Customer Reviews

The Leroy Anderson Collection (2 discs)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had no idea this two disc set of Leroy Anderson compositions conducted by the composer himself had been reissued. Enjoy "light classics"? Then GRAB IT! It is the most comprehensive collection of his works and considering the age of these vintage stereo recordings the sound is just remarkable. It's all here folks: "Sleigh Ride", "The Synchopated Clock", "Bugler's Holiday", "Fiddle Faddle", and all those light classics made famous by Arthur Feidler and the Boston Pops. Plus the ones you may never have heard, all equally creative and fun.

One comment: The last two items on disc one and the last six on disc two (the Scottish and Irish suites) are recorded in mono and predate the other recordings. But don't let that stop you. They are clean recordings all the same. 47 tracks. Over two hours of music. For lovers of light classics in general and Leroy Anderson in particular, you can't get a better collection than this.

(Amazon.com also features another single disc recording on MCA of these original Decca recordings but with only twenty tracks and priced higher, why bother? This is the set to go with!)

I have known for quite a few years that Leroy Anderson had recorded most of his music (with a studio pick-up orchestra), but it wasn't until I heard these two discs that I realized just how fine a conductor he was. No other conductor, even Arthur Fiedler or Frederick Fennell, ever matched the bravura and "rightness" that Anderson brought to these encore pieces. Of all the many versions of "Sleigh Ride" I own, this is the recording that makes my jaw drop (and probably the fastest "Ride" one is apt to take). True, the sound is a bit dry and "studio-ish", but that only serves to bring out the detail and snap of each of these works.
I can't ever imagine my collection without these near-perfect discs. Grab 'em while you can!

Note for note, penny for penny, the biggest music bargain around! All the charming, sprightly and downright beautiful pop classic compositions of this foremost American composer in one CD set, all beautifully arranged and played by a full symphony orchestra. There's too much music here to play it all at once, but if you listen to a sequence of 4 or 5 of them, you will just be sitting there smiling and wanting more.

Anderson was something of a genius who could probably have written more "serious" music, but he chose to use his considerable talents to give us these lovely little musical portraits. If you are familiar with only his most popular tunes, such as "Sleigh Ride", "Blue Tango", "The Waltzing Cat" or "The Typewriter", there will soon be at least a dozen more which will tickle your fancy and have you humming and picturing the subject at hand in your mind. Anyone who likes the classics or pop music or anything in between should have this collection.

As a music lover, I've had a long and happy relationship with the works of Leroy Anderson. As a kid, my parents would take me to the historic Emery Theatre in Ohio, for double features of Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Abbott & Costello - you get the idea. During intermission, a skilled player would take over the helm of the mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ, and favor us all with all and sundry selections. One night, however, a certain piece really grabbed me, and I asked my father, a seasoned singer, what it was. "Why, that's called Serenata - isn't it great?" I asked dad who wrote it, and ran off to the library the next day, in search of Anderson albums. I was 8 years old, and my musical tastes were about to grow up.

Imagine my delight some years later, when I found this CD double set - all of the greats, as well as some real rarities, conducted by the master himself. One couldn't ask for more. The selections are all digitally remastered Decca releases, and the work MCA has done to restore them is pristine. Forty-seven pieces altogether make up the collection, and there isn't a lull in the crowd. Standards such as "Sleigh Ride", "Sandpaper Ballet", "The Syncopated Clock" and "Bugler's Holiday" are included, plus the often looked over delights, such as "Jazz Legato", "Town House Maxixe", "China Doll", and "Horse & Buggy". The list just goes on and on - were I to delve into each number, we'd be here for ages. All just great.

If you're even slightly interested in Leroy Anderson's work, make this purchase without hesitation - at this price, it's foolish to pass up on such an offer. And if you already happen to be a fan, BUY IT NOW. This set stands as a wonderful testimony to Anderson's grace and gifts as both a composer and conductor - it's nothing short of a tribute to his legacy. I have a lot to thank Leroy Anderson for in regards to the music I'm so passionate about today - his music opened new doors for me, and I'll always be so grateful for it. I'm so happy that this collection is available, knowing that it will surely do the same for others.

I first heard Leroy Anderson's 'Bugler's Holiday' in 1955 (monaural version of course) and thought it was one of the best pieces of music I had ever heard. I still think it is. The version on this album is the 1959 stereo version and due to re-mastering, it's amazingly gppd as os the complete 2 disc set. The albums show even though he was a light classical composer, he had a great sense of humour (The Waltzing Cat among others). This is the most complete Leroy Anderson set I've heard. A good recording and the price couldn't be better. Get ready for a couple of hours of relaxation with one of the truly great composers.

Leroy Anderson as great as I remembered him.

What a talent,a composer,an arranger and a conductor of flawless orchestral performance.

Back when films had story lines and writers that could develop story lines,folks like Leroy Anderson added the punch with dramatic accompaniment.

Today overbearing special effects ,no story,no writing and a loud blasting cacophony of electric sounds damages our hearing.

Leroy entertained his audience as the many hit recordings which he sold by the millions attest.

Before and after Rock,Rap and other forgettable noise Leroy Anderson introduces us all to the light classical. Every cut on this CD lives up to my highest expectations.

I wanted to submit my review as one who's heard this collection as well as Slatkin's RCA BMG recording and subsequent Naxos volumes of Anderson's complete works. The sound is typical of US Decca in the 50s, mediocre but clear and for the most part in stereo. The pickup orchestra recorded in NY's 30th street studios is outstanding.

What stands out in this recording, are Anderson's spritely tempos and the taut, perfectly American jazz inflected performance styles of the musicians. I enjoy Slatkin's recordings from St. Louis on the RCA-BMG and England (BBC Concert Orch.) on the Naxos. The St. Louis Sym. plays with a beautiful polish and glow, but not the kind of snap and crackle you hear from the NY musicians on this Decca release. If you really love Anderson's music as I do, then spring for inexpensive set along with the Naxos recordings for modern digital sound.

In the late 1940s, as the Big Band Sound that dominated the juke boxes, airwaves, and record sales throughout the late 1930s and most of the 1940s began to give way to the rise of the solo vocalist, a new form of orchestra, some heavy on the strings, also appeared on the scene, led by the likes of Mantovani, Nelson Riddle, Hugo Winterhalter and, of course, Leroy Anderson And His "Pops" Concert Orchestra.

His music is eternal, and in this 2-CD set you get virtually everything he put out on disc in that period, including the only four that made it onto the Pop singles charts. The problem is (for collectors of original hits anyway), as a few other reviewers have pointed out, most of the tracks are re-recorded stereo versions, cut in and around 1959. Faithful to the originals almost to the note, they are nevertheless not the ones we heard in the early 1950s.

All this is detailed in the wonderful liner notes under the heading "Catalog of Leroy Anderson Works and His Decca Recordings" which, for every tune included, contains four columns headed "Date Completed" - "Date First performed" - "Date mono Recording" - "Date stereo Recording" compiled in 1988 by Kurt Anderson, who also provides notes on each selection. These follow five full pages of background notes written by Eleanor Anderson and two more pages by Edward Jablonski, co-author of "The Gershwin Years" and author of "Harold Arlen: Happy With The Blues," "The Encyclopedia Of American Music" and "Gershwin." The AAD sound quality is perfect.

For the record, the four that made the charts for Anderson were: The Syncopated Clock, a # 12 in the spring of 1951 b/w The Waltzing Cat on Decca 16005 (the A-side became the theme for TV's "The Late Show"); Blue Tango, a # 1 in December 1951/January 1952 (it spent 5 weeks at the top spot) b/w Belle Of The Ball on Decca 27875; A Christmas Festival, a # 22 for the Christmas 1952 season (a medley arranged by Anderson of Joy To The World/Deck The Halls/God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen/Good King Wenceslas/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/The First Noel/Silent Night/Jingle Bells/O Come, All Ye Faithful - taking up both sides of Decca 9-16041); and The Typewriter, a # 21 in November 1953 b/w The Girl In Satin on Decca 28881.

It would be nice for collectors to see those original sides presented in one compilation.

This is a fine collection of Leroy Anderson's music. These are mostly stereo re-recordings, by Leroy Anderson and orchestra. The sound quality of most of them is excellent. The original, familiar recordings of Blue Tango, The Typewriter, etc. do not seem to be the ones included here. Instead, the collection includes later, stereo recordings of the same compositions. I was disappointed by that because, in some cases, the later recordings seem to lack the spirit of the originals.

The best purchase I ever made! The CDs are awesome. I listen to them all the time.