Customer Reviews

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Allegro" (First Complete Recording)

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I'm listening to this as I type, and I have to say I'm loving every second of this brand-new recording of the complete score to Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1947 flop "Allegro". This CD has a fascinating genesis: begun as a tryout with a European orchestra who had expressed interest in recording projects, the orchestral tracks were recorded in 2006. Then, the producers put together a "wish list" of talent, focusing on performers' vocal qualities, as if they were putting together the ideal radio show. Since they were willing to wait for artists, they were able to get every single one of their wish list, including Audra McDonald, Marni Nixon, Judy Kuhn, Liz Callway, Nathan Gunn, ...even Stephen Sondheim! There is even a surprise vocal appearance by the late Oscar Hammerstein! The entire process took nearly three years, but the result is a testament to the producer's vision. The recording is a dream, I don't hesitate to say that it blows the Original Broadway Cast clean out of the water, with performances spot on, and not a weak link anywhere - tempos are perfect, voices are pristine, and the richness of the score, which was severely truncated on the original cast recording, is a revelation. Never-before-heard songs and dance music is all here, and the music, weaves seamlessly in and around scenes, is some of Rodgers most inventive and melodic. Accompanied by a thick booklet discussing the whole of the project, along with historical analysis, complete libretto, and color photographs, this set simply cannot be bettered. R&H fans, rejoice! This "Allegro" is everything you've been waiting for!

I'm glad it's here. We should be thankful any project like this is being done in this era where even before the Crash of '08 a CD release on such a scale would not have been risked by a major label (Sony and the gang--even at cut-rate prices Ted Chapin has managed). I listened all the way through last night with the vocal score in my lap. First the voices and singing, Gunn and Audra M superb, Patrick Wilson incredible (hits and sustains a high G on two tracks! unbelievable!) the chorus sounds like a dream, all the ensemble singing sounds terrific (Joseph Taylor JR, One Foot, Wedding, etc. all wonderful chorus work). Marni Nixon has a charm voice for grandma, don't expect Patricia Neway power here, it's not necessary considering the music grandma is given anyway; this is not an anthem part in the usual R&H mold; in fact, nothing here is in their usual mode which is what makes this a different kind of R&H treasure.
Jenny and the nurse come across great vocally but they are more interesting dramatically or as character voices than as prima donnas. All the voice casting is sound. I want to move on to what is not on the recording that I certainly didn't expect to be here but some buyers may misunderstand. This is as full a recording of the score as possible, but not a full recording of the show. The book of Allegro includes a lot of chorus speech (not Song) you hear a little of this in the recording and it's tantalizing to hear because the recorded chorus speeches do come over as comic and dramatic and have a lot of expression so you'd wish you could hear a full performance to get this missing piece that remains missing and obviously meant a lot to Hammerstein when he wrote the choral speeches. This does not detract from the recording but little touches of drama and pathos and comedy are missing when even speeches that were written in the score are not always heard over this score in this recording. This is not a criticism. I think the producers made all the right choices here and have done an amazing job in view of the scope of this project. We are very lucky to get the score intact (some change of scene music, repeats and exit music are excised but nothing important has been left out). But I think the choral speeches and a lot of dialogue that complete the stage show will be missed by those unfamiliar with how well Hammerstein's book fills in the story, adds humor and pathos which won't be picked up on here obviously. I hope people who read the Synopsis rather than the "libretto" included are helped along with this aspect. I have always dreamed of a fuller recording of Allegro than the original cast album and this should exceed anyone's expectations other than those of a complete perfectionist or an insane person. The voice-only roles are so good and it was a great touch to include Hammerstein's recorded voice for the philosophy professor's line (or the first one, that is). R&H fans have no excuse but to own this.

"Allegro" was only available in the original cast version until this recording was released. The original was probably the weakest version of any of Rogers and Hammerstein's scores. It was severely truncated (The new recording is about 100 minutes long -- The old recording is only about 30 minutes), very poorly recorded at 78 rpm, and filled with the pretentious singing of the 1940s. The original cast recordings of "Oklahoma" and "Carousel", although similarly recorded, had many newer versions to make up for it. "Allegro" did not.

Imagine a list of all 44 numbers from the score. Now highlight every fifth or so. You now have what was originally recorded in the 1940s.

The new recording is a revelation. At last you can understand where each number fits into the score, and understand every word that is sung. The orchestra and singers are state of the art. This is a recording I have been waiting for since 2006 when I heard it might actually come about. I just got it this morning, and have already played it three times.

I can't say enough good things about this version. Each singer in the dream cast fits their parts perfectly, and you will never get a better recording.

As far as the musical itself is concerned, it is still the weakest of R&H, but remember, their weakest is far better than many other teams.

The only quibble I have is the packaging. After you hear each long anticipated CD, and enjoy every moment, you are expected to ram the disk into a cardboard envelope, and it is almost impossible to take the CDs out without touching the playing surfaces. I am going to either make copies of these discs, or buy a double plastic case as soon as possible.

Allegro is one of the rare Rodgers & Hammerstein "failures". Unbelievably, this is the first complete recording. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization went first class to record the entire R&H score, including much orchestral material. The cast is stellar - Audra MacDonald, Nathan Gunn, Laura Benanti, Norbert Leo Butz, and Marni Nixon. The ensembles of adults and children enunciate perfectly, every word clear, with pinpoint rhythmic unison. The music direction is superb, the Eastern European orchestra skillfully capturing the romanticism of R&H's style. However, aside from this classy production, it is clear why Allegro was not a success. It's not so much the sung-through structure as the content. The story is very obvious, its anti-materialistic moral uncomfortably sanctimonious. The story line is awkwardly structured, with cartoon characters entering, delivering one knockout number, and exiting, never to be heard from again. The hero and his wife Jennie do not even have the bulk of the material oddly enough. The first act is too long with excessive orchestral numbers, though the second act is worse. And there is to me a feeling of futility about the plot, with hero and his wife marrying, only to be at cross-purposes - he high-minded, she utterly shallow. The feeling of loss, of Our Town, is there. Yet Allegro contains many wonderful songs that have entered the R&H canon: The Gentleman is a Dope, So Far, A Fellow Needs a Girl and more. This 2-CD set is first rate in every way, from the sepia cover photo of a small town doctor to the liner notes containing the history of the original Broadway show, pictures from the 1947 production, and photos of every cast member in the current recording. The casting of prominent theatrical personalities, including critics Howard Kissel, the late John Simon and R&H executive Schuyler Chapin who play college professors, is an effective inside joke.

I must say that I have been waiting for a complete recording of "Allegro" since I first found a vinyl recording in a record bin in Sears and Roebucks in the 1960's. Upon first hearing "Allegro" I knew something was missing and this new stunning version has proven me right. It is quite wondrous and I thank Ted Chapin for spearheading this momentous project.

Now I have all the pieces of the puzzle in place and, as I thought when I first studied the full score, "Allegro" comes up lacking. No amount of knowledge of 1940s music could possibly help in regards to making "Allegro" something that it isn't. It is indeed a lackluster score. It isn't even in the same ballpark of "Oklahoma!", "South Pacific" "The Sound of Music" and R and H's masterpiece "Carousel."

I cannot, however, disregard it's influence on the Musical Theatre World and would love to direct a production of it. I would love it if Stephen Sondheim would take on the task of weaving some of "Allegro's" musical themes into a song for Joe in which could be stated Hammerstein's true intentions concerning how public responsibilities sometime prevent us from following our true calling. I think that it would clear up the misconception of Hammerstein criticizing success.

Now to the performances on this new recording:

Marni Nixon is perfect for the Grandmother. Audra MacDonald is pure joy as the Mother. Laura Benanti is miraculous in the subtleties of her role and Norbert Leo Butz keeps boosting the show with his wit and candor. I especially liked Liz Calloway's reading of "The Gentleman is a Dope"--in fact I found it much more telling than Lisa Kirk's original take. Judy Kuhn does a good job with "So Far" which is a mediocre song in the R and H Songbook.

But the crowning achievement of this recording is the work of Patrick Wilson. He is absolutely thrilling and makes me realize how wrong R and H were in not giving Joe more. Wilson's voice is like a diamond. Why is he not doing more musicals and recording more? Well, you can't have everything.

And as far as possible this recording gave me everything great about "Allegro" which sadly sheds light on that fact that it is a flawed work. I encourage you to get this great recording as soon as possible.

Thanks again Ted Chapin.

This is important as a theatrical document and a delight to listen to. More complete recordings please! How about Me and Juliet? Hearing this complete version of this 1947 show makes one cringe at some of what is being written today...

The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro (1947) is one of the most important and historic musicals that most people have never heard of. It was R&H's third show, after Oklahoma and Carousel, and came out shortly after their only musical written directly for the movies, "State Fair," which won them an Oscar for best song ("It Might as Well Be Spring").

Allegro was a serious attempt on Oscar Hammerstein's part to craft an original story, one that contained numerous innovations. It was the first of what we now consider the "concept" musicals, shows that explore a particular idea rather than tell a specific story. The concept here was originally a cradle-to-grave story of a certain earnest everyman. That idea proved untenable, so Allegro wound up being the cradle-to-midlife-crisis story of one Joseph Taylor, Jr.

Hammerstein made significant use of an omniscient sort of Greek chorus, which commented on the action in unison to both the actors and the audience. The production concept represented a break from the literal realism of the time, and featured back-wall projections and a minimal, modular set that was both spare and complicated at the same time. Allegro also represented the beginning of the rise of the director/choreographer, in this case, Agnes de Mille. When we think of director/choreographers, we typically think of the men: Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett, Jerome Robbins, etc. But Agnes de Mille took on this dual role before any of the guys did.

So, Allegro is unquestionably a significant show. It just isn't very good.

Despite the biggest advance sale of any musical up to that time, the show sharply divided audience members and critics when it premiered in 1947. While some thought it sublime and appreciated the sheer ambition and scope of the show, others found it pretentious, preachy, and boring. I happen to fall in the latter camp. In his libretto, Hammerstein expresses the danger of social climbing and rampant materialism, and the result is cold, humorless, and didactic.

But even second-rate R&H is worth savoring, and until now show fanatics have had to make do with the severely truncated original cast recording of Allegro, which is only 33 minutes long. In an attempt to rectify this slight, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization has put its considerable resources behind a new studio recording of the score. The treatment is sumptuous, indeed, and features an interdisciplinary cast of the best the musical stage currently has to offer. The recording features Patrick Wilson as the central Joseph Taylor, the sublime Audra McDonald as his mother and opera hunk Nathan Gunn as his father.

But the fact that these terrific performers have very little actual recording time illustrates one of the major problems with Allegro: the best songs go to very minor characters and the Greek chorus. It's hard to work up any sympathy for these people when they do so little singing in the show and on the recording. The two best-known songs from the show are the lovely "So Far" and the rueful "The Gentleman is a Dope," sung respectively by Judy Kuhn and Liz Callaway, who perform these songs and either disappear from the plot entirely, or show up out of nowhere and suddenly we're supposed to care.

The other problem with the show is that the central love story is cynical and empty, which was by design, but makes for a very unsatisfying experience. Joe grows up to wed his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, played here by Laura Benanti. Act 1 ends with their wedding, in which everyone onstage seems to question whether this is really a good idea, including the bride and groom themselves. It's the sort of thing Stephen Sondheim could have pulled off, but Hammerstein seems unable to make it compelling. (Sondheim actually served as a production assistant during Allegro's tryout period, and points to the show as providing inspiration for much of his later work.)

But the most damning evidence in the case against Allegro is the the songs themselves, which, other than the two listed above, simply aren't very good. There's some lovely music here -- and since this recording apparently represents every last note written for the show, we get to savor it all in one package -- but overall this score represents second-tier Richard Rodgers and third-tier Hammerstein. Many of the melodies and rhyme schemes are awkward and forced, and the overall emotional impact of the score doesn't even come close to the power of R&H's best work. It was nice to rediscover some of the songs from the show, including the jaunty title number, but overall I think I'm just going to file this CD into my collection and leave it there.

Like one of the other reviewers, I'm listening as I type. I've been listening to this since I got the album four days ago, as soon as I discovered it was actually out. I've been waiting for this one for much of my life, ever since I discovered that R&H actually had some flops, and the cast recordings were hard to come by. I eventually did get the 1970's reissue of the Allegro original cast (had to wait 'til the 1990's CD reissues for Pipe Dream and Me and Juliet). Even though I always liked the original cast album, and developed a strong affinity for the show based on that recording, I was aware that it was missing a fair amount of the music, and even I could tell the sound quality was poor.

So, you ask, now that you've got it, are you happy with it? The answer is unequivocally yes. This is a sumptuous and nearly perfect recording. The voices are teriffic and uniformly well cast. The singing styles may not be quite 1940's but they're close enough. The album includes all of the music, and a lot of excerpts of the Greek Chorus doing its thing, and really gives you a sense of how the show sounded and worked. From the standpoint of sheer production values and respect for the source material, this is as fine a studio cast album as one could ask for. The sound is crystal clear and gorgeous. It was obviously a true labor of love for all concerned.

In addition to familiar songs I have loved for years, some of that music I never heard before is genuinely wonderful. The standouts in this category are "It's a Darned Nice Campus," "It Wouldn't Be Good for Me," "What a Lovely Day for a Wedding," and the opening verse of "So Far." The "Mountain Greenery" variations used to represent a dance taking place in the 1920s are spot on and hilarious, and a clever nod to Rodgers' earlier incarnation as the music to Lorenz Hart's lyrics. The orchestral interludes are good enough to give one a sense of Rodgers' genius as a composer.

I have just two quibbles, one small and one miniscule. The small one is the album's take on "You are Never Away," which may be the best song in show. They have speeded up the tempo noticeably from what was on the original cast album (and quite likely heard onstage in the original), and Patrick Wilson's singing is a little too stalwart and confident. His voice is clearly stronger than John Battles' was, but it doesn't seem to work as well for the scene and the number. The overall effect is that the song is missing some of the tenderness that shone through in the original and gave it emotional punch. That said, the version here, along with the reprises, is still pretty satisfying.

My even smaller quibble is the cover art, which is just plain grim and offputting. It features a black and white photo of what is presumably a small-town depression-era Midwestern doctor, walking through the landscape under an impending storm, and looking very careworn himself. The cover art of the various reissues of the original cast album were based on (or in some cases taken directly from) the poster art for the original production, and featured cutesy drawings of male/female couples surrounding the title. This was probably too cute for a show that was ultimately serious and intended as serious art. The cover on this one, though, implies that even after his self-realization at the end, Dr. Joeseph Taylor Junior may not be all that happy.

Finally, having heard this recording, I'll add my two cents on the overall merit of the work. First of all, I'll admit I've always had a soft spot for the R & H "flops," and they rank higher in my affections than the more acclaimed and popular R & H "hits." If pressed, I'd also have to admit that even Allegro (let alone Me and Juliet or Pipe Dream) doesn't have quite the artistic heft of South Pacific or Carousel. Nevertheless, this recording confirms my previous opinion that Allegro was a very, very worthy piece of theater art that should be seen and heard a lot more than it has been. This recording demonstrates just how innovative it was in a musical sense. By all accounts it was equally innovative in its visual presentation. I'd concur with Brooks Atkinson's assessment (reviewing the original production in the New York Times) pointing out that the first act is an emotionally powerful work of art, and something like an Our Town in musical form. The wedding sequence had me misty-eyed the first time I played the album through. If the rest of the work were as good as Act I, Allegro would probably rank right up there with the most acclaimed Rodgers and Hammerstein pieces.

The flaw in the piece is the second act. It has some good numbers, but it is musically weaker than Act I. But what really falls apart here is the authors' realization of their message. The book accompanying the album, and other accounts, indicate that Hammerstein was trying to make a statement about what can happen when the demands of success overwhelm a man's ability to remain true to himself. Unfortunately, this is not the message that is actually conveyed. It comes across instead as an indictment of shallow urban values and lifestyles contrasted with the purity of small town virtues. You get the impression that if R & H were still around, they would have voted for the McCain/Palin ticket in the last election.

Overall, I would still say that Allegro is a better work than much of what passes for a Broadway musical nowadays. It may not be Rodgers and Hammersteins' masterpiece, but it is a work of considerable merit. This new recording goes a long way towards rehabilitating the show and giving it the place it deserves in the history and cannon of the American musical theater.

[...] This was aired during a tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein shown on TV, probably around 1955. Although the video's in fuzzy black and white, it gives a good picture of just how glorious Allegro was at its best.

Now will someone, please, do a complete recording of Jubilee?

After the unparalleled success of their first collaboration, OKLAHOMA!, in 1943, Rodgers and Hammerstein followed with two more triumphs in 1945, the intensely rhapsodic stage musical CAROUSEL and the film musical STATE FAIR. Their fourth collaboration, the stage musical ALLEGRO, was in many ways their most experimental work. Instead of adapted from another source (and their previous collaborations had been), this was based on the original story of the life of a Midwestern doctor, from infancy through childhood, adolescence, marriage, success in the big city and then a midlife crisis that returned him to his small-town roots, all told in a swirling cinematic style with a Greek chorus commenting and the big numbers offset by small fragments of song here and there. This was also their first failure, despite its enormous advance sales, and closed in less than a year; it's never been successfully revived in a full staging on Broadway and has only rarely been revived elsewhere, despite the fact that at least two of the songs from it ("So Far" and "The Gentleman is a Dope") have become standards. Only partially recorded before, the musical here has its first complete recording, by which I do mean complete: every single bit of dance music and underscoring of dialogue seems to be included in this very long two-disc recording, which is perhaps as it should be for completists of the late John McGlinn variety, who will revel not only in how much we are given here but who will also rejoice (as everyone else interested in Broadway music will) at the superlative caliber of the cast. It's hard to imagine ever assembling a cast together on stage as perfect as this one is: Patrick Wilson's lovely juvenile tenor is perfect for the protagonist, while the even more vocally demanding parts of his parents are given to Audra McDonald and (best of all) the opera baritone Nathan Gunn. (Gunn's paradisiacal voice, as ideally suited for Broadway as for opera, may be the highlight of the entire recording.) Even the smaller roles are assigned to some of the best Broadway voices out there, with Judy Kuhn in the comparatively small role of Beulah singing the gorgeous "So Far," and even Stephen Sondheim (who worked as a gofer on the original production) as the lead voice in the choral finale to the first act.

The musical is absolutely worth hearing because of how ravishing some of the melodies are (as always with Rodgers and Hammerstein) and for the tremendous influence this experiment had on later musicals, particularly on Sondheim himself: after seeing this it's easy to see how he took off from the ideas of his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II by trying similar approaches in many of his musicals, including in particular ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, COMPANY and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. But it should be noted that the stage musical did fail for a reason, which is its fundamentally unlikable second act. (Sondheim, of course, has been himself famously faulted for his own difficulties in following up strong first acts in many of his musicals with comparable acts after the intermissions.) The protagonist doctor is peculiarly glorified in this act as his problems seem to be few of his own devising but have much more to do with his faithless wife and the pressures of Chicago high society: while the numbers describing the empty buzz of this latter realm (particularly the repeated, and irritatingly repetitive, "Ya-Ta-Ta") have been enormously influential, their descendants (such as Comden and Green's "Conversation Piece" from WONDERFUL TOWN and "Drop that Name!" from BELLS ARE RINGING) are much less annoying and much less smugly sour. Still, the second act does contain the charming "The Gentleman is a Dope" (a kind of pendant piece to Rodgers's song "The Lady is a Tramp" he did with Lorenz Hart), here voiced by the fine Liz Callaway; and the pleasures of the first act are so tremendous that the whole thing is intensely worth listening to and owning.

I have loved this musical since I first read the script in Six Plays of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The message (which could be clearer!) is that we must not let our lives spiral out of control for illusive goals when we have what we really need to make us happy. The music does not have a gangbuster number like "Oklahoma" (the song) or "June is bustin' out all over." Instead the entire work, like many Sondheim shows, is lyric and expressive, concentrating on the story and not trying for major effects. This has always given the music a somewhat reserved quality. This recording is blessed with a conductor who takes slightly more flowing tempos and that helps.

The performance is "complete" but it isn't. Some of the dance numbers are shortened a tad. This is not a problem, since in my opinion they go on a bit too long anyway. I like the original idea of "meeting our hero" when we meet one or two red herrings (including Charlie) before we meet Joe Jr. Other than some minor dance cuts (and scene change music) the show is musically complete. The performances by Gunn, McDonald, Kuhn, et al are first rate.

My only quibbles are minor compared to what we get. The two CDs run approximately 96 minutes. We could have had a lot more dialogue, particularly those important ones like the argument between Marjorie and Jenny. That shows Jenny for what she really is and it also leads to Marjorie's fatal heart attack.

The recording was made by recording the orchestra first and then adding the voices over the pre-existing recording. This probably saved a LOT of money, something Sony passes on to the purchaser. But the sound is ever so slightly affected by the overlay of sound.

I love the recording, and I don't expect to get anything resembling this again - the cast, even on the recording, is huge. But I wish it was fuller and could give an even better idea of the wonders of this score. If I could have my fondest wish, it would be to music direct this musical in a fully staged production. Until that happens (if!!!) here is the best substitute.