Zenph Studios applies its "re-performance" technology to a selection of Sergei Rachmaninov's flat discs for RCA Victor, recorded between 1921 and 1942. I described the company's process in an earlier review, and it bears reiterating. Zenph employs a software application that analyzes a recorded piano performance by separating its pianistic attributes from mechanical and environmental factors to an unprecedented degree of specificity and refinement. The information then is encoded to high-definition MIDI files that are played through a piano equipped to do so--in this case, a 1909 Steinway, painstakingly rebuilt by Faust Harrison Pianos.

How well do the Zenph re-performances replicate the originals? In one instance, perhaps a little too well: the split note near the beginning of Rachmaninov's 1942 Kreisler Liebesfreud here emerges clean as a whistle. Elsewhere, the phrasings, pedalings, dynamic relationships, and tempos appear accurate to an impressively high degree. However, certain rapid passages that project extraordinary lightness and point on disc sound slightly heavier via Zenph, such as The Flight of the Bumblebee's buzzing runs. Crescendos yield more pronounced sustain pedal and darker colorations on the disc version of the Tchaikovsky/Rachmaninov Lullaby Op. 16 No. 1. Certain detaché articulations in the Mendelssohn Midsummer Night's Dream Scherzo seem softer, less hard-hitting under Zenph's watch.

The re-performances are programmed twice: first in surround-sound, then again in two-channel stereo from the perspective of the pianist at the keyboard. Given Rachmaninov's perfectionist attitude in the recording studio, one wonders what he would have made of this fascinating and potentially controversial project.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

The young person's guide to the orchestra (though not presented as such) and anyone's guide to orchestration coupled together: and if you like the idea, I can scarcely imagine it being better done. You may think Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky too sophisticated—but you can hardly deny its invention and skill.

Both works are played with very great virtuosity, to the extent that you are likely to get much pleasure from hearing a superb orchestra showing off, and also, in the appropriate places, playing with much sensitivity. In the Mussorgsky, "The Old Castle" is most beautifully played; "Tuileries" is only an allegretto non troppo, no more, and is all the more attractive for it, while "Bydlo" isn't drearily slow. But there is brilliance in plenty: in the terrific vitality of "Gnomus", in the lightness of the "Dance of the Chickens in their Shells", in the characterisation of "Goldenberg and Schmuyle", and in the market at Limoges. The brass in "Catacombs" is exceptionally well judged and Ozawa makes a link into the next piece that is not marked but is very effective.

The piece is not, as usual, complete on one side but that doesn't matter with a concoction of this kind. My test copy did a bad groove jump in the loudest part of "The Great Gate of Kiev" but that will no doubt not be a general flaw. This was the stereo—the mono played perfectly well: all the same, these pieces, both Mussorgsky and Britten gain very greatly from the spaciousness of stereo. The Britten is almost equally well done —certainly the playing is of the greatest virtuosity. I would have liked the theme 'cleaner' and more Purcellian, for even though it is fully orchestrated by Britten, I feel sure he wants the character of its composer kept: and in the final fugue, when the brass bring back Purcell's theme, very grandly, Britten's fugue theme gets swamped in both stereo and mono, which misses the whole point of the writing.

But in general the recording is very good indeed and I have the greatest admiration for the Chicago orchestra's playing under Ozawa.

T.H., Gramophone [9/1968] Reviewing Original LP

* The King and I - The 1964 Music Theater of Lincoln Center revival recording!
* Richard Rodgers oversaw this production, which stars Risë Stevens and TV perennial Darren McGavin.
* Includes the first complete version of the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" ballet sequence.

The King and I, one of the most appealing, tender and completely delightful musicals by the unparalleled collaborators Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was the ideal choice as the first production of the Music Theater of Lincoln Center.

Based on Margaret Landon’s best-selling novel Anna and the King of Siam, the musical, first produced in 1951, tells the story of Anna Leonowens, an attractive mid-Victorian English widow, who has come to Bangkok at the request of the King of Siam to tutor his 67 children and palace of many wives through exposure to Western culture.

This 1964 production starred international opera singer Risë Stevens as Anna and Darren McGavin as the King. Others in the great cast include Lee Venora, Patricia Neway and Frank Porretta.

Risë Stevens, a Juilliard graduate, had established herself with many outstanding performances including that of Octavian in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and she later became the Met's leading mezzo-soprano. She sang with an equal commitment to beauty and excellence in serious opera, Hollywood film scores and Broadway musicals.

Darren McGavin, best known to TV viewers for his role in the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and his delightful portrayal as the grumpy Hoosier Dad and in the Jean Shepard classic film A Christmas Story, also appeared on Broadway stages in several noted productions including this one before returning more heavily into film and TV. His portrayal of the King of Siam is regal and commanding.

On the delightful bonus tracks, offered only on this CD there are performances of some of the memorable songs from this musical sung by Dinah Shore, Robert Merrill and Richard Kiley. The bonus tracks were actually recorded a few days before the show’s 1951 premiere at the St James Theater. Dinah Shore’s “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” Robert Merrill’s “A Puzzlement” and the version of “I Have Dreamed” that partners Patrice Munsel and Tony Martin come from an RCA Victor studio recording with Al Goodman and Henri Rene conducting. Shore and Martin were top-selling pop singers, and Munsel and Merriill crossed over from the opera stage. Their performances are a souvenir of another era, when Broadway musicals were the source of top-40 pop hits. Richard Kiley’s bonus tracks come from the singer/actor’s 1959 RCA Victor studio recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, recorded in the wake of Kiley’s Tony Award winning performance in Redhead.

These bonus tracks, all cover versions, present arrangements that are fascinatingly different from the great songs within the context of the original show. Being pop arrangements, they were designed to appeal to casual listeners yet they also remain a part of the pop-culture legacy of The King and I.

- Excerpted and based on the liner notes.

The King and I - Music Theater of Lincoln Center revival recording.
Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein.
Principal cast includes: Risë Stevens, Darren McGavin, Lee Venora, Frank Porretta, and Patricia Neway.
Franz Allers, conductor.

Bonus tracks include tracks by Richard Kiley, Dinah Shore and Robert Merrill.
Recorded 1964, in the Music Theater of Lincoln Center, New York, NY.
Directed by: Edward M. Greenberg.

Orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett Tracks:
Act I:
1. The King and I - Overture / Franz Allers
2. I Whistle A Happy Tune / Risë Stevens; James Harvey
3. My Lord And Master / Lee Venora
4. Hello, Young Lovers / Risë Stevens
5. March Of The Siamese Children / Franz Allers
6. A Puzzlement / Darren McGavin
7. Getting To Know You / Risë Stevens
8. We Kiss In A Shadow / Lee Venora; Frank Porretta
9. Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You? / Risë Stevens
10. Something Wonderful / Patricia Neway
Act II:v 11. Western People Funny / Patricia Neway
12. I Have Dreamed / Lee Venora;Frank Porretta
13. The Small House Of Uncle Thomas / Lee Venora
14. Shall We Dance? / Risë Stevens;Darren McGavin
15. Something Wonderful (reprise)

Reviews of original LPs

This is an attractive performance of a work that remains astonishingly fresh and delightful. I don't suppose it will please the purists—some continuo bits filled in with strings, not enough harpsichord anyway, and no doubt somebody will complain about ornamentation—but at this price the record is obviously intended for a wide public and the important thing is that Brusilow and the Philadelphia strings present the music in a most engaging way.
Anshel Brusilow is a new name to me. He is a most accomplished player and, with Ormandy, gives a vivid and musical performance, very well recorded. The lively movements are robust, the slow ones are beautifully played.
In case any reader hasn't yet heard these extraordinarily delightful concertos and is the sort who isn't normally attracted by early eighteenth-century music anyway, I do urge him to risk so small a sum on a record of The Four Seasons.

-- F. T.H., Gramophone [7/1962]

"We are so accustomed nowadays to Vivaldi being played by specialist groups such as the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the ECO, I Musici and others that we have almost forgotten how the music was played before the Vivaldi revival really gathered momentum. There is no lack of panache and virtuosity in these accounts recorded by Stern and Oistrakh whose playing roused Denis Stevens's enthusiasm on the disc's first appearance. "It really does make a difference when violinists of the calibre of Oistrakh and Stern combine to play a double concerto... The performances are so fluent and musical that one's attention is held from the first groove to the last". Indeed the violin playing as such will excite the admiration of all aficionados for there is superb brilliance in the outer movements and expressive playing in the inner movements."

-- R.L., Gramophone [10/1975]

VIRTUE, the new recording from jazz keyboard virtuoso Eldar, affirms his position at the forefront of contemporary jazz and is a fitting follow- up to his 2008 Grammy nominated album, re-imagination. Partnered by bassist Armando Gola and Ludwig Afonso, VIRTUE features mostly original compositions by Eldar and demonstrates the continued development of his writing. Eldar also welcomes guest appearances by trumpeter Nicholas Payton and saxophonists Joshua Redman and Felipe Lamoglia.

80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

FALSTAFF

REVIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION:

“Both the freshest and funniest show on Broadway, and it establishes some sort of standard in skill, taste and comic dexterity ... In style and taste A Thurber Carnival is wonderful – a glorious world of meaningful nonsense.” ATKINSON, The Times

“Completely captivating ... between the meaningful silences and the great guffaws there are dandy chuckles ... A Thurber Carnival is sheer delight ... The whole thing is dandy. And very advanced.” KERR, Herald Tribune

“About as agreeably comic as it can be ... very often we find ourselves laugh- ing at what was said a couple of lines ago ... From the opening dance ... we feel perfectly adjusted to the dry cli- mate of (Mr. Thurber’s) unostentatious humor ... (and) comfortably participating in the chaos of our times.” HEWES, Saturday Review

“A tonic anthology of the great man’s work compiled by himself, and easily the funniest show on Broadway ... music which is unfailingly spruce and witty.” TYNAN, The New Yorker

“If there is one proposition upon which every intelligent English-speaking man, woman and child is in hearty agree- ment, it is that James Thurber is incom- parable as wit, humorist and sage ... (A Thurber Carnival) is a civilized joy ... there is cause for nothing but delight.” WATTS, Post

“A joyous, magnificently lunatic festival ... anybody who shuns this house of laughter is crazy...” CHAPMAN, News

COMPLETE TRACK LIST:

1 . OPENING 2:30 Don Elliott Quartet
2 . WORD DANCE (PART I) 4:56 Peggy Cass, Paul Ford, John McGiver, Alice Ghostley, Peter Turgeon, Wynne Miller, Margo Lungreen, Charles Braswell
3 . THE NIGHT THE BED FELL 10:00 Tom Ewell
4 . THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN 2:58 Narrator: Peter Turgeon Man: Paul Ford She: Alice Ghostley Psychiatrist: John McGiver Policeman: Charles Braswell
5 . THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE WOLF 1:37 Narrator: Peggy Cass Wolf: Paul Ford Little Girl: Wynne Miller
6 . MEMORIAL TO A DOG 5:02 Tom Ewell
7 . CASUALS OF THE KEYS 8:10 Visitor: John McGiver Darrel Darke: Paul Ford
8 . THE LAST FLOWER 3:16 Tom Ewell
9 . FILE AND FORGET 13:29 James Thurber: Tom Ewell Miss Bagley: Margo Lungreen Miss Alma Wineage: Peggy Cass Miss Wynne: Wynne Miller Jeannette Gaines: Alice Ghostley Clint Jordan: Paul Ford H.F. Cluffman: John McGiver
10 . WORD DANCE (PART II) 3:06 Tom Ewell, Peggy Cass, Paul Ford, John McGiver, Alice Ghostley, Peter Turgeon, Wynne Miller, Margo Lungreen, Charles Braswell, Don Elliott Quartet

A Thurber Carnival opened at the ANTA Theatre in New York City on February 26, 1960 and ran for 223 performances, with a break from June 25 to September 5. It closed on November 26, 1960.

Produced for records by GODDARD LIEBERSON.

The purity and crystalline clarity of Serkin's piano playing helped him set new standards in the inpretation of Mozart, Schubert and especially Beethoven. Here are two discs of the Austrian master's definitive recordings: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Eleven Bagatelles ; Mozart's treasured Piano Concerto No. 20 ; Schubert's Four Impromptus and Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-Flat Major, plus Schumann, Brahms and more!

It ran well over 1,000 times, won the Tony for Best Musical and is still a perennial favorite-it's 1954's the Pajama Game and this is it's original cast recording! It's standards Hey There and Hernando's Hideaway join Steam Heat; I'm Not at All in Love, and more.

WAGNER: DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDE

German bass-baritone Theo Adam sings the role of the generous philosopher-poet Hans Sachs in this dazzling performance at the Metropolitan Opera from January 15, 1972 of Wagner’s only comedy, with Spanish soprano Pilar Lorengar as Eva and American tenor James King as the young hero Walther von Stolzing.

Thomas Schippers conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus with a cast that includes the famous German character singer Benno Kusche (as the pathetic villain Beckmesser) and a host of much-admired American singers including Shirley Love (Magdalene), Loren Driscoll (David), Ezio Flagello (Pogner), Donald Gramm (Kothner) and – in a small role, early in his career – the Met’s current (2011) Hans Sachs, James Morris (Schwarz).

TWO ROADS TO EXILE (BRAUNFELS:

COPLAND GREAT HITS

WAGNER GREAT HITS