Puttin' on the Ritz: The Great Hollywood Musicals

Arthur Schwartz (Composer), Irving Berlin (Composer), Harold Arlen (Composer, Performer), Harry Warren (Composer), Nacio Herb Brown (Composer), Richard Rodgers (Composer), Don Raye (Composer), Con / Magidson, Herb Conrad (Composer), George Gershwin (Composer), Cole Porter (Composer), Jerome Kern (Composer), Ralph Rainger (Composer), Erich Kunzel (Conductor), Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (Orchestra), Lee Roy Reams (Performer), Jeremy Davenport (Performer), Jerry Hadley (Performer), Frederica Von Stade (Performer), Bobby Short (Performer), Leslie Uggams (Performer), The Singing Hoosiers (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Harold Arlen, Lee Roy Reams, Jeremy Davenport, Jerry Hadley, Frederica Von Stade, et al.
• Orchestra: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
• Conductor: Erich Kunzel
• Composer: Arthur Schwartz, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, Nacio Herb Brown, et al.
• Audio CD (September 26, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000003D05
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,780 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > Q to T
  • #97 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Lullabies & Berceuse

Track Listings

1. That's Entertainment! (from The Bandwagon) [From The Band Wagon]

2. Blue Skies, song (originally interpolated into the R.Rodgers musical "B

3. Cheek to Cheek, song (from "Top Hat") [From Top Hat]

4. Puttin' on the Ritz, song (from "Puttin' On The Ritz") [From Puttin' on

5. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (for the film "The Wizard of Oz") [From The

6. 42nd Street [From Forty-second Street]

7. Singin' in the Rain, song (from "Hollywood Review of 1929") [From Holly

8. Lover, song (from film "Love Me Tonight") [From Love Me Tonight]

9. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (from Buck Privates)

10. The Continental (from The Gay Divorcée)

11. They Can't Take That Away from Me, song (from Shall We Dance?, film)

12. I've got you under my skin, song (from the film "Born to Dance") [From

13. On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe [From The Harvey Girls]

14. A Fine Romance, song (from the film "Swing Time") [From Swing Time]

15. Thanks For The Memory (from the film The Big Broadcast of 1938) [From t

16. Lullaby of Broadway (for the film Gold Diggers of 1935) [From Gold Digg

Editorial Reviews

16 selections from The Great Hollywood Musicals Erich Kunzel * Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Indiana Univ. Singing Hoosiers * Robert E. Stroll, director

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like great musicals you'll love this!, March 19, 2007

By 

TACO (Savannah, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Puttin' on the Ritz: The Great Hollywood Musicals (Audio CD)

Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops have done it again. This is a spectacular collection. It makes you feel like getting dressed up with a lot of glitz and glam and going dancing. Though I must admit that Fredrica Von Stade's rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" will definitely touch your heart.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Hits ... Even More Misses, May 24, 2010

By 

Calicokid "Cal" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Puttin' on the Ritz: The Great Hollywood Musicals (Audio CD)

It must be fun for cabaret singers to go 'uptown' to sing with a symphony orchestra. Likewise, for opera singers to go 'slumming' in pop musice might also have it's pleasures. The issue is, that it rarely works. That is the case here. As an example: I purchased this album on the lure that Frederike von Stade is singing 'Lover' ... one of Richard Rodgers loveliest waltzes ... with sassy lyrics by Lorenz Hart ... a song which has in recent years become the property of belting jazz and scat singers, notably Ella Fitzgerald, who's version is fun ... but it isn't the original intent of the song. Finally, I thought, on this disc there would be a recording of the song as it was originally intended (it was introduced by Jeannette MacDonald in the marvelous film 'Love Me Tonight') but even that song doesn't totally work. I guess we can be grateful it's performed as a waltz but that's about the only nod to the original. Von Stade sings well, as always, so I don't know whether it's the arrangement, the key or what. It really should have worked. After all, von Stade has demonstrated a popular sensibility in recordings such as 'Show Boat'. So the fact that it doesn't work can only be placed at the feet of the arranger. As for the other artists ... the late Jerry Hadley is also not comfortable in the repertoire he's given to sing. I guess the other singers do well enough but it all sounds a little 'over-blown'. Bobby Short, a fine cabaret singer, is not at his best here, being cramped by rigid orchestral arrangements. The other singers have that 'gee look at me! ... with a symphony orchestra!' sound. The chorus sings lustily and is strictly mid-western. Kunzel was a fine crossover music conductor and he does his job keeping things moving. Finally, considering it's on the Telarc label, the sound is nothing to write home about.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great American Songbook!, September 5, 2010

By 

Richard B. Green - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Puttin' on the Ritz: The Great Hollywood Musicals (Audio CD)

I live in SW Florida, and one of the wonderful FM stations I listen to, 101.1, has played over a long period of time "Singin'

in the Rain," which it turns out comes from this Erich Kunzel album, the song sung by Lee Roy Reams. As I couldn't find just that single to download, I bought the album, and I couldn't be more pleased. The late Erich Kunzel spotlights some of the best music from Hollywood's golden age of musicals, featuring the wonderful voices of not only Reams but Leslie Uggams, Bobby Short, Jerry Hadley, Michael Feinstein, Jeremy Davenport and Frederica von Stade. You won't be disappointed in the selections Kunzel decided to spotlight on this album of almost an hour in length. I now have my "Singin' in the Rain," but for the first time ever I've come to realize what a wonderful story is told through Harry Warren's "The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe." These songwriters knew how to use the language to create their enormously memorable music, music that has stood the test of time. I'm of the opinion that the best music has already been written; at my age, I have great, great respect for our American songbook. Its legacy is well represented on this classic Kunzel disc.