Customer Reviews

My Fair Lady (1997 Studio Cast)

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

 

 

I have long wondered why a complete recording of this great musical masterpiece was missing- now I found it, and what a treat it is.

I really like Andrews and the guy who plays Higgins in the Audrey movie (NOTE: Audrey does not sing). Anyways, this recording is great. I only listen to this one now, because it's complete.

I thought Andrews was kind of see through in the beginning as even then she sounded good. In the beginning on this disc Tinuke Olafimihan is terrible, just terrible, but is that not how the role is supposed to be? 'Just You Wait' is a real treat here. It sounds like an angry woman who can't speak proper English. Then In 'The Rain in Spain' wow- what a transformation into a beautiful voice. She really sings the role properly. Transforming from an ugly voice, and boy is it ugly, to a beautiful one...as the role calls for.

The rest of the cast is quite good. Charming performances. Henry Wickham is good as Freddy...quite a nice performance.

The real star here is Alec McCowen as Henry Higgins.. phenomenal.. What a great performace. My absolute favorite. Great performance, both vocally and acting wise. Great performance here.

It's a good performance here. I prefer the Eliza (overall) in the movie and Julie Andrews...however, the completeness here makes up for any performance shortages.

I never listened to this CD I just went on amazon.com to find out I loved the samples it didn't sound like Rex Harrison or Julie Andrews or Audrey Heypurn but it was great I was trying to find other records to this amazing musical and here it was the 1997 cast is sooooooooooooooooooo good! I recommend you buy this CD it is truly amazing!

I'm a BIG fan of My Fair Lady. I almost did not buy this because it cost a lot more than most My Fair Lady recordings. Well was wrong or what? This album is the BEST recording of My Fair Lady ever made. It does not have big star names like Julie Andrews or Rex Harrison but it doesent need them. The music is somewhat diferent from the original but it is also a lot better. The singer / actors are soooo god you may just forget about Julie Andrews. Buy this recording!!! Trust me!

After listening to the OLC, I was severly disappointed because the guy playing Freddy wasn't right for the part and Julie Andrews kept going flat. I ordered this one and I absolutely loved it. Hats off to Tinuke Olafimihan and Henry Wickham for outstanding vocal performances, although she sounds a little reserved in some dialogue parts. Alec McCowen was good, and was vocally very similar to Rex Harrison. To answer the previous reviewer, yes, this does have the "Get Me to the Church..." dance music. It was quite unexpected. The Movie is still my favorite, but for a recording from the play, none can hold a candle to this one.

The only reason I bought this version is because it has the best Pickering. Those quick stacatto string orchestrations behind the words "YOOOooooouuuuuuu...DID IT!!!" are my favorite. But every other version makes me cringe because the Pickerings in those versions aren't anywhere in the relm of hitting the right pitches. At least this Michael Denison comes close to the right notes and doesn't distract me too much from enjoying the strings. I know, I know, silly reason to most people, but I REALLY like that song and I'd like the melodic line to be SUNG CORRECTLY.

I have long been a fan of John Yap's mission to make COMPLETE recordings of the greatest musicals. My Fair Lady is surely one of the greatest musicals ever written, if not the greatest, so it clearly deserves a complete recording, every bit of the music and even some sections of dialogue. What was recorded was well chosen and this recording gives us a much more complete My Fair Lady than any other, just as Jay Record's recordings of other classic musicals do. With all that said, I just can't warm to the cast that much, which is sometimes a problem with this labels recordings. When they pull in seasoned Broadway/West End performers like Kim Criswell, Debbie Gravitte, Judy Kaye, etc the recordings shine. This recording is just not well cast. Alec McCowen, I fear was cast because he could sound like Rex Harrison, not exactly singing, not exactly talking. Tinuke Olafimihan, who was wonderful as Maria on this same labels superb West Side Story, seems out of sorts as Eliza. She doesn't have the grit for the early scenes, doesn't have the luster in the voice for the transformation and just doesn't act the part well, vocally. For my money Julie Andrews (of course) and Christine Andreas are by far the two best Elizas on recordings, both of which unfortunately are far from complete. Bob Hoskins is a major disappointment. He doesn't seem to be able to sing well enough to hurl his two big songs into the audience. I would suspect that both Ms. Olafimiham and Mr. Hoskins would have been much more enjoyable if seen in a theater. The rest of the cast gets the job done, and the conductor John Owen Edwards really knows how to make these shows soar (does anyone realize how important it is to have a great conductor for a cast album to sizzle with excitement? With all the reservations stated, I will continue to provide room for this recording in my collection because the completeness really gives you a feel for how the show plays. I pulled it out for a 1 hr trip to Tampa Fl to see the Cameron McIntosh My Fair Lady production that is just begining to tour the states this year. It prepared me to get right into the show, which I loved. 3 stars, wish the cast was better so I could give it more. Check out some of the other Jay Records complete studio recordings, most of them are better than this one. Especially recommended are this label's West Side Story, Wonderful Town, Pajama Game, On the Town, Sweet Charity, Guys and Dolls, and South Pacific.

Does anyone know if this album has the complete dance music for "Get Me to the Church on Time" on it? Having been in a production of "My Fair Lady", I've always been disappointed that the wild and rousing dance was not included on any recording. Is this the recording for me?

Having first fallen in love with My Fair Lady after watching the movie and adoring the Original Broadway Cast Recording, I've tried to take a listen to every version of the musical I could get my hands on. Of course, I was thrilled to find this complete cast recording, but was immediately disappointed upon hearing it.

Tinuke Olafimihan as Eliza Doolittle is my biggest complaint. Not only is her voice not as crystalline as one would expect Eliza's character to be, but she is simply much too old for the role. Eliza's age was written to be around twenty; Olafimihan sounds some ten years older than that. Her vocal skills are impressionable, but her voice is just not one befitting Eliza.

Eliza's father is almost just as terrible. Through half the record he rasps and shouts in a poor attempt to pass it off as singing.

Alec McCowen is the only shining gem on this CD. He does talk-sing like Rex Harrison (although not as much), and the quality of their voices are quite similar, but McCowen does a marvelous job of reinterpreting the character of Professor Higgins and making it his own.

For almost $40, it isn't worth it to purchase this recording, unless you were looking for a recording that includes incidental music rather than to enjoy stunning vocal performances. If you can borrow this CD instead or manage to find it at half its retail price, listening to McCowen as Higgins is well worth it. However, if you were looking for an well-balanced, strong vocal cast, purchase the Original Broadway or London Cast recordings with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews.