Customer Reviews

The Merry Widow/The Student Prince

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

 

 

THE STUDENT PRINCE is my favorite operetta by any of the Golden Age operetta composers, and I was extremely eager to hear this version first recorded in 1950 but only now being released on CD coupled with another classic THE MERRY WIDOW. Alas, the film soundtrack with the incomparable Mario Lanza and the Columbia studio cast version with Jan Peerce still outdistance this release by a considerable margin.

The primary problem is the Prince himself sung by Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior. Melchior has all the notes and is in good voice, but his age works against him. There is no zip, no brio to the singing (which sets Lanza apart), and he seems supremely uncomfortable singing these songs in English (where Peerce excels). Peerce also has the luxury of stereo recording and the fact that his recording features the entire score, all benefits that make that release (sadly not on CD yet) the one to own.

Jane Wilson makes a youthful and lovely sounding Kathie while Lee Sweetland adds power and authority to the baritone refrains. It's not the perfect PRINCE, but it's a nice souvenir of the show's highlights.

THE MERRY WIDOW turns out surprisingly to be the better of the two operettas offered on this CD. Kitty Carlisle seems perfect casting as the title lady in question and handles her vocals admirably. Even better is bass-baritone Wilbur Evans who punches out the familiar songs with considerable power. Felix Knight adds whimsy to a couple of numbers.

These recordings, available for the first time in decades, are not the definitive versions of these shows, but it's wonderful to have them available again to familiarize ourselves with melodies which have been around longer than most of us who are eagerly listening to them.

My ancient 78 rpm album of acetate records of this version of The Merry Widow is worn with age and over-use. So am I.

However, this reissue "digitally remastered" on a CD is like a joyous finding of an old treasure. There are many English translations of the orginal German lyrics this fine operetta and, perhaps, each listener has his or her own favorite. This performance happens to be mine. I happen to like Kitty Carlisle in the title role because I've been listening to her sing it for 60 years! I'm delighted this came out digitally remastered as it is. I wish someone could figure out how I can be digitally remastered -- just to keep up with things the way they are.
-o0o-

Decca's old 78 RPM album of THE MERRY WIDOW was recorded shortly after their phenomonally successful OKLAHOMA! set and sounds like a cast album of a Broadway production. Well, why now? After all THE MERRY WIDOW made her North American premiere at the New Amsterdam theatre for 416 performances begining October 21, 1907.

Though this recording is not directly taken from any specific production, two of the male leads Felix Knight and Wilbur Evans had appeared in a 1942 staging at Carnegie Hall which may explain why both men sound so comfortable in their roles. Kitty Carlisle makes a delightful widow, a role she too had played on stage many times. She sings with a straightforward, unforced voice and enunciates the lyrics clearly. The whole performance made for an enjoyable listen when the set was new and the only problem is the occasional bit of surface noise from Decca's well worn master discs.

The 1950 set of highlights from THE STUDENT PRINCE (6 selections plus and Overture and Finale) shows what happens when singers go overboard: Though the rest of the cast is fine, Lauritz Melchior oversings the role to the point where it sounds as if he is mimicing Ezio Pinza in SOUTH PACIFIC.

In short, get this disc for THE MERRY WIDOW but go elsewhere for STUDENT PRINCE.

This album was available on 12" DECCA Lps for years under two separate editions. However, this time the powers that be, used the alternate and expanded takes of at least two of the best cuts. These were too lenthy for the 78's but they pack a wollop and add to the reality of the show. Vilia is expanded and the rousing "In Marsovia". This is the first time these two have seen the light of day since they were recorded . . . so I bet Kitty was surprised when she heard them.

The supporting cast is supperb with Lisette Verea being a standout. The sound is excellent . . . in fact it is such a nice treat to the ears . . .real authentic sound just the way you hear it naturally without hearing the tongue clicks and sibilants that "modern" recordings give you. This is sound as you would naturally hear it. Today's sound is more about technology than music . . . like looking at a painting and seeing all the brush strokes instead of the picture. Great CD. The other side, Student Prince is good except for Lauritz Melchior who is God awful.

it would have been nice if the "Powers That Be", whoever they are, had also put the original album cuts of "In Marsovia", "Down In Dear Marsovia" and "Vilia" on this CD and not just the alternate takes of these 3 songs. The absence of the album cuts of these 3 removes 2 stars from an otherwise great CD.

To begin the new millenium, Decca Broadway re-released a number of their 78-era recordings of American and European Operettas. The chief collaborator and inspiration behind these recordings was Kitty Carlisle Hart. If Ms. Carlisle is remembered today, it is for the joviality she lent such 50s game show classics as To Tell the Truth and What's My Line. Despite her presence on television, however, Ms. Carlisle was a major force behind the American Musical Theatre in the golden era. For example, she was able, among her many accomplishments, to put these excellent recordings on vinyl.

These Operetta recordings pleasantly remind us of two things. First, Kitty Carlisle Hart was herself a gifted performer, a fact that would likely have been lost to history had it not been for records like these. Second, the recordings remind us that the American Operetta, regardless of how quaint it sounds in the Spring Awakening/American Idiot era, is one of the roots of today's American Musical. If you're looking for a great Merry Widow, this isn't your choice. Try the Elizabeth Schwartzkopf/Nicolai Gedda recording on EMI from roughly the same time period. No, the value of this Merry Widow is chiefly historic. Yet don't get me wrong, this is no relic from some lost time. Kitty Carlisle Hart herself is charming enough, at least to this modern pair of ears, to make this CD worth a listen.

The CD is filled out with a 1950 recording of selections from The Student Prince by Sigmund Romberg. The recording features the great Danish Wagnerian Lauritz Melchior. To be honest, he sounds like a Shark in a goldfish bowl. Still, it's a lot of fun.

Good Listening,

KDD

Remarkable how the voices of the Broadway stars and the songs of one's childhood continue to comfort and entertain in a world so vastly different from and often antagonistic toward the romantic, fantasy-like scripts and lyrics of these two decades-ago written operettas. They have as much relationship to current Broadway musicals as Brad Pitt to Robert Taylor, and yet even those unfamiliar with the composers and the entire genre will find themselves "humming that tune", melody after melody. There is, despite a period of the greatest cultural changes in the history of man, a praiseworthy timelessness to the contents of this CD.

a wonderful piece of music beautifully sung but lacking the brio of earlier productions.with the type of musical comedy now composed it is doubtful if it can be achieved....c.harris bought through amazon