Customer Reviews

Kiss Me, Kate (1959 Recording With Original Cast)

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

 

 

This EMI studio remake has been a source of confusion for buyers ever since it was first issued in 1959. While it does reunite the four principals - Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang - ten years after their original 1949 Broadway recording, there has always seemed to me something a little strained and slightly faux about this entire re-production. On the surface they are closely following the original arrangements, including the replacement singers who assume the minor roles; but the feeling they project simply doesn't match up to the original, which is still available on Sony/Columbia SK-60536.

KISS ME KATE opened on Broadway on Dec 30, 1948 to rave reviews. Columbia records made the original cast recording, but 10 years later Alfred Drake produced this stereo re-make for Capitol using the exact same text as the first album. Again the record opens with the Entr'acte instead of the Overture. And the same trims have been made in the songs. Even conductor Pembroke Davenport is back to conduct the orchestra.

With both available on cd which should you get? Tough call. The performances are a little fresher on the earlier recording but the lush stereo sound and placement help the lyrics come through with even more clarity on this disc. If pushed to choose one over the other I would opt for this edition.

There isn't much to recommend this recording over the 1949 OBC, except that this recording is in stereo and the OBC was mono. In 1959, the original Broadway stars of KISS ME KATE were reunited, to record a studio album of the score in the new stereo format. While time did little to diminish the amazing vocal prowess of Patricia Morison, Alfred Drake, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang, the overall recording is so similar to the OBC that it's almost frightening.

As my fellow reviewer Mark Andrew Lawrence has noted, Pembroke Davenport returned to fill the position of musical director, and the same snips and trims are evident from the original album.

Considering this was Patricia Morison's third KATE album (following the original London cast recording in 1951), her performance as Lilli Vanessi/Katharine is perhaps even slightly better than the OBC. Alfred Drake, who had been a constant presence on Broadway in the ensuing years, is as charming as ever. Lisa Kirk (who by this time, had actually abandoned Broadway for a very successful career as a cabaret singer) likewise finds new depths in revisiting the material.

If you already own the OBC, you'll probably ask why you should buy another recording, but completists will want this CD anyway.

This Original Broadway Cast recording brings back the excellence of the end of the golden age of musical theatre. How can one go wrong with a score by Cole Porter sung by four of the great singing performers of the past--Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk, and Harold Lang? Drake and Morison in particular are in fine voice and recall an era when singers could had finer vocal quality and tone than many out there today. The orchestra under the leadership of Pembroke Davenport is also top-notch. A must-have for all OBC collections.

One of the greatest shows in Broadway history, Kiss Me Kate is complete with witty book, beautiful, memorable score, and a little dose of Shakespeare. A play within a play, Kate is about a once-married couple playing opposite each other in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. I am currently in a community theater production of Kiss Me Kate, and it's a thrill to be in. Cole Porter's score is a dazzling work of art. I own this particular version, and also made an amazing find in Virgin Records (NYC) and found a two-disc recording of the complete Kiss Me Kate. I also recommend the MGM film soundtrack, which I also plan on getting. If you've never heard Kate before, buy this or any other Kiss Me Kate CD!