Naxos
American Classics - Anderson: Orchestral Music Vol 5
$19.99
Details
- Composer
- ANDERSON, LEROY
- Artist
- Criswell, Dazeley, Slatkin
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Naxos
- Released
- Nov 18, 2008
- Catalog #
- 8559382
- UPC
- 636943938225
About
Goldilocks strikes gold. Undeservedly neglected light music.
What a pleasure to hear such jolly upbeat music. Leroy Anderson’s Goldilocks music lifts the spirits right from the start. This, the fifth album in the Naxos Anderson series, concentrates almost entirely on his music for the 1958 Broadway musical. Alas it was not a success; it expired after only 161 performances. The book took most of the blame. The show’s title Goldilocks probably didn’t help it much either and at that time there was a lot of competition on Broadway including: West Side Story, The Music Man and My Fair Lady. But Leroy Anderson’s music was mostly praised.
The Goldilocks Overture sparkles; all the excerpt numbers are little gems. ‘One Good Kiss Deserves Another’ has a winning melody. William Dazely singing nicely in the ballad style of the period and is joined by a nicely coy Kim Criswell. ‘Shall I Take My Heart and Go’ is another lovely, dreamily-romantic ballad. This number is also reprised separately as an instrumental item. These two songs alone, one feels, should have ensured the success of Goldilocks especially as presented here. But this 70+ reviewer is an unashamed romantic and a lover of the musicals of this period.
Additionally there is: ‘The Pussy Foot’, a terrific swing number that will set your feet a-tapping. The ‘Pirate Dance’ bounces cheekily along, tongue-in-cheek redolent of all those Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn swashbucklers of that period. The droll ‘Who’s Been Sitting in My Chair’ is quite unlike Eric Coates’s Three Bears, rather it begins in Old-English rustic style before developing into a burlesque-like number - apparently in the show Maggie actually dances to it with a guy in a bear suit. The memorable ‘The Lady-in-Waiting Ballet’ is a quintessential Leroy Anderson with its sweeping, swinging waltz tune. ‘The Lady in Waiting Waltz’ (played later, separately) glistens and it has witty allusions to Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel and Der Rosenkavalier. ‘The Town Maxixe’ is an easy-going number that swings along interrupted by material reminiscent of old-style madrigal tunes. ‘I Never Knew When’ is another appealing romantic ballad, but without vocals, beginning almost Arabian Nights-like before developing into smoochiness. The ‘Pyramid Dance’ is all exuberance, bouncing and rushing along, a sort of mix of Khachaturian and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Followers of the reviews of the preceding four volumes in this series will no doubt remember that Leroy Anderson arranged a number of suites of carols for different combinations of instruments - the others were for strings and brass. This collection,
for wind instruments, comprises: ‘Angels in our Fields’, ‘O Sanctissima’; ‘O come, O come Emmanuel, O come’ (an inspired little pastorale); ‘Little Children’; ‘Coventry Carol’; and ‘Patapan’.
As before Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Concert Orchestra offer polished, genial readings full of joie de vivre.
Goldilocks strikes gold. Undeservedly neglected light music.
-- Ian Lace, MusicWeb International
What a pleasure to hear such jolly upbeat music. Leroy Anderson’s Goldilocks music lifts the spirits right from the start. This, the fifth album in the Naxos Anderson series, concentrates almost entirely on his music for the 1958 Broadway musical. Alas it was not a success; it expired after only 161 performances. The book took most of the blame. The show’s title Goldilocks probably didn’t help it much either and at that time there was a lot of competition on Broadway including: West Side Story, The Music Man and My Fair Lady. But Leroy Anderson’s music was mostly praised.
The Goldilocks Overture sparkles; all the excerpt numbers are little gems. ‘One Good Kiss Deserves Another’ has a winning melody. William Dazely singing nicely in the ballad style of the period and is joined by a nicely coy Kim Criswell. ‘Shall I Take My Heart and Go’ is another lovely, dreamily-romantic ballad. This number is also reprised separately as an instrumental item. These two songs alone, one feels, should have ensured the success of Goldilocks especially as presented here. But this 70+ reviewer is an unashamed romantic and a lover of the musicals of this period.
Additionally there is: ‘The Pussy Foot’, a terrific swing number that will set your feet a-tapping. The ‘Pirate Dance’ bounces cheekily along, tongue-in-cheek redolent of all those Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn swashbucklers of that period. The droll ‘Who’s Been Sitting in My Chair’ is quite unlike Eric Coates’s Three Bears, rather it begins in Old-English rustic style before developing into a burlesque-like number - apparently in the show Maggie actually dances to it with a guy in a bear suit. The memorable ‘The Lady-in-Waiting Ballet’ is a quintessential Leroy Anderson with its sweeping, swinging waltz tune. ‘The Lady in Waiting Waltz’ (played later, separately) glistens and it has witty allusions to Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel and Der Rosenkavalier. ‘The Town Maxixe’ is an easy-going number that swings along interrupted by material reminiscent of old-style madrigal tunes. ‘I Never Knew When’ is another appealing romantic ballad, but without vocals, beginning almost Arabian Nights-like before developing into smoochiness. The ‘Pyramid Dance’ is all exuberance, bouncing and rushing along, a sort of mix of Khachaturian and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Followers of the reviews of the preceding four volumes in this series will no doubt remember that Leroy Anderson arranged a number of suites of carols for different combinations of instruments - the others were for strings and brass. This collection,
for wind instruments, comprises: ‘Angels in our Fields’, ‘O Sanctissima’; ‘O come, O come Emmanuel, O come’ (an inspired little pastorale); ‘Little Children’; ‘Coventry Carol’; and ‘Patapan’.
As before Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Concert Orchestra offer polished, genial readings full of joie de vivre.
Goldilocks strikes gold. Undeservedly neglected light music.
-- Ian Lace, MusicWeb International
Tracklist 19 tracks
-
1 Overture (original version, orchestrated by D. Ross) 04:57
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Overture (original version, orchestrated by D. Ross)
- Duration
- 04:57
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
2 Lazy Moon 01:44
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Lazy Moon
- Duration
- 01:44
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
3 Save a Kiss 03:23
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Save a Kiss
- Duration
- 03:23
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Performer
- Kim Criswell, William Dazeley
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
4 The Pussy Foot 03:11
- Track
- 4
- Title
- The Pussy Foot
- Duration
- 03:11
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
5 Pirate Dance 02:19
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Pirate Dance
- Duration
- 02:19
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
6 Who's Been Sitting in My Chair? 02:08
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Who's Been Sitting in My Chair?
- Duration
- 02:08
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Performer
- Kim Criswell
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
7 Lady in Waiting, Ballet 05:14
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Lady in Waiting, Ballet
- Duration
- 05:14
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
8 Shall I Take My Heart and Go? 03:16
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Shall I Take My Heart and Go?
- Duration
- 03:16
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Performer
- William Dazeley
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
9 The Town House Maxixe 03:09
- Track
- 9
- Title
- The Town House Maxixe
- Duration
- 03:09
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
10 I Never Know When 03:05
- Track
- 10
- Title
- I Never Know When
- Duration
- 03:05
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
11 Pyramid Dance 03:13
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Pyramid Dance
- Duration
- 03:13
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
12 I. Angels in our Fields 02:33
- Track
- 12
- Title
- I. Angels in our Fields
- Duration
- 02:33
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
13 II. O Sanctissima 01:39
- Track
- 13
- Title
- II. O Sanctissima
- Duration
- 01:39
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
14 III. O come, O come Emmanuel, O come 02:29
- Track
- 14
- Title
- III. O come, O come Emmanuel, O come
- Duration
- 02:29
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
15 IV. Little Children 01:05
- Track
- 15
- Title
- IV. Little Children
- Duration
- 01:05
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
16 V. Coventry Carol 01:35
- Track
- 16
- Title
- V. Coventry Carol
- Duration
- 01:35
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
17 VI. Patapan 01:24
- Track
- 17
- Title
- VI. Patapan
- Duration
- 01:24
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
18 Lady in Waiting, Waltz 03:26
- Track
- 18
- Title
- Lady in Waiting, Waltz
- Duration
- 03:26
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin
-
19 Shall I Take My Heart (instrumental) 02:24
- Track
- 19
- Title
- Shall I Take My Heart (instrumental)
- Duration
- 02:24
- Composer
- Leroy Anderson
- Ensemble
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Conductor
- Leonard Slatkin