Customer Reviews

Vincent Youmans' Through the Years (2001 Studio Cast)

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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.

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.