Customer Reviews

Paul Robeson Live at Carnegie Hall

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It can be reasonably argued that Paul Robeson has one of the finest voices ever committed to record. In addition to the sheer magnitude of his voice, the subtely of his elocution flatters the English language to unprecedented effect. Any serious singer professing to have mastered vowel sounds should study Robeson's performances carefully.

In speech and in song, Robeson could effectively convey tenderness, outrage, despair, and hope because these sentiments were genuine. Utterly lacking were the musical/theatrical artifices many celebrated opera stars employ routinely to inject their performances with something resembling emotion.

This live recording from Carnegie Hall may be his most satisfying. He selected a songlist encompassing spirituals, folk-songs, hymns, English settings of melodies by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Moussourgsky, Smetana, and Dvorak, as well as the valediction from his celebrated stage portrayal of Shakespeare's Othello. At age 60, Robeson's voice had lost a negligible degree of its thundering resonance. It remained as exceptional/incomparable an instrument as it had been in its prime, and seemed to ring with even greater authority.

Robeson's career fluorished before the introduction of most modern recording techniques. This album is superior to many of his others in terms of fullness of sound, steadiness of recording rate, and unobtrusiveness of hiss. However, it would benefit enormously from remastering. This complaint is hardly material to any assessment of this album's merit. It is, quite simply, an all-too-brief glimpse into the soul of a man whose mind, voice, and social conscience can never be extinguished or surpassed.

This version is now redundant as Vanguard has released a version in 2005 with the original album cover for the first time and with new sleeve notes. The sound is also better. I purchased it from amazon.co.uk.

Almost all Carnegie Hall recordings are good because the venue delivers excellent accoustic effect and this one is no exception. This is a good recording for it loyally captured Paul's live performance of songs and monologues. After 12 years of its first CD version release and 26 years of his death in 1976, I would suggest that this album be remastered with today's technology to further restore the fidelity. There should also be more comprehensive liner notes to the tracks. The "Chinese Children's Song" (track 6) seems to be arbitrarily named. This popular Mandarin folk song was written by Wang Luo-Bin in China more than half a century ago and the name should be "In That Faraway Place". Jose Carreras has also recorded this song and included it using the correct name "In That Faraway Place" as an extra bonus (track 14) for the Asian version of his CD album "Passion" (1996). Since this song is so much liked by the Chinese, Jose has been performing this song as an encore piece in his recitals to the Chinese audience. Although Jose Carreras performed better in this song, Paul Robeson was probably the very first to introduce it to the West. This historical recording is certainly an evidence.

The 22 songs and monologues represent the best of Paul Robeson, and caused me to become reacquainted with a man of exceptional quality I valued as a child. This is a live recording from Carnegie Hall, May 9, 1958. Hidden between the variety of lyrics in several languages is Robeson's life. "My Curly Head Baby" might have been sung by his daddy, a former slave. Perhaps Robeson remembered his mother who died in a fire when he was young vibrating with Bach's "Christ lag in Todesbanden". The actor Robeson speaks in his dynamic voice with the last monologue from Shakespeare's "Othello". The civil rights leader, thrilled the audience nearly a 1/2 century ago as it will listeners today, concludes the concert with "All Men Are Brothers". As the writer of the notes that come with the CD says, "A song to him must be a genuine human experience." Everytime I listen to this CD, it's an unforgetable experience repeated time and again!

This recording was made after one of Paul Robeson's most difficult periods. His stage presence comes through on the album, if that can even be possible! By this time, Robeson had made "Ol' Man River" his own with lyrics he had added to reflect his personal struggles. The best tribute to him for his "editing" of this song came with the 1994 Broadway revival of "Showboat" wherein Michel Bell (singing in a slightly higher key than Robeson's depth-charged barritone) ends the show with Robeson's own words "I'll keep laughing instead of crying; I must keep fighting until I'm dying." (Kudos to Hal Prince and Michel Bell for that tribute). This is the version that brings down the house on this album. Many other wonderful songs, including "Curly Headed Baby", which I sing to my son every night. Another must for your collection.

Of course his baritone is fabulous. His rendition of Joe Hill is unforgettable - this was a song he sang for the builders' labourers on the site of the Sydney Opera House in around 1969 -also Old Man River, which he made his own. He should have sung this in the film of the musical Showboat but he was passed over for an inferior voice by the producers because he was a member of the Communist Party. A pity. He also sings some gospel on this CD, I'm not mad about religious songs but if you like them then you'll love this.

This concert came along in 1958, when Paul's passport was restored and he was allowed to travel and make a living again, after several years of being on the Communist blacklist. His joy at performing once more for his traditional audience comes through in every track. That same year, he did a concert at his brother's church in Harlem, and when Columbia Records issued that one, it had another winner. Not long after those shows, Paul went overseas for five years, suffering a health crisis that brought him back to America in 1963, broken down and unable to perform consistently. He spent his last decade or so of life on the sidelines, living quietly with his sister in Philadelphia. This concert, then, along with the one at Mother Zion Church, is one of the final triumphs of one of the most interesting American lives. We know now that Paul's stubborn support of the Soviet Union in the Stalin era was a tragic flaw in his character, but he had magnificent gifts of voice and of acting presence, and had he come to the attention of audiences in 1957 instead of 1927, he would likely have earned millions as a singer and actor, and his political and social radical activism would have been a much smaller impediment to his career. If you already own some Robeson recordings, add this one because it represents him at the beginning of what was then "old age." If you own none, this concluding album is actually a fine starting point, because his earlier work suffers a bit from the primitive recording technology of the '30's and '40's.

If one takes into account the time at which this recording was made, and the surrounding events affecting his life, one can truly appreciate the significance of this album. Experiencing oppression not only from the U.S. but later the Canadian government to travel abroad, Robeson was impeded, but not prevented from singing in the name of peace, human rights, and the rights of the common worker. Victory was at hand when on May, 9 1958, the date of this recording, Paul Robeson announced that his passport battle had been won. This is the recording of a triumphant gentleman, a loving, ecstatic audience, and very importantly, a talented and very attuned pianist (Alan Booth). With this in mind one can more greatly appreciate how special this concert was. The magic of this recording trancends Robeson's impeccable singing. It is the concert as a whole that makes it so spectacular. Listen to 'Joe Hill', think of Robeson's battle, and hear why it is so powerful. Or listen to 'O No John', Alan Booth pounding the keys on the last notes, and the audience's response. Every person in Carnegie Hall was riveted. Well worth the price, and an uplifting experience.

Wonderful record of a thrilling performance by one of a kind performer. A treasure to keep and pass on to further generations

This is a wonderful concert given by Robeson at Carnegie Hall in 1958. He sings gospel songs and a little opera and everything inbetween.