Vincent Youmans' Through the Years (2001 Studio Cast)

Brent Barrett, Vincent Youmans, Heidi Grant Murphy, Philip Chaffin | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2001)
• Original Release Date: October 2, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: P.S. Classics
• ASIN: B00005Q6ZU
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,623 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #58 in Music > Indie Music > Broadway & Vocalists

Track Listings

1. Prologue: Through the Years

2. Kathleen & Kenneth's Call

3. Kathleen Mine

4. Invitation

5. You're in Love

6. Kinda Like You

7. I'll Come Back to You

8. How Happy Is the Bride

9. Through the Years

10. It's Every Girl's Ambition

11. You're Everywhere

12. Finaletto Act II

13. Ghost Music

14. The Road to Home

15. My Heart Alone

16. Kinda Like You (reprise)

17. Drums in My Heart

18. Finale Ultimo

Editorial Reviews

In his day, Vincent Youmans was every bit as famous as his peers Gershwin, Rodgers, Berlin, Kern, and Porter. Through the Years, his final Broadway score, is perhaps his most beautiful and accomplished -- The New York Times originally called it "felicitously melodious throughout, and in its mood, design and attempt to achieve a certain organic unity, far ahead of its predecessors” -- yet it has never been preserved on disc. Here, in its world premiere recording, a brilliant cast led by Heidi Grant Murphy and Brent Barrett brings this newly restored classic back to life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an unusual and beautiful score, October 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Vincent Youmans' Through the Years (2001 Studio Cast) (Audio CD)

I'd never heard of Through the Years, but I was intrigued by the cast, whose names I did recognize, so I decided to give it a try. How nice to hear a recording of a forgotten musical that was actually worth digging up in the first place! I only knew of Vincent Youmans from Tea for Two and a couple of other songs, but this score is in a totally different vein: romantic, lush and beautiful. Heidi Grant Murphy shows a real affinity for this kind of material, as Dawn Upshaw did a decade ago; her performance of the title song is absolutely gorgeous, with no opera-singer affectations. I've already played that track a dozen or more times for friends. She's backed up by a great supporting cast: Brent Barrett, always a favorite, whose voice seems to have grown richer with age; Hunter Foster and Jennifer Cody, real-life husband and wife, who sparkle in their comic roles; and Philip Chaffin, who's new to me, but who has a lovely lyric tenor that perfectly suits the Irish flavor of the material.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little comment, April 12, 2008

By 

Damien Slattery (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vincent Youmans' Through the Years (2001 Studio Cast) (Audio CD)

From the haunting opening vocalisation of "Through The Years" through to the show's conclusion- this is quite exceptional at times. An under-rated work in a light opera vein, recalling Debussy. The lyrics by Edward Heyman are appalling cliched but this does not distract from Youmans melodic invention.