He brings to the role, in addition to his beautiful voice, a sincerity which clearly establishes him as the finest if most underrated male singer in musical films, surpassing even Howard Keel, who was a less convincing actor.

The rest of the cast is nearly as good as MacRae; even the usually non-singing Cameron Mitchell does surprisingly well. The album also includes the two numbers cut before the film's release (these were on the previous release as well) , but with the previously unreleased dance music, gloriously played by the 20th Century-Fox orchestra, we now have as close as possible a version of what the film might have been like had it been released without the deletions back in 1956, and all in immeasurably improved re-mastered sound.

Rogers and Hammerstein were in a different league when it came to writing musicals. Their music, lyrics and story are never alike. These two partners were exceptional and their music shows it. Carousel is a tragic story but also shows that human nature can rise above adversity. The music is wonderful and the characters believable. A great movie.

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.

This is a wonderful soundtrack. Filled with beautiful music, and memorable dialogue,it is a must buy for R&H fans, along with the soundtrack from "Oklahoma." It's simply great.

This remastered and expanded soundtrack gives us just about everything one could ask, rich and delectable. The additional songs, orchestrations and important dialogue are welcome. MacRae's heart-rending reprise of 'If I Loved You' is quite possibly the most touching in musical-comedy history. His rich, tender, masculine baritone steals the soundtrack, but Shirley Jones' usual sweet soprano is wonderfully complementary to his vocals and her acting is superb. The great tenor Rounseville's turns and the mezzo Turner's performance of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' are unforgettable. There's fine acting (and even passable singing!) by Cameron Mitchell. But 'If I Loved You' (duet and reprise) elevates this to Rodgers' masterpiece. Full chorus and exciting period orchestrations complete the timelessness of a great work about, well, the meaning of life. A must-have!