Customer Reviews

My Fair Lady (1959 Original London Cast)

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I have all 3 major My Fair Lady recordings; the 1956 Broadway Cast, the 1964 movie soundtrack, and this one. This is the best one BY FAR. Julie Andrews' voice has matured somewhat from the previous version, which is certainly for the better. Rex Harrison talks-sings about the same here as on B-way and is very believeable at the part. Between this album and the 1956 OBC, most of the cast is the same, but there are a few differences, noteably the man who plays Freddie Eynsford-Hill. Leonard Weir, a Briton, is much better than his Broadway counterpart, John Michael King (who is American, and certainly sounds like it too). Stanley Holloway is good in either case, but by the time the movie soundtrack rolls around, he sounds tired with the part (listen to the beginning of "Little Bit of Luck" on that album and you'll know what I mean).

This album is a true pioneer in stereo recordings and that's one of the reasons Columbia Records producer Goddard Lieberson decided to do a remake of the cast album when the cast moved to London. After all, Columbia Records was a corporate sponsor of the show and had nothing to loose with a success like this. This stereo album sounds wonderful and the bonus track, "The Embassy Waltz," (which is in monoural) is magic. This is the My Fair Lady to get.

"FAIR LADY" is my favorite show, and there's been a lot of carping about whether the Broadway or London Cast album (with identical principle stars) is best. The London stereo album (from 1959) is my favorite. Yes, Rex Harrison growls and bellows his way through Higgins' songs, (a serious drawback) but Stanley Holloway has a bawdy good time with Doolittle's "A Little Bit Of Luck" and "Get Me To The Church On Time." Leonard Weir is "serviceable" as Freddy Hill at best, but "The Street Where You Live" is the show's most forgettable song (a tiny flaw in this gem of a musical)! Most, and best, of all, there is the nearly perfect, transcedent performance of Julie Andrews, who is more "authentically Cockney" here than she is on the 1956 Broadway album; wistful for "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" and full of fire and rage for "Just You Wait! " and "Show Me." And there has NEVER been a better performance of "I Could Have Danced All Night" than Andrews sings it here. With all due respect to my adored Audrey Hepburn, the role of Eliza belongs to Julie Andrews. The 1964 movie soundtrack, with Marni Nixon (an Andrews/Hepburn wannabe who has the qualties of neither Fair Lady, and with a Cockney accent straight out of California, to make matters worse) is horrendous! Warner Brothers' should have allowed darling Audrey Hepburn to sing for herself, as she did so expressively in the 1957 film "FUNNY FACE", and told Marni Nixon to stay home! Oh..well... In London, in Stereo, with Julie Andrews, "FAIR LADY" is, indeed, "Loverly!"

In 1956, Lerner and Loewe's MY FAIR LADY swept into Broadway and quickly captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike, the perfect transformation of George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion" into the world of the musical theatre. Both Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews played the show for two years on Broadway before yielding to replacements (Edward Mulhare and Sally Ann Howes), and in 1959 traveled across the pond to headline the London company. The show opened at the Drury Lane Theatre in April 1959, and ran for 2,281 performances.

While both Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison had laid down their definitive performances as Eliza Doolittle and Prof. Henry Higgins for the 1956 original Broadway cast album of MY FAIR LADY, the subsequent 1959 London production allowed them to record another album, in the brand-new stereophonic format.

Despite this 1959 recording having a sweeter sound than the earlier 1956 mono album, this sadly remains the lesser of the two, because a lot of the energy and flash had disappeared from Julie Andrews' voice in the years she had performed the role. On the Broadway album, Andrews gives a rich performance that runs the gamut from cockney guttersnipe to regal high society, but comparing the two albums directly, she does not sound at her optimal best on the London set. Andrews has acknowledged that she found the role of Eliza both physically and vocally exhausting, even more so because of the lack of body-mikes, and the projection must have been gruelling at times. No wonder that so much of the bloom in Andrews' voice had vanished by the time she reprised her role in London. Despite Andrews, the album does have a few merits including breezy orchestrations under the direction of Cyril Ornadel (the Overture is given a much faster tempo than is heard on the Broadway set).

The supporting cast includes Stanley Holloway (also reprising his Broadway role) as Eliza's dustman father Alfie. The role of Freddy is played by Leonard Weir (his "On the Street Where You Live" is very charming), and Robert Coote also repeats his Broadway role as Colonel Pickering.

The 1959 London cast of MY FAIR LADY, just like the 1956 Broadway album, has never been out of the catalogue, though the confusion between the two albums still exists, despite the fact that the London album sports a gold-brown cover and the Broadway album is white. Sony Broadway Masterworks' edition features a bonus track of the "Embassy Waltz", a mono recording from 1956.

This is the definitive recording of "My Fair Lady." It is immeasurably superior to the earlier, one-track Broadway release, and the later film soundtrack is, by comparison, almost painful to listen to; the marvelous Audrey Hepburn could act but not sing, while Marni Nixon, who dubbed Audrey's songs, could sing but not act. The title role of Eliza demands both.

Columbia Records president (and album producer) Goddard Lieberson chose the London cast of "My Fair Lady" to unveil stereophonic technology to the world; imagine, in this iPod age, the excitement that caused. For ten years, this was the bestselling record of all time.

And for good reason: Rex Harrison, a non-singer in a role that doesn't require one, is far more comfortable here than he was in the Broadway version, recorded just weeks after the New York premiere; the young tenor was replaced to great advantage (London's ardent Leonard Weir vs. Broadway's thin-voiced John Michael King); crowd-pleaser Stanley Holloway's in front of his fellow Brits and doesn't have to tone down his Cockney accent; and the superb orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang sound far richer, and are truer to what actually worked onstage -- especially in the showstopper, "I Could Have Danced All Night." The simplest of changes in the arrangement made a world of difference: they dropped the breves, or holds elongating the notes, at a crucial place in the last singing of the verse. No longer does Eliza merely contemplate pleasing Prof. Higgins by getting her pronunciation right; now she celebrates in triumph, sweeping the audience up with her in joyous excitement, as the 23-year-old Julie Andrews soars to an astonishing, ecstatic vocal height.

If you've never experienced it, you're in for a treat. Fifty years later, it's still the most thrilling performance I've ever heard. No one will ever sing this role better than Julie Andrews. And this is the recording that made her a theater immortal.

How could a production improve so much in just 18 months, from New York to London, to justify a second recording of the same stars? It wasn't just the technology of stereo. Theater is an organic, evolving creature; ideally, if rarely, a show gets stronger over time, and "My Fair Lady" in London is the perfect example. This performance is why there was an international outcry (still ongoing decades later) when Julie Andrews didn't get to make the film. That uproar came from the millions who saw and heard this sound. Audrey Hepburn was fantastic in the film as Eliza, until she pretended to sing. It was a crime against art itself that producer Jack Warner deprived the world of the chance to see and hear the woman who owns this role.

But you need not be deprived; right here is the performance of a lifetime.

If I were marooned on a desert island with only an iPod and a handful of downloads, this is the first one I would pick. When I am ready to die, I hope I know five minutes beforehand, so I can be thrilled one last time as Julie Andrews sings "I Could Have Danced All Night." Like the old RCA Victor logo of a puppy listening to His Master's Voice through the gigantic ear of a gramophone, on this recording I hear a Mistress, and am every time transfixed.

Sony's SBM remastering still does not solve the overly-high recording level distortions, especially in Julie Andrews' songs. Despite the lavish packaging and "bonus track", the original Broadway cast album is still the preferred recording of this classic show. There you will find Julie in much better voice, and the spontaneity of the original cast, fresh from their Broadway debut.

Let's begin by comparing both the Broadway and London scores to the 1964 movie soundtrack-- actually there is no comparison! Both Broadway and London surpass the movie recording by far, only demonstrating the HUGE mistake Hollywood made by not casting Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle. Andrews' purely delightful soprano voice and perfect diction cannot even be compared to Marni Nixon's voice dubbing in the film. In addition, Andrews is British, which is critical to this play, unlike Nixon's purely American accent heard in the film.

As far as Broadway vs London MFL recordings, I would have to agree with the others who are in favor of the "white" Broadway album. While both are very good, the Broadway album does appear to be less "forced" than the London album due, most likely, to the fact that it was recorded before the cast had exhausted themselves singing the score after a few years on the stage. Both Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews appear to be more "natural" in the Broadway album, and Andrews does definitely lose a bit of the innocence in her voice in this recording.

All in all, I would recommend that any MFL collector invest in both the Broadway and London cast recordings to make your own opinions. Yet, for someone looking to buy only one album, I would stick with the Broadway version. In all situations, save yourself some money and skip buying the film soundtrack.

When I got the 1959 London cast version of MFL, I anticipated better sound, as it was in stereo, and perhaps better vocals and orchestral arrangements, as the cast and orchestra had had three years to polish up the score. Boy, was I wrong! The 1959 sound was not noticeably better, even if it was in stereo, but the vocals, particularly Rex Harrison's, and particularly "Why Can't the English?" and "I'm an Ordinary Man," were disappointing and inferior to the originals. Rexy had much more of a singing lilt to his songs on Broadway, while in the London album it sounds as if he is almost reading the lyrics, and without a lot of feeling. Also, if you listen closely to "You Did It" I think he goofs up and transposes two lines or omits one all together, and Robert Coote -- who is good in London -- says it and Rexy simply hisses"Yes" to get back in the song. Also, Leonard Weir, the London Freddie, barely makes his final notes in "On the Street Where You Live", and sounds afraid of the song, while John Michael King, on Broadway, delivers a stirring Irish tenor version to inspire shower singers forever. The London orchestral arrangements were also a disappointment, being less elegant and somewhat faster than the Broadway orchestra's versions. Typical of London versions of "Broadway" shows (i.e., Les Miz), they "Music Halled" things up, and gave the whole production the breezy informal air of a Gilbert and Sullivan, or skiffle tune, show, with much more pronounced Cockney accents. Coote and Stanley Holloway were the only ones who seemed at home in London, 1959. Julie Andrews was okay but lacked pizzazz, and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" lacks something in London. If you are a MFL collector, then buy this album so you can say you have it. But if you only have money enough for one, then get the original Broadway cast album; you definitely will not regret it. Do not be scared off by the fact that it is in mono -- it sounds just as good as stereo, and just as magical, with each playing, as it did 43 years ago. That is the biggest difference between the two versions; the Broadway one is magical, while the London one, after everyone involved spent three years doing the show, is "by the numbers" and plodding. I first heard the Broadway MFL when I was a little boy; my sons now listen to it and I know their children's children will do so as well. I strongly recommend that you and yours do so, too.

My Fair Lady. It's the perfect musical, bursting with charm and lush with melodies. Every song absolutely sparkles and shines. And the 1959 London recording had polish and flair and was generally one of those rarest occasions - a perfect cast album.

Julie Andrews sang the part of Eliza Doolittle like no one else ever sang a part; it is like she was inventing the combination of the arts of singing and acting all at once. Her "I Could Have Danced All Night" is one of the most legendary, airy songs that you could possibly get stuck in your head...and it is such a pleasant visitor that it's hard to turn it away. Rex Harrison has the sort of dignity and absolute diction that is required of Henry Higgins, so much so that he doesn't really sing and you don't really care. There's not an actor on this album who isn't perfect for the part.

And there's not a song worth skipping. Could you miss the haughty Higgins of "Why Can't the English?" or the gutter charm of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" and "With a Little Bit of Luck"? Who really wants to go without "The Rain in Spain" and "The Street Where You Live" and the most delightful "Show Me"? The only tragedy is that there isn't more of this delightful cast on this magnificent CD.

To top things off, it's produced by Goddard Lieberson, who always had a remarkable eye for exactly what would work in a cast recording. You may not see My Fair Lady on stage for a while; but this album will make you feel like it's okay.

Many people seem to prefer the white album-1956 to this London version-1959, but I personally didn't hear much of a difference. I own this copy of My Fair Lady and have borrowed the 1956 version from the library. Perhaps Julie Andrews has less innocence to her voice as another reviewer commented, but her voice is just as lovely as in the earlier version if not more so. Her gourgeous soprano voice soars in 'I Could Have Danced All Night' and she sings 'Just You Wait' with wonderful energy and spirit. Rex Harrison sounds fine when he tries to talk-sing less and brings alive the role of a somewhat rude, grumpy professor just as in the 1956 version. I think Julie Andrews sings 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly' better in this recording then the other version. The rest of this version is great too. I don't see any reason why someone shouldn't like this version. However, Julie Andrews' Broadway version is better than the movie soundtrack of My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn who didn't get to do her own singing and is poorly dubbed by Marni Nixon. My advice is buy this Broadway version, skip the movie soundtrack, and get the movie to enjoy for the acting and costumes NOT the singing.

The problem with this stereo redo is that the cast had spent three years with the show by 1959, and seemed to be singing the songs on autopilot. Granted, Miss Andrews's voice had matured somewhat since the original 1956 session, but she attempted to freshen her performances with talk-singing and variations on the written melodies. "Wouldn't it be Loverly" and "Show Me" ring with stagy embellishments perfectly suited to a live performance, but inappropriate for a recording. A cast recording should preserve the original score as written for posterity. There will always be stage productions for variations on a theme. It's understandable why this recording was made in the first place: Stereo was up-and-coming, and the temptation to improve on perfection was all too great. Still, it was a temptation better left resisted. Remakes rarely match the magic of an original cast recording, made when a show is still new, and its future status -- legend or flop -- is still unknown. This is precisely what makes the original 1956 recording vastly superior to this stereo revamp. It was simply impossible to recapture the prior naievity and freshness. This time, they knew they had a hit on their hands, and the resulting cockiness is evident in every note.