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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Irish-born composer Victor Herbert is a totally American icon of the 20th Century and accurately described as the 'Father of the American Musical Theater'.... The tracks follow a chronological order and, with the exception of a handful of numbers such as 'Kiss Me Again' (performed by Broadway soprano Rebecca Luker), the collection represents those which have never been recorded, some never published. Fans of the composer and lovers of Classical vocal recitals will appreciate the brilliant accompaniment provided by pianist William Hicks. He is faithful to the original editions and moves easily through the various theatrical modes and styles in which Victor Herbert wrote.... By disc four, the songs have sailed through marches, waltzes, sacred anthems, the comedy of a music hall, the longing of an Irish ballad, determined operetta heroes and heroines, up to the dazzling Ziegfeld Follies of 1923." -- --The Examiner
"The sound is good throughout this set and documentation is impeccable. Complete texts are included in the booklet, as are detailed notes on the songs, enhanced by well-chosen illustrations. In short, it's hard to imagine this project being presented with more care or thoroughness." --International Record Review
"I've saved for last the artist of greatest importance in this whole project, pianist William Hicks. It's hard to imagine what a daunting undertaking it must have been to learn the accompaniments to 102 songs, and yet there is not one of them in which he sets a foot wrong or fails to find the right mood and tone. Hicks is to be congratulated not just for his tireless dedication to this important collection but for his consistently high level of musicianship in every sense of the word." --Fanfare Magazine
"The sound is good throughout this set and documentation is impeccable. Complete texts are included in the booklet, as are detailed notes on the songs, enhanced by well-chosen illustrations. In short, it's hard to imagine this project being presented with more care or thoroughness." --International Record Review
"I've saved for last the artist of greatest importance in this whole project, pianist William Hicks. It's hard to imagine what a daunting undertaking it must have been to learn the accompaniments to 102 songs, and yet there is not one of them in which he sets a foot wrong or fails to find the right mood and tone. Hicks is to be congratulated not just for his tireless dedication to this important collection but for his consistently high level of musicianship in every sense of the word." --Fanfare Magazine
Product Description
In an attempt to understand the foundations of the modern American musical theater, we believe that it is best to start with an understanding of the man who has often been called the Father of the American Musical Theater, Victor Herbert (1859-1924). For our second release in this new series, we have chosen a selection of Herbert's compositions for the voice, most of which are recorded here for the first time. His song output runs the gamut of styles classical and popular at the turn of the twentieth century, from parlor and concert song to anthem and popular song. In some of them, the lines blur. His vaudeville numbers and "Belle O Brien" are written in the style of what we would term songs of the Gay Nineties, like "After the Ball" or "The Bowery." On the other hand, "When the Sixty-ninth Comes Back," with its references to the harp that once played in Tara's halls and to "the Fighting Irish," may be a stirring American march but will appeal strongly to Irish sympathies. In this anthology, 102 songs are presented as examples of his work. While a few songs written for well-known musicals and operettas may be found here, the emphasis has been placed on songs for occasion and event, along with much of the music he wrote for performance in plays and revues. Many of these songs have never before been recorded, and they are presented in chronological order to display his progression from art song to the popular 32-bar song. Jerome Kern referred to Herbert as "the greatest of them all," high praise coming from a great songwriter like Kern.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Theater music from before the 20th century was very different from what we know it sounds like in the years since Rodgers and Hammerstein made recording scores popular. Jazz hadn't been created in the late 1880s when Victor Herbert starting composing. Yet we can now hear what one of the founders of American musical theater brought to this great tradition in a special four-CD set of his songs, from his early years when he composed German lieder to posthumously published pieces. In between are nuggets from his scores for the Ziegfeld Follies for series of years as well as such productions as "The Century Girl" and "The Dream Song."
The songs have a long ago and far away feel, a sound that occasionally conjures memories of George M. Cohan, one of Herbert's contemporaries. Yet Herbert's melodic gifts were much greater, with gorgeous, swirling waltzes and charm songs, ballads and marches all filling these discs in a way that's fresh and vibrant. Rebecca Luker, Jeanne Lehman, George Dvorsky and Ron Raines are veterans of these types of recordings, so they know how to present the material and honor the tradition with no small amount of joy and all without letting it sound stale or passe. Zachary Stains is a standout with "That Old-Fashioned Garden of Mine," while Sara Jean Ford's "When Knighthood Was in Flower," Luker's "When the Right One Comes Along" and Raines' "The Legend of the Golden Tree" all score. I've also enjoyed expanding my German with the likes of Margaret Jane Wray's "Ich liebe dich" and Rosalie Sullivan's "Du abnst es nicht."
If you enjoy the history of the musical theater, this recording provides a valuable piece of the puzzle. If you simply want to hear some wonderful theater music, then this recording delivers.
The songs have a long ago and far away feel, a sound that occasionally conjures memories of George M. Cohan, one of Herbert's contemporaries. Yet Herbert's melodic gifts were much greater, with gorgeous, swirling waltzes and charm songs, ballads and marches all filling these discs in a way that's fresh and vibrant. Rebecca Luker, Jeanne Lehman, George Dvorsky and Ron Raines are veterans of these types of recordings, so they know how to present the material and honor the tradition with no small amount of joy and all without letting it sound stale or passe. Zachary Stains is a standout with "That Old-Fashioned Garden of Mine," while Sara Jean Ford's "When Knighthood Was in Flower," Luker's "When the Right One Comes Along" and Raines' "The Legend of the Golden Tree" all score. I've also enjoyed expanding my German with the likes of Margaret Jane Wray's "Ich liebe dich" and Rosalie Sullivan's "Du abnst es nicht."
If you enjoy the history of the musical theater, this recording provides a valuable piece of the puzzle. If you simply want to hear some wonderful theater music, then this recording delivers.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Victor Herbert who might have been (but who would want to give up the one who was?)
June 10, 2012
By Jim in SF
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have to admit I was disappointed with this set, but I was also pleasantly surprised. As a lover of classical and popular songs, I really enjoyed the early songs which seem much more ambitious and European than his later popular and stage works. The quality of the songs to me deteriorate after the first disc. Don't get me wrong: I love classic Victor Herbert, the songs from his operettas. But most of the more popular songs on this collection are fairly uninteresting, though everything sung by Rebecca Luker is delightful. For the early songs and Rebecca Luker, I give this a 4 star rating.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
To those who know his name at all, VIctor Herbert was the leading composer of operettas in America during the three decades from the early 1890 to the early1920s. He was also a composer of some fine orchestral music, light classics, and the first original film score in the US, but it is basically the songs from his operettas that are still sung by singers who can manage their vocal challenges.
This new 4-CD collection offers a glorious melange of largely unknown Victor Herbert--his work as a composer of "art songs," including German Lieder (roughly half the songs) from the earliest years of his career (though born in Ireland, he grew up in Germany and was educated there before coming to America in the mid-1880s). The songs, both German and English, are simply gorgeous, and the singers chosen to present them in this full anthology are, without exception, first rate. The album is great simply for listening pleasure, but it also can draw the attention of singers to a rich, long-overlooked repertory of songs they will want to consider in their own programs. This is one of the most satisfying albums I've heard -- both for the novelty and quality of the contents and the artistic pleasure in the performances--that I have heard in a long time.
This new 4-CD collection offers a glorious melange of largely unknown Victor Herbert--his work as a composer of "art songs," including German Lieder (roughly half the songs) from the earliest years of his career (though born in Ireland, he grew up in Germany and was educated there before coming to America in the mid-1880s). The songs, both German and English, are simply gorgeous, and the singers chosen to present them in this full anthology are, without exception, first rate. The album is great simply for listening pleasure, but it also can draw the attention of singers to a rich, long-overlooked repertory of songs they will want to consider in their own programs. This is one of the most satisfying albums I've heard -- both for the novelty and quality of the contents and the artistic pleasure in the performances--that I have heard in a long time.
6 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I fell all over myself to preorder this as soon as I read about it, but now that I've spun through it a few times, I feel myself relegating it to a back shelf. Yes, one wants to hear Victor Herbert material well sung, and one gets that here. But I'd have rather had half or a quarter of the material if it could have been presented in orchestrated form (if the original charts weren't available, surely an orchestrator could have been found who could have come up with an era-appropriate sound), and as much as I appreciate, conceptually, the idea of avoiding all the Usual Suspects, the preponderance of B-list material is, after a very short while, wearing.
Get a half dozen reasonably talented friends together with a box of sheet music and a few bottles of wine, and you can re-create this set.
Which is nice enough, but maybe not what I had in mind.
Get a half dozen reasonably talented friends together with a box of sheet music and a few bottles of wine, and you can re-create this set.
Which is nice enough, but maybe not what I had in mind.
