Leroy Anderson: Orchestral Music, Vol. 5

William Dazeley (Performer), Leroy Anderson (Composer), Leonard Slatkin (Conductor), BBC Concert Orchestra (Orchestra), Kim Criswell (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: William Dazeley, Kim Criswell
• Orchestra: BBC Concert Orchestra
• Conductor: Leonard Slatkin
• Composer: Leroy Anderson
• Audio CD (November 18, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos American
• ASIN: B001HBX8TG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,615 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leroy Anderson: Broadway Composer, December 29, 2008

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leroy Anderson: Orchestral Music, Vol. 5 (Audio CD)

Few people remember that America's iconic light music composer also composed for the Broadway stage. He actually wrote music for three shows but only one of them ever made it to the stage. The first was for 'My Sister Eileen' but it was scuttled in favor of a new version done by Leonard Bernstein and the team of Comden and Green: 'Wonderful Town.' That score is lost. In 1961 Anderson wrote three songs for a production of a musical adaptation of 'Gone with the Wind' that never came to fruition. But in 1958 he wrote the score to a Walter and Jean Kerr musical 'Goldilocks'. And this CD contains the music that was written for that production. The show itself was only mildly successful, running 161 performances at a time when the Broadway musical was dominated by 'My Fair Lady', 'West Side Story' and 'The Music Man.'

As in the earlier discs in this series, Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Concert Orchestra play their hearts out, and this time they are joined for several songs by baritone William Dazeley and soprano Kim Criswell. We hear eleven numbers from the musical itself as well as two orchestral arrangements later made by Anderson for independent performance: 'Lady in Waiting Waltz' and 'Shall I Take My Heart', the former originally an extended ballet in the show and the latter a ballad from the show. It must be said that this score is not a complete success, but it certainly has some high points: 'Lazy Moon', 'The Pussy Foot', 'Who's Been Sitting in my Chair' (deliciously sung by Criswell) and 'I Never Know When'. All have the expected Andersonian charm.

Filling out the disc is a brilliantly orchestrated set of six Christmas carols arranged for woodwinds which originally appeared on a 1955 LP and which also contained a set for brass and another for strings. They are here played in freshly recorded and beautifully played performances by the Slatkin and the winds of the BBC Concerto Orchestra.

Scott Morrison

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exciting new recording of Anderson's "Goldilocks", April 11, 2010

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leroy Anderson: Orchestral Music, Vol. 5 (Audio CD)

I never thought I'd see the day when a new album of selections from Leroy Anderson's 1958 GOLDILOCKS would come on to the market. The original Broadway cast album has long been prized by the serious show music collectors, despite (or probably because of) the show's various trevails and problem's during it's troubled original New York run. Elaine Stritch and Don Ameche starred, playing a bickering actress and director at the height of the silent cinema. Despite the show's title it had absolutely nothing to do with the fairytale of Goldilocks, except in one scene where Stritch sang a number called "Who's Been Sitting in My Chair?" and danced with a man in a bear-suit.

Naxos has now given the show a fresh new dusting, with this exciting release (the fifth entry in their series of Leroy Anderson retrospectives). Leonard Slatkin leads the BBC Concert Orchestra. It's never going to replace the original Broadway album purely because this CD focuses more on the dance and ballet arrangements from the show--only two of the songs actually feature singers (Kim Criswell stars in the Stritch role of Maggie; and William Dazeley is the flustered director). Instead, let's regard this as a supplement to the Broadway album. It's a thrill hearing the original Overture (although I do miss the sensational "I Never Know When" section, which never fails to give me chills).

A real thrill for longtime GOLDILOCKS fans.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, February 22, 2009

By 

Richard Reams "Sondheimaniac" (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leroy Anderson: Orchestral Music, Vol. 5 (Audio CD)

Goldilocks is one of my favorite forgotten musicals from the 1950s, and Kim Criswell as a performer whom I like quite a lot. So this CD seemed like a no-brainer. Although it was nice to hear the music with a larger orchestra than found on the original cast recording, vocals appear on only three selections! I am most disappointed that the show's most memorable number, "I Never Know When," is only instrumental. I wanted to hear Kim Criswell sing it! (If you don't have the Broadway original cast recording starring Elaine Stritch and Don Ameche, by all means get it.) As for the Christmas carols, the arrangements are undistinguished. If you did not know who had arranged them, you'd never know it was Leroy Anderson.