Customer Reviews

Lawrence Tibbett: From Broadway to Hollywood

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

 

 

The baritone Lawrence Tibbett was one of the first American artists (with Rosa Ponselle) to gain international fame and acknowledgement in opera. This disc documents his great artistry very well, although it does lack represantation of his great operatic roles.
Tibbett gives every song and aria his whole heart and mind. He may not always sing perfect techniquely, but the truthfulness and drama Tibbett brings to being is superb and has in my opinion never quite been equaled.
This record encompasses all Porgy and Bess recordings he made as well as some very impressive portrayals of ballads and songs. I would recomend this disc not only to the collector but to all who can tolerate a bit of surface noise inorder to hear one of the greatest singers of all time :

Simply put, this is a treasured addition to my diverse listening library. A bit of like studying "the classics" for musical theater buffs.

Tibbett had the talent and the way to express it. Would that I had been around to have enjoyed it in person. Who is out there today????????

I ordered this for the one song I heard on the radio, Going Home, familiar to most from Dvorak's New World Symphony. Unfortunately it was not possible to listen to samples, and, except for two or three others which are not painful to listen to, the rest of the album is rather terrible. The songs from Porgy and Bess are marred by what must be the most grating soprano voice I have ever heard recorded, and a big chunk of the album is devoted to some obscure Broadway production which is justly obscure--some of the most boring music I have ever heard sung. The pity is that Going Home is at the end, so I can't just listen to that one and cut the rest off, so it's either fast forward through the whole album to get to it, or never listen to it or download it on my computer and pick out that song. But I am not one to listen to music at the computer.