For 50 years now, "The Sound Of Music" has received disdain from critics, who rebuke its excessive sentimentality, and adoration from international audiences. Buried somewhere underneath the odd mix of rebuke, disdain, and adoration lies a compelling musical with a lovely, final score from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. To re-discover it, you can "start at the very beginning", with this excellent re-issue of the Original Broadway Cast Album from 1959.
This album was recorded at Columbia Records historic 30th Street Studio; where such other classic Broadway Cast Albums as "My Fair Lady," "West Side Story," and "Gypsy" were also recorded. In its original production, "The Sound Of Music", rather controversially, won eight Tony Awards, including "Best Musical" over Jule Styne and Steven Sondheim's darker, more complex, musical "Gypsy." Even more controversially, Mary Martin won the Best Actress Tony Award as Maria, instead of Ethel Merman as hard-driving, ambitious and obsessed Mama Rose in "Gypsy."
On the surface, Mary Martin, then 43 years old and fresh from her high-flying success as "Peter Pan", was far too old to portray 20 year old would-be nun turned governess Maria. But the rules are different on stage. And, perhaps taking a cue from her "Peter Pan" persona, Mary Martin was determined to be the theatrical personification of "youth, joy" and "freedom"-- qualities which are as well suited to Maria Von Trapp as to Peter Pan. Mary Martin sings her heart out as Maria, generating genuine warmth and infectious high spirits as she sings "Do-Re-Mi" and "The Lonely Goatherd" with the children. But the real singing star of this recording is Patricia Neway as the Mother Absess. Her mighty, diva power rendition of "Climb Every Mountain" can not, indeed, will not, be denied. Neway practically demands and rightfully deserves respect! The generation who grew up with the 1965 movie version will likely be shocked by this original Broadway version. This "music", under the direction of conductor Fredrick Dvorch, has a far more intimate "sound." There are also two songs, "How Can Love Survive?" and "No Way To Stop It" for the characters of Max and Elsa (Kurt Kaszner and Marion Marlowe) that were cut from the movie version. If there is a dud in Rodgers and Hammerstein's stage score, it is definitely "An Ordinary Couple", a duet for Mary Martin and co-star Theodore Bikel, that sounds like a deadly dirge. "An Ordinary Couple" was, mercifully, cut from the movie version and replaced by Richard Rodgers with "Something Good."
The bonus material included here is very informative and entertaining. The CD booklet includes an excellent essay by Bert Fink and several rare photos. My favorite photo shows the real Maria Von Trapp (a formidable looking-woman, indeed!) standing alongside Mary Martin and Florence Henderson; who was the "second Maria" (following Mary Martin-- thank God Florence Henderson did not play Maria in the movie)! The Bonus Tracks include a hilarious "Sound Of Music" Parody titled "The Pratt Family from Switzerland" from "Julie Andrews & Carol Burnett at Carnegie Hall" in 1962. Julie says, "And now, we bring you a happy song that I used to sing when I was a happy nun back home in Switzerland," to which Carol adds, "You all can sing along if it doesn't make you sick!" Richard Rodgers was so upset by this parody that, three years later, he was reportedly furious when Julie Andrews was cast as Maria in the film version. He changed his tune quickly enough; when the film became the most successful film of all time-- and became known in the industry as "The Sound Of Money." By the time the movie was planned, Mary Martin was pushing 50 and definitely too old now. In an odd show-business irony, Audrey Hepburn, an early candidate for the role of Maria, accepted the role of Eliza Doolittle-- that Julie Andrews had played to great acclaim on stage-- in the 1964 film version of "My Fair Lady." This left Julie Andrews free to accept film roles in "Mary Poppins" and "The Americanization Of Emily": and to replace Mary Martin as Maria in the film version of "The Sound Of Music."
"The Sound Of Music" has been embraced in practically every country in the world-- except Austria; where the real-life events took place. Austrians seem to hold the same disdain for "The Sound Of Music" as American theatre and film critics do. That finally changed in 2005, when the first German language production was staged in Vienna; the birth place of the real Maria Von Trapp. This CD includes Michael Kraus and Sandra Piers' emotional rendition of "Edelweiss" from that historic production. And finally, basking in the show's international appeal a bit more, this CD concludes with a Swedish version of "Sok Dig Till Bergin" ("Climb Every Mountain") by Tommy Korberg; proving that, after 50 years, "The Sound Of Music" is still moving in emotionally honest, far from manipulative, ways.