Customer Reviews

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Classic Musicals: Oklahoma! / The King and I / Carousel (Original Motion Picture Soundtracks)

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

 

 

My original reviews of the three Rodgers and Hammerstein expanded soundtrack reissues are based on my belief, which is shared by many other people who grew up with and have grown to love these magnificent performances for their musical excellence, not as a mere souvenir of a movie for casual listening, which I perceive is about only what most of the reviewers of these CD's seem to care. If I want to experience the movie, I watch the movie on DVD or tape. If I want to enjoy the music on a recording, I want to music to be allowed to speak for itself without sound effects mixed in meant exclusively for the visual presentation. The film versions of these three Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals showcase the finest performances, before or since, that these magnificent scores have ever received. The additional music on the expanded editions of these albums is NOT from the original multi channel vocal and music separation soundtrack master recordings stored in the 20th Century Fox vaults but instead recorded directly from a final mix print soundtrack complete with foot stomping and extraneous sound effects, which besides having no place on a music only recording, actually detract from the listening experience rather than enhance it. If this were 42nd. Street, the foot stomping would make sense, since it is an integral part of the musical presentation, but without the visuals these random sounds don't make any sense in OKLAHOMA, THE KING AND I and especially CAROUSEL, where the magnificent arrangements of Robert Russell Bennett, Alfred Newman and Ken Darby should be allowed to speak for themselves without intrusions from foley effects. If this were a live recording, such sounds would be an artifact of the original and impossible to remove and therefore have to be acceptable if one wanted to hear the score in its entirety. But in the case of OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL and THE KING AND I (also SOUTH PACIFIC), a wealth of unmixed original musical material exists in the studio vaults which could have been made available for this remastering and even more music could have been included on these albums (for OKLAHOMA, probably enough to fill 2 CD's). For instance, THE OUT OF MY DREAMS BALLET in OKLAHOMA could have been presented in its ENTIRETY, with the extra verse of the song which was on the original album but on this CD replaced by a much shorter version used in the film, without any worry about the sound effects intruding at the beginning and especially at the end. THE KANSAS CITY, FARMER AND THE COWHAND DANCE MUSIC AND THE FINALE could have been presented minus the foley intrusions that almost drown out the music entirely. In CAROUSEL, LOUISE'S BALLET could have been presented in its ENTIRETY without any worry about the ocean sound effects intruding at the beginning and the OPENING MUSIC lead up to the CAROUSEL WALTZ Main Title could have been presented minus the dialogue at the beginning of the album. The deluxe laserdisc of THE KING AND I contained a CD of about 76 minutes including the complete vocal score and Alfred Newman's excellent underscoring, all completely free of extraneous sound effects and dialogue. Why weren't these tracks used for this CD release? That is the saddest part concerning this release. The original material could have been made available if anyone at EMI-Angel had cared enough to present RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S soundtracks with the integrity that these classic recordings deserve and should have gotten. If you can get past these aberrations imposed on us by producer Didier C. Deutsch, (in addition to some amateur sloppy fade-ins and fade-outs cross cutting the old and new material) the sound on these CD's is very good and offers an energetic and beautifully orchestrated performance of OKLAHOMA by Gordon Mac Rae, Shirley Jones and the entire supporting cast. In fact, this performance is superior to the Broadway original in every respect. CAROUSEL offers a performance of the seven minute Soliloquy by Gordon Mac Rae which is one of the greatest vocal performances of the 20th. Century. In the capable hands of the legendary composer/arranger/conductor Alfred Newman, Richard Rodgers' soaring melodies are taken to heights of brilliance undreamed of in the Broadway original. This is especially evident in "Louise's Ballet." Ken Darby's excellent choral arrangements and wonderful vocals by MacRae, Jones, Claramae Turner, Barbara Ruick, Robert Rounseville and Cameron Mitchell all add up to the most perfect performance of this musical ever. THE KING AND I preserves Yul Brynner's definitive performance as the King and the perfect combination of Deborah Kerr and Marni Nixon as Anna, with orchestrations, supporting vocals and choral work (again by Newman and Darby) that will take your breath away in its magnificence. But even so, try to find the previous CD versions of these albums, which may not have the additional music, but do include the entire vocal scores(including the longer version of the song OUT OF MY DREAMS in OKLAHOMA) without all the intrusive sound effects and sloppy edits making for a far more enjoyable listening experience. Let's hope that someday EMI-Angel will give all three of the Rodgers and Hammerstein soundtracks their due and re-release them with added material from the untainted studio vault separations. That would really be SOMETHING SPECIAL.

The Angel Records re-issues of the "Rodgers and Hammerstein Three Pack" are terribly presented. The sound quality is horrible and the "expanded matereal" is nothing but the dance numbers taken right from the unmixed six- track stereo tapes, complete with every foley effect (EX: foot stomping, animal noises,and unwanted dialougue only meant for he movie).
All three soundtracks were issued on LP by Capitol records after each film debuted (1955- 1957). The LP versions feature the entire vocal score (minus the extra material) and no foley interruption, strictly instrumental and more pleasant to listen to. The LP versions were released on 3CDs in 1994 as a box set (bearing the same title as this one. This version of the box set is still in print and is highly recommended. You will enjoy these classic scores if you listen to the REAL SOUNDTRACKS.

This delightful boxed set of the three expanded EMI-Angel R&H soundtracks is a joy to behold. Although this boxed set doesn't include the South Pacific and Sound of Music soundtracks, there is much to enjoy in the soundtracks of Oklahoma, Carousel and The King and I. Dipping into this boxed set, one can discover a treasure trove of sterling performances and glorious voices, backed by sumptuous orchestral playing conducted by Jay Blackton and Alfred Newman. An added bonus is the state-of-the-art remastering that allows these 50-year-old recordings to sound their best, and the exhaustive liner notes.

All the performances in this boxed set are stellar, even when there are voice doubles. Oklahoma and Carousel benefit greatly from the casting of Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones as the two lead characters. They have glorious, rounded voices and they sing their parts with character and conviction. Gordon MacRae gives a handsome, dashing portrayal of Curley the cowboy, and does an about-turn for a stouthearted portrayal of the tortured lover Billy Bigelow. There is much of him to enjoy on the Oklahoma and Carousel soundtracks, ranging from the confidence of Oh, What a Beautiful Morning and the hearty Oklahoma, to the love-duets People Will Say We're in Love and If I Loved You, capped by a riveting performance of the Carousel Soliloquy. MacRae is well-matched by Shirley Jones as a pert and attractive Laurey, and a tender and touching Julie, proving herself as his perfect partner in their love duets. They are both backed by a characterful cast that acts all the secondary parts superbly. In Oklahoma one can savour the delightfully comic pairing of Gene Nelson and Gloria Grahame as Will and Ado Annie, and the dark, brooding hues of Rod Steiger as the misunderstood villain Jud. Carousel offers Claramae Turner's earthy portrayal of Julie's cousin Nettie (whose assuring performances of June is Busting Out All Over and You'll Never Walk Alone are definite highlights), and Barbara Ruick gives a zestful portrayal of Julie's friend Carrie. In addition to these two early R&H scores, this boxed set also offers the sumptuous King and I soundtrack, with Yul Brynner's authoritative King holding sway over Marni Nixon's unflappable Anna Leonowens. Although the entire cast sings this score superbly, they are well-matched by the gorgeous Alfred Newman arrangements, sumptuous and lustrous. This King and I reissue, like the other soundtracks, also restores music not available on the original Capitol LPs and allows us to hear not just underscore but the ballets as well.

If I am fulsome in the praise of these critic-proof performances, one might ask, why am I giving four stars rather than five? There is a minor quibble in the presentation of these classic soundtracks - but this isn't against the critic-proof performances that easily deserve five stars. Despite Didier Deutsch's benevolent intentions of restoring unreleased music to these soundtracks, the sources he used for the expanded sequences are from final mix prints of the soundtrack rather than the music-only masters (only for Oklahoma and Carousel). As a result, the Oklahoma and Carousel ballet sequences contain extraneous sound effects such as foot-stomping, hand-clapping, and thunder and lightning sounds. I'm sure many purists like me will bristle at this, since these random sounds would eventually drown out the music, as some previous Amazon reviewers have noted. Thankfully, on the positive side, the King and I soundtrack is completely free of the random sounds, because we can hear the underscore free of any meaningless dialogue intrusions. Although I wish I could hear all the Newman underscore, there is an added bonus in the inclusion of the Uncle Tom's Cabin ballet. Taking this boxed set as a whole, the expanded sequences are a first step in allowing us R&H fans to hear music cut from the original LPs, and hopefully this trilogy of expanded soundtracks will pave the way for complete releases of these soundtracks mixed from the original music-only source material. Luckily, the critic-proof performances will always endure forever, and will always serve as the saving grace of this new expanded trilogy of R&H soundtracks.

In short, despite the minor presentation demerit of this trio of EMI-Angel releases of R&H, this boxed set is always enjoyable with superb performances of these classic musicals. Hopefully, this trio will satisfy us for many years until 20th-Century Fox puts out proper, cleaned-up complete versions of all the R&H soundtracks. Yet I will still urge anyone who loves R&H to add this set to their collection, along with the newly-expanded Sound of Music soundtrack.

Why not release the 5 gold cds 4 the60th?

I do not wish to introduce my very interested grandaughter to American Musicals without the original cast albums. Marnie Nixon is no Gertruce Lawrence. I want Mary Martin doing South Pacific. I wish you had a category of original cast albums.