Customer Reviews

Carousel (OST)

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

 

 

"Carousel" is the great American musical. There's just no denying it. Nothing that came before and nothing that has come since can hold a candle to this show. It is Rodgers and Hammerstein's masterpiece and it is America's masterpiece. Although I can't say much that Arne Andersen and Tommy Peter haven't already said in their reviews, I'll sure try!

I was fortunate enough to see this phenomenal production of "Carousel" at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End in January of 1994 and no theatre-going experience has been so powerful or memorable. Although Michael Hayden had already left the production to open the show on Broadway, the rest of the cast was the same as is heard here. Personally, I have no qualm with Meg Johnson's rendition of either "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" or "You'll Never Walk Alone." In her defense, I can assure you that her voice rang with more purity on stage than it does on this recording.

While I am actually a bigger fan of the original cast of this show (1945), I am not a fan of that recording. I do believe John Raitt and Jan Clayton could sing circles around Michael Hayden and Joanna Riding any day of the week, but the score as preserved on this disc is far more pleasing than the truncated 1945 recording debacle.

Here at last is the entire "If I Loved You" scene (almost 12 minutes). Here is the entire "Carousel Waltz" and the full second act ballet. Here is the incredibly necessary "If I Loved You (Reprise)" -- the most important scene in the show. The only things missing from this recording are "Give It to 'Em Good, Carrie" (which can be found on the 1994 Broadway Revival recording) and the female chorus' response to "Stonecutters Cut It on Stone" (which can be found on the 1945 original cast recording). Otherwise, the ENTIRE score is intact!

I beg anyone and everyone who visits this page to purchase this CD. You will not be disappointed! This is as close as the American musical has come to greatness and should be on everyone's music shelf.

If this London revival of CAROUSEL had only had the brilliant stage and set designs and the enthusiasm of the young cast, it would have been a stunner but it is a revelation in for the first time casting a YOUNG Billy and a YOUNG Julie. For the first time the plot makes sense - these are abused and confused youngsters grappling at love. The acting by Michael Hayden and Joanna Riding in the leads is superb and their singing is full of beauty and emotional insight. This is the best interpretation of the leading roles ever recorded - poignant and full of feeling. Around them musically there are some hits and some misses. The CAROUSEL WALTZ is reorchestrated, slightly cut and too subdued and leisurely for my enjoyment. Katrina Murphy as Carrie is wonderful in MR. SNOW, superbly orchestrated by William Brohm and she and Ms. Riding fine in JULIE JORDAN. IF I LOVED YOU is nothing short of extraordinary - musically and dramatically. Meg Johnson disappoints as Nettie in JUNE IS BUSTIN OUT ALL OVER but the chorus is fine and this is the first recording of the dance music following the number (total time: 5:12). The MR. SNOW reprise is mixed - Clive Rowe is totally miscast as Snow and overprojects and overacts badly. Murphy is fine in this and in WHEN THE CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP and Rowe again disappoints. BLOW HIGH is done well with Phil Daniels providing the raspiest singing voice probably ever recorded. Hayden again is wonderful in the SOLILOQUY - acting full of joy, wonder and sensitivity. A REAL NICE CLAMBAKE is fine - again except for Rowe, who is only competent in GERANIUMS IN THE WINDER (only the third time this number has been recorded). STONECUTTERS CUT IT ON STONE is well done but the women's chorus reprise is not included. Ms. Riding does well with WHAT'S THE USE OF WONDRIN which here includes the dramatic end scene of Act I - first recording. YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE is not well done (again Meg Johnson) but includes transitional dialogue that replaces the dropped song THE HIGHEST JUDGE OF ALL. LOUISE'S BALLET receives its first ever recording and it's fabulously done - coming in at 11:48. The sensitive IF I LOVED YOU reprise is well done by Mr. Hayden and the FINALE is well acted and sung. All in all a not perfect recording but considering the extraordinary lead performances and the never before recorded dance music, this is a must own album for all lovers of R&H and the show itself. Avoid the 1994 Broadway incarnation of this production which is below par.

...and I'd have missed the most poignant, exuberant performance of this great musical I've ever seen or heard.

(And I've seen probably a dozen live performances of Carousel since my first one in Dallas in the late '40s. I own the orig. cast, the remastered orig. cast, the movie sound track, the Barbara Cook/Samuel Ramey, the John Raitt/Eileen Christy Lincoln Center recordings.)

I've been a voice coach and choral director for ~40 years. I know what great voices sound like. I also know when vocal virtuosity is secondary to a singer-actor's ability to draw an audience into his character and the story that's being told.

Clive Rowe isn't Eric Mattson, but he IS the love-besotted fisherman-with-big-dreams Enoch Snow. Jigger's gravelly voice is predictively sinister, Julie sounds like a sweet unsophisticated teenage girl. Meg Johnson's "You'll Never Walk Alone" is not the operatic aria it is in some hands; it's exactly what it was written to be: a tender attempt to comfort a grief-stricken youngster.

Michael Hayden's "Soliloquy" lacks the vocal grandeur of Raitt's, but it lacks nothing in its expression of the agony of a hooligan carny kid wrestling with utterly alien emotions.

Katrina Murphy is impeccable by any standard and that's as it should be. If I were a female singer with Broadway aspirations, the role of Carrie would be my ultimate dream.

The marvelous chorus is always attuned to the moment, the orchestra is exhilarating, the orchestration is simply inspired. The music is so perfectly integrated into the dialogue and action that you are unaware of any synapse.

This recording, with its wonderful generosity in including so much of the score and enough dialogue to allow even those who are unfamiliar with the musical to understand the characters and follow the drama, conveys the bittersweet story of this love affair more effectively than any performance in my experience.

Keith Allen's perceptive review nails it: this is not 1945. I think the London company pulled off a near miracle: a Carousel with the grittiness and realism today's audiences demand, yet with so-obvious loving respect for Rodgers' & Hammerstein's masterpiece.

ALMOST a 'method' recording of this treasure ~ Michael Hayden and Joanna Riding are PERFECTLY matched as the 'star-crossed' young'uns .... and that's the JOY of this recording ~ they're Young, In love, and doomed - maybe not....

QUITE, quite superb - collect them all from the original to this one .... PITY that the DVD recording is not available.

This one's really quite close to perfection - and that's saying quite a lot durng 'these' days ......

...to what the Amazon.com reviewer and Mr. Andersen already said. But I'm going to try anyway.

"Carousel" is considered by many to be Rodgers and Hammerstein's masterpiece and was recently named by TIME magazine as the best musical of the 20th century. This glorious, beautiful, classic show was given an inspired, fresh, and magical revival at London's Royal National Theatre in 1993, if this recording is any indication. Said recording is a must-have in anyone's collection. Some of the songs have never sounded better; even the "Carousel Waltz," which Mr. Andersen didn't like, I found to be wonderful. Sure, it starts out a little slowly, but it gets going pretty quickly, and from there on in is exhilirating, definitly not "subdued and leisurely," at least in my opinion. As for the cast, all the choices that matter are perfect. Michael Hayden and Joanna Riding... the other reviews say it all. Their interpretations of Billy and Julie, acting and singing-wise, are magnificent, a perfect marriage of knowledge of the ways of the world and innocence. No, their singing voices aren't as beautiful as those on the film soudntrack, but they're good voices nonetheless and are full of wonder and sensitivity, and they do sound young, which does make their story that much more poignant. And plus, the superb orchestrations of their songs help immeasurably. "If I Loved You" really is perfect, or pretty near it, for all the above reasons. And yes, Hayden is better here than in the 1994 Broadway production; his "Soliloquy" here is a gem, as is Riding's "What's the Use of Won'drin." As for Katrina Murphy, of all the Carries I've heard, only Audra McDonald has equalled her. Others can act the part better, (I find Murphy's reading of her dialogue to be somewhat stilted) but only Audra can sing it like Murphy can. The first three tracks on this CD (The "Waltz," Murphy's "Mr. Snow," and "If I Loved You") are sheer magic; if nothing else, buy it for that reason. Unfortunatly, some other casting choices are not so successful, and are the only real detriments to this recording. (Not big ones, though) Like Mr. Andersen, I hated Meg Johnson's (Nettie) abrasive rendition of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and didn't care for Clive Rowe's Mr. Snow, either. But the enthusiastic chorus in "June" and the presence of Murphy in Rowe's first two songs helped, and personally, I think Johnson did a good job with "You'll Never Walk Alone," except for a dissapointing finish. Speaking of "Walk Alone," the final reprise of it is given the best performance I've ever heard. I wouldn't say you should avoid the '94 Broadway recording altogether; that's good, too, but of the two recordings, it's not hard to tell which one is better. This is surely one of the best revivals of a musical ever mounted (and one which I wish I'd seen on the stage), and one of the best recordings of a revival ever. Make that one of the best recordings ever, period. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's darn close! Rodgers and Hammerstein, wherever they are, must be very, very proud.

The title to this review pretty much sums up my view of this recording. Joanna Riding is a wonderful actress, but her New England accent, like that of most of this British cast, with the exception of the American Billy, Michael Hayden, is overdone. Also, Riding's voice doesn't suite the songs well at all - she seems to be straining a lot of the time, poor thing. She sounds more like a mezzo-soprano or alto who has been forced into a legit soprano's role. Hayden's singing is alright, but is much better on the 1994 Broadway cast recording. As Nettie, Meg Johnson is absolutely terrible: her voice sounds rough and hoarse rather than warm and inviting. As Carrie, Katrina Murphy is acceptable, but Audra McDonald absolutely dominates the role with her silvery soprano in the 1994 Broadway production. Also lacking is a sense of life and vitality that pulses through the 1994 recording. However, and we get to hear more dialogue here, including the dialogue at the end of the show where Billy encourages his daughter to listen to the words of the principal and tells Julie he loved her. These nicities aren't enough for me to recommend this recording, however. Purchase the 1994 Broadway Cast Recording instead and hear Sally Murphy, a sweet-voiced legit soprano, as Julie, a luminous Audra McDonald (she won a Tony Award for her work in this production) as Carrie and Shirley Verrrett, a classically-trained opera singer, as Nettie. More worth the investment than this one.

My parents were HUGE musical theatre fans, Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals at the top of the list. Carousel was their particular favorite and believe me, was played most frequently! (Not my favorite, but enjoyable enough to listen to without secretly wishing a brick would magically fall on the record player.) They had every version of the show they could get their hands on. ..argh! I always thought each recording was overdone, hammy and joyless.
This version is, in my opinion, as magical as a musical can possibly get! WOW!!! I was hooked and will recommend this version over any, including the film and broadway revival (Audra MacDonald is fantastic) but that production was simply a train wreck!. This is the one to get.

The reason the Carousel Waltz starts slowly (for those who did not see this amazing revival)is that the show opens in Bascombs Mill and the girls are finishing their day weaving at their looms in time to the music. They are tired and as they are dismissed from work the waltz picks up as they go to meet their"fellers"at the docks who take them to the amusement park (the best part of a tedious day) as the music builds the Carousel appears leading to the climax of this stunning scene. It's not just a slight tempo change, but an entire rethinking of the way these characters live their lives.Forget the way the film opens... this Carousel told the whole story. Also I think as far as the voices go,I believe the idea was to make these characters more accessible to a modern audience who are most likley put off by an entire cast sounding operatic.They just don't make John Raitts and Gordon McCraes the way the used to! In the acting department Jan Claytons sugary Julie doesn't sit well today... see the archieve footage of her and Raitts "If I Loved You" her Julie seems nearly [poor]... and unfortunatly the wonderful Shirley Jones in the film for the most part was woefully let down by her director. This beautiful and talented woman was poorly shot and misdirected.A shame.
No other musical needed retooling quite so much as Carousel did...and this revival is the definitive Carousel for a new generation.

The reason the Carousel Waltz starts slowly (for those who did not see this amazing revival)is that the show opens in Bascombs Mill and the girls are finishing their day weaving at their looms in time to the music. They are tired and as they are dismissed from work the waltz picks up as they go to meet their"fellers"at the docks who take them to the amusement park (the best part of a tedious day) as the music builds the Carousel appears leading to the climax of this stunning scene. It's not just a slight tempo change, but an entire rethinking of the way these characters live their lives.Forget the way the film opens... this Carousel told the whole story. Also I think as far as the voices go,I believe the idea was to make these characters more accessible to a modern audience who are most likley put off by an entire cast sounding operatic.They just don't make John Raitts and Gordon McCraes the way the used to! In the acting department Jan Claytons sugary Julie doesn't sit well today... see the archieve footage of her and Raitts "If I Loved You" her Julie seems nearly [bad]... and unfortunatly the wonderful Shirley Jones in the film for the most part was woefully let down by her director. This beautiful and talented woman was poorly shot and misdirected.A shame.
No other musical needed retooling quite so much as Carousel did...and this revival is the definitive Carousel for a new generation.

Compare Raitt's "Soliquoy" on the Decca "Selections" CD to Hayden's on the London cast recording. Raitt's operatic majesty, masculinity laced with self-hatred, and charismatic musicality jump out of my tinny little CD player. Michael Hayden is - and I hate to criticize any performer - downright anemic by contrast, as well as lacking utterly the pathos and complexity of Raitt's showstopping version. The use of a real opera voice, with Raitt, was a stroke of genius, as it contrasts so deliciously and painfully with Billy Bigelow's shortcomings of character.
I cannot overstate this- DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON THIS LONDON VERSION. Suffice it to say, it misses "the point" of the show.
I will continue to explore other versions, as my love of and fascination with this show is endless.
GET THE DECCA VERSION - "SELECTIONS FROM THE THEATRE GUILD MUSICAL PLAY,", instead. Whatever its deficiences (truncation mainly) its emotional and aesthetic rewards are enormous and triumphant.