Desert Song, Sigmund Romberg’s classic musical with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, is brought to life in this 1959 Living Stereo recording. The cast features Giorgio Tozzi – a mainstay at the Metropolitan Opera at the time – Kathy Barr and Peter Palmer (Lil’ Abner). Legendary maestro Lehman Engel provided brand new arrangements as well as serving as musical director for the recording. Long unavailable in any format, this is the first release of the 1959 Studio Cast recording of Desert Song in the digital era.

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Thirty years ago the operetta stage reached one of its highest points when Sigmund Romberg's The Desert Song thundered across the stages of the world, thrilling audiences with its wonderful combination of romantic love songs and full-throated male singing ensembles. And when the dashing Red Shadow swept the love-struck Margo into his arms and carried her over the burning sands, he held every woman within hearing in the palm of his hand.

In the album you hold in your hands, two great voices of today, Giorgio Tozzi and Kathy Barr, sparkling modern orchestral arrangements by Lehman Engel, and the finest recording techniques are all blended to bring you a new RCA Victor production of The Desert Song which does full justice to the beloved Romberg melodies.

The rich, warm voice of Chicago-born, Milan-trained Giorgio Tozzi captures the excitement of “The Riff Song,” the dedicated love of “One Alone” and the beguil­ing romance of “The Desert Song.” You have only to listen to understand why Giorgio Tozzi is winning new laurels at the Metropolitan Opera each year.

Beautiful young Kathy Barr is the Margo of our production. She sings the difficult and demanding role, including the lovely “Romance” and “The Sabre Song,” with all of the vocal wizardry which has won her the applause of musical comedy and night club audiences from San Francisco to Monte Carlo.

Then there is the glorious singing ensemble to provide rich tones for the full-stage musical numbers, the likes of which are not being written any more. All in all, The Desert Song is a lovely recapture of a time gone by, told in the musical language of today by a pair of singing stars whose voices were made for each other. So put the disc on your player, lean back, and fall once more under the spell of The Desert Song.

– Leonard Louis Levinson, 1958, from the original liner notes for LOP-1000