Lerner & Loewe: Songbook for Orchestra

Frederick Loewe (Artist), Erich Kunzel (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 25, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000003D0E
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,735 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight - The March To Welcome Guenevere - Et Al.

2. Wouldn't It Be Loverly - With A Little Bit Of Luck - Et Al.

3. The Night They Invented Champagne - Waltz At Maxim's - Et Al.

4. They Call The Wind Mariah - I Still See Elisa - Et Al.

5. Sword Dance - Down On MacConnachy Square - Et Al.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Successful Sequel, August 2, 2005

By 

David A. Kemp (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lerner & Loewe: Songbook for Orchestra (Audio CD)

This CD is a follow-up to the Rodgers & Hammerstein Songbook for Orchestra (1991) from the same team. It is a thoroughly successful sequel: I believe anyone who enjoyed the R&H will enjoy this one as well. If I am very slightly less enthusiastic about this one than the R&H, it's not because of any shortcoming of Kunzel, the Cincinnati Pops, or Telarc, all of whom are at the top of their form. Rather it's because Frederick Loewe, for all his undoubted expertise, is not quite in the same class as a composer with Richard Rodgers. But that's asking a lot, since Rodgers was the American musical theater's leading light. Lerner & Loewe's musicals were second only to R&H's during the golden age of the American musical, and their My Fair Lady is by any standard one of the best musicals ever staged. If Loewe did not create as many unforgettable numbers as Rodgers, he nevertheless wrote many delightful songs and much enjoyable music. This CD features five orchestral suites, ranging in length from 9 to 18 minutes (total playing time 68:06), from Brigadoon (1947), Paint Your Wagon (1951), My Fair Lady (1956), Gigi (film 1958; staged 1973), and Camelot (1960). The arrangements (all but one by Robert Russell Bennett) are expert. The performances are masterly (if perhaps lacking in just a tad of the infectious brio that the same team brought to R&H). And Telarc's robust sound (recorded 1993) would be hard to improve on. Warmly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Listening, December 4, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (San Diego california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lerner & Loewe: Songbook for Orchestra (Audio CD)

Some of the nicest and nearly forgotten music (Paint your Wagon & Brigadoon) is nicely compiled here. It will make you want to listen to the full soundtracks again, but for a quick tour of Lerner & Lowe, it is very nice.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't it be lovely?, September 26, 2005

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lerner & Loewe: Songbook for Orchestra (Audio CD)

This CD represents some of the best of Broadway done in a great pops style. There are five orchestral suites, one each for the following: 'Camelot', 'My Fair Lady', 'Gigi', 'Paint Your Wagon', and 'Bridgadoon'. They are all arranged for orchestra by Robert Russell Bennett, save that for 'Paint Your Wagon', which was arranged by Cincinnati Pops Orchestra director Erich Kunzel.

The works of Lerner and Loewe were a mainstay of Broadway for decades in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, but it was during the late 50s and early 60s that their true glory days took hold. The presidential term of John F. Kennedy gained the nickname 'Camelot' in part because of the influence of the Lerner and Loewe production going on at the start. The songs contained in these suites are instantly recognisable by many, as the Lerner and Loewe songs have become so well known that many know the songs better than the musicals or the composers from which they come. 'I Could Have Danced All Night' and 'Wouldn't It Be Lovely' come from 'My Fair Lady', 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls' from 'Gigi' - these are but the most of famous of the familiar tunes.

There are a lot of pieces here that the listener will appreciate, both in remembering old pieces or in learning new nuances to the tunes.

This particular disc by Telarc has a feature called 'Spatializer', which gives a three-dimensional quality to the sterophonic sound, enhancing regular players and working well with surround-sound systems, too. The Cincinnati Pops are expert at this kind of music, having produced dozens of CDs of popular music and modern composers of musicals, film music, and pops-oriented major compositions.

This is a fun disc to have.