Customer Reviews

Hansel & Gretel/ Alice in Wonderland

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This is another excellent remastering of early Jane Powell recordings from producer Bernard Taylor and the folks at Britain's FLARE Records (who earlier this year released A SONG IN THE AIR). The new CD is a pairing of an adaptation of Humperdinck's HANSEL AND GRETEL with an original production of ALICE IN WONDERLAND written especially for MGM's splendid young songbird. The only minor caveat is one that applies more to an adult listener than to the original recordings' obvious target audience of children -- the subordinate and fragmentary nature of the vocal music, which plays second fiddle throughout both stories to the narratives. Nevertheless, Miss Powell delivers appealingly as singer, actress, and, in the ALICE, narrator. (In HANSEL AND GRETEL, the narration is provided by the redoubtable Basil Rathbone, who doubles as a surprisingly convincing and malevolent witch). In HANSEL, the soprano's most endearing moment is her dance instructress duet with mezzo Rene Saxon, "Brother, Come and Dance With Me...". In ALICE, her best musical offering is a winsome and lyrical rendition of the Mock Turtle's song, "Will you Walk a Little Faster..." All in all then, another splendid aural reminder (as if one were necessary) that when it came to song and dance and charm and prettiness, nobody on screen ever did it better than Jane Powell.

Every once in a while, something absolutely delightful and unexpected comes into our lives. Such is the case with this set of fairy tales sung and acted by a very young and effervescent Jane Powell. She thrilled us in a string of movie musicals in Hollywood's Golden Age and now she charms us again with these two timeless stories that activate the childhood innocence in all of us. Her voice is irrisistible at even this early stage and her characterizations are enchanting. Humperdink's music is retained for "Hansel and Gretel" and Carmen Dragon supplies original music for "Alice in Wonderland." Basil Rathbone leads a well-trained cast to round out the festivities. Originally recorded in 1946 and 1948, it is a joy to have these two archival recordings with us again enhanced by the miracle of modern technology and digital re-mastering. They sound as good as new--maybe better. So gather the children 'round and enjoy the nostalgia of these two perennial favorites.

Another musical gem from Flare Records(UK). Vintage performances affectionately preserved for the future.

One of my favorite 78 rpm record albums from the late forties remains the 1946 Carmen Dragon adaptation of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel starring Jane Powell and Basil Rathborne as the narrator and witch. Yes, I said the witch! (And no, I was not around in the forties.) Recorded for children, the first side of the 12" records finds Rathborne defining an operetta and the various musical themes belonging to each character or situation. It reminds me of school trips to symphony halls. Producer Bernard Taylor has not only included Alice in Wonderland from 1948 to this release, he has also located excellent sound sources creating much better sonics than his other Jane Powell projects. (These albums were also released on LP in 1949.)Rene Saxon, the singing voice of Hansel, joins Jane in the lively "Brother, come and dance with me..." number that still excites the listener over fifty years later. There is also the lovely prayer, "Music of the Angels", and a rousing Finale. Then, the last side includes a reprise of the opera's themes. Rathborne is quite effective as the old fashioned witch although I find the mother, as played by Lurene Tuttle, even more frightening when she punishes her children by telling them to go into the dangerous woods to "pick berries". Jane Powell turns in an excellent performance as Gretel and matches that in the Alice operetta. This score was composed by Carmen Dragon and is just as entertaining as Hansel and Gretel. However, it pales by comparison to the 1947 Eva Le Gallienne adaptation with music by Richard Addinsell which shines in its humor and musical compositions. (That 78 rpm record set from RCA was made available on CD. Look for it and buy it quickly!) The packaging for this release of Hansel and Gretel/Alice is not as generous as Flare's other projects but there is at least one photo of Jane dressed as Gretel. Here's another wonderful recording for which we should be grateful to England's fifty year policy for public domain. Our own record companies continue to show no interest in our heritage.

This is a blast from my childhood! I remember listening to this JANE POWELL IN "HANSEL & GRETEL" as a 78 RPM.
record set. My mother had it. It must have dated back to HER childhood since this was issued in the late 1940's. I remember it distinctly. It was a deluxe set that included four records in brown holding sleeves. I used to listen to the records on my little record player that had 33/45/78 speeds. I remember the 78 RPMS as being very hard and heavy.
I was delighted to find this on Amazon.com (and on CD no less!) The sound quality is excellent. I received this today and I listened to this today. It brought back many memories! "HANSEL & GRETEL" is wonderful fun, with
Jane Powell as Gretel, the great Basil Rathbone as Narrator/Witch, and music from Humperdink's operetta.
As a bonus, you also get Carmen Dragon's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy "ALICE IN WONDERLAND", reimagined as an operetta
for Jane Powell as a singing, super-soprano Alice. Many of the poems from Carroll's book are set to music, which Powell/Alice sings. I'm not sure that "ALICE" makes as good an operetta as "HANSEL & GRETEL", but this was undoubtedly created as a perfect showcase for Powell's high and clear soprano. It's a breezy adaptation; but most of the adventures from the book are included (albeit extremely abridged) here. That's no small feat; considering the running time for the "ALICE" section is around 30 minutes. The entire CD running time is around 65 minutes. This CD is a very special treat.