Street Life [Original recording remastered] [Import]

1. House On The Ocean

2. Little Boy

3. Life

4. Crazy

5. Hey Mr Big Time

6. Maccaroni

7. Break Free

8. Stranger

9. Crisis

10. Gran-Mama

11. Chicken Pies

12. Silver & Gold

13. Hey Dideldey

14. Hard Days Night

15. Thrills

16. Key To My Heart

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Digitally Remastered with CD-ROM Video Tracks Added as Well.

Tracks:

Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life! - Richard Crooks
Gypsy Love Song - CHARLES KULLMAN
Romany Life - Jeanette MacDonald
March Of The Toys - Victor Young & His Concert Orchestra
Kiss Me Again - Florence Easton
(The Day Is Done...) Moonbeams - Richard Crooks
Italian Street Song - Florence George/The Max Terr Choristers
I'm Falling In Love With Someone - CHARLES KULLMAN
'Neath The Southern Moon - Nelson Eddy
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp! - Nelson Eddy
Paul's Address: (My Commander As Envoy Bids Me Come...) No Country Can My Own Outvie - John McCormack
I List The Trill In Golden Throat - Alma Gluck/Charles Schuetz
The Cricket On The Earth - Christie MacDonald/Reginald Werrenrath/Howard Ratty
Sweethearts - Richard Tauber
To Land Of My Own Romance - John McHugh
When You're Away - Richard Tauber
Neapolitan Love Song - Richard Crooks
Ireland, My Sireland (When Shall I Again See Ireland?) - John McCormick/Dominic Melillo
Eileen Alannah Ashthore - John McCormick/Dominic Melillo
Thine Alone - CHARLES KULLMAN
A Kiss In The Dark - Amelita Galli-Curci
Indian Summer - Richard Tauber
Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life! - Jeanette Macdonald/Nelson Eddy

Customer Reviews:

Some old favourites, and some unfamiliar, enjoyable voices and songs.......2007-03-11

This compilation has the usual songs that immediately bring the name of composer Victor Herbert to mind - Ah, sweet mystery of life, I'm falling in love with someone and Tramp, tramp, tramp - with such well known voices as those of Macdonald, Eddy and the famous tenors, Richard Crooks, Richard Tauber and Charles Kullmann.

Perhaps of greater interest to many listeners will be the relatively seldom heard artists, such as John McHugh, Florence Easton and Florence George. All three have very pleasant voices and aural personalities.

It is a somewhat mixed delight to hear Amelita Galli-Curci, John McCormack, Alma Gluck and Richard Werrenrath in recordings from the acoustic era. My personal favourite from that group is Galli-Cutci's charming version of A kiss in the dark.

Altogether, a well chosen mixture of the familiar and the out of the way, carefully and well re-recorded.

Average customer rating:

Conspicuous Extravagance
A decent chance to hear the complete score
Really helpful learning CD
Every note exactly as it was written - Fabulous!
I never made it past disc one.

Kiss Me, Kate (1993 London Studio Cast)

Manufacturer: Jay Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Kiss Me, Kate (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)
Sweet Charity (1995 Studio Cast)
Kiss Me Kate (Broadway Revival - PBS Great Performances)
The King and I (1992 Hollywood Studio Cast)
The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Original Broadway Cast)

ASIN: B000005BHS
Release Date: 1996-06-18

Tracks:

Overture - NSO/John Owen Edwards
Another Op'nin, Another Show - Shezwae Powell/Original Cast
Why Can't You Behave? - Diane Langton/Graham Bickley
Wunderbar - Diana Montague/Thomas Allen
So In Love - Diane Montague
Padua Street Scene/We Open In Venice - NSO/Diana Montague/Thomas Allen/Graham Bickley/Diane Langton
Tom, Dick or Harry - Michael Bauer/Graham Bickley/Paul Manuel/Diane Langton
Rose Dance - NSO/John Owen Edwards
I've Come To Wive It Wealthily in Padua - Thomas Allen/Original Cast
I Hate Men - Diana Montague
Were Thine That Special Face - Thomas Allen
I Sing Of Love - Diane Langton/Graham Buckley/Original Cast
Dance/Tarantella - NSO/John Owen Edwards
Finale Act One - Thomas Allen/Diana Montague/Brian Greene/Original Cast

Tracks:

Entr'acte - NSO/John Owen Edwards
Too Darn Hot - Paul Collis/Original Cast
Where Is The Life That Late I Led ? - Thomas Allen
Always True To You In My Fashion - Diane Langton
Bianca - Graham Buckley/Original Cast
So In Love Reprise - Thomas Allen
Brush Up Your Shakespeare - Brian Greene/Matt Zimmerman
Pavane - NSO/John Owen Edwards
I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple - Diana Montague
Shrew Finale/Grand Finale - Diana Montague/Thomas Allen/Original Cast
Can Can Overture - NSO/John Owen Edwards
Jubilee Overture - NSO/John Owen Edwards
Out Of This World Overture - NSO/John Owen Edwards

Customer Reviews:

Conspicuous Extravagance.......2004-09-08

It takes much more than this generally lack-luster performance delivers to overcome the intrinsic embarrassments of 'Kiss Me Kate'. While minor misogynies were then more or less default, if not de riguer, it is doubtful even the nudge-nudge friendly audiences of the 1940's and `50's would have put up with Cole Porter's stale, striving, prep school vulgarities had he not possessed an uncommon lyric gift.

And the set is too long. No one (except, apparently, devotees unwilling to settle for less than every note) needs instrumental reprises and variation-less dance numbers--especially when no purpose is discernable beyond running up a second disc. Most CD players have a Repeat mode. (At least the McGlinn/Barstow/Hampson EMI effort offers up some interesting out-takes to pad the second side; this one kicks in 15'' of overtures.)

Barring the two leads, the cast is ho-hum, and while Thomas Allen has his moments, he will not be remembered for his Fred Graham.

Notwithstanding all of the above, one is tempted to declare it all worth putting up with just to hear Diana Montague sing 'So in Love'--possibly Porter's loveliest song. (Why has no one thought of doing the reprise as a duet?) She even renders listenable the insufferably adolescent 'I Hate Men'. There's just not enough for her to sing in this show. Unless money is no object, go--for Montague alone--for the highlights disc.

A decent chance to hear the complete score.......2003-12-11

Until you've heard the complete score to "Kiss Me, Kate" with Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations recorded in good, modern sound, you don't know what you've been missing. Matchless as the original Broadway leads were, neither of the recordings they made satisfy completely. Both the original Columbia and the Capitol remake are missing huge chunks of the score and neither adequately conveys the quality of the orchestrations even in the parts that are recorded.

So it is slightly frustrating that there have been two complete recordings of "Kiss Me, Kate" in modern sound featuring the original orchestrations, and both of them have significant problems. The earlier recording, an EMI release conducted by John McGlinn, is not currently available in the U.S., while this JAY release is conducted by John Owen Edwards. Even though the EMI is not available, I'm going to compare the two, for those who are interested.

Both recordings are well-conducted, but I feel McGlinn gets more out of the score than does Owen Edwards. McGlinn can often be a bit stodgy, but his "Kate" is just gorgeous. He does a better job of bringing out all the neat touches in the orchestration than does Owen Edwards, and he's also better in the jazzier sections. Owen Edwards does a good job, but it's sad to hear him completely miss some moments, like when he fails to slow down sufficiently for the crucial second "And you're mine, dear" in "Wunderbar." Overall, McGlinn just points things better without getting too fussy. If only the same could be said for his cast.

But both recordings fall down in their casts. As Fred/Petruchio, McGlinn's Thomas Hampson is completely at sea. The music doesn't lie well for him, seeming to mostly sit in the least attractive part of his range. And his readings of the dialogue that is included is labored and self-conscious. Thomas Allen, on this JAY release, sounds older than Hampson, but his basic sound seems more attractive to me, the music lies better for him, and his dialogue, if not great, is at least not painful.

It must be said, though, that Hampson has been coached thoroughly in the role, and is aware of every nuance. The trouble is that he overdelivers on every nuance, whereas Allen almost sounds like he's sight-reading some of the score. Still, he's preferable to Hampson. I wish, though, that the JAY people had realized that they were using the bowdlerized British edition of the score. In "I've Come to Wive It Wealthily in Padua," Allen sings "doggone nose" instead of "goddamned nose." It's just not the same.

As Lilli/Kate, EMI's Josephine Barstow tries hard, perhaps a bit too hard, but what she does seems to me mostly suitable for the role. She does well everywhere except "I Hate Men," in which her vocal style just doesn't work, and she is further hampered by some lyrics not usually heard, and with good reason. The rest of the time, she puts out 110 percent. I suspect some may find her a bit too operatic, but I'm convinced by her. JAY's Diana Montague sings well, but is a bit pallid and humorless. She could use more of Barstow's spunk.

And so it goes. As Lois/Bianca, EMI's Kim Criswell is a bit pinched and colorless. JAY's Diane Langton sounds a bit old for the role, with some of her top notes a tad frayed, but brings more humor and brio to the role in general, especially "Always True to You in My Fashion," and this is one song on which Owen Edwards surpasses McGlinn.

As Bill/Lucentio, EMI's George Dvorsky is OK but a little staid, with "Bianca" oversung. JAY's Graham Bickley is more winning, even if his British accent shows through at moments. Without oversinging "Bianca," he still sounds like he has a voice that might have been good for Fred/Petruchio, and I suspect he would have better in the role than either Hampson (well, I'm sure of that) or Allen.

On the other hand, EMI's gangsters, Robert Nichols and David Garrison, are a hoot, surpassing JAY's pair, who are certainly good enough. And the other supporting roles tend to be a bit better on the EMI, with Davis Gaines and John Mark Ainsley particularly funny in their introductory sections to "Tom, Dick or Harry," while their counterparts on JAY don't seem to realize they could be funny. On JAY, Shezwae Powell does a good job with "Another Op'nin'," but with McGlinn's fabulous conducting, Karla Burns is even better on EMI. Similarly, Paul Collis does a nice job on "Too Darn Hot" on JAY, but Damon Evans really sizzles on EMI.

EMI also has more interesting filler, with cut songs from "Kate," although JAY's filler of the overtures to "Can Can," "Jubilee," and "Out of This World" is certainly nice to have.

So, on balance the EMI is perhaps a little bit better, if you can get past Hampson. But as long as it's not available, this JAY version will serve adequately.

Really helpful learning CD.......2003-03-11

As an MD for an amateur production of Kiss Me Kate, I found this recording useful as it contains not only every single note in the score, but also every encore as well. It was really helpful in learning the orchestration, as the score was a piano reduction. It certainly saved a lot of time in rehearsal trying to work out who has what tune etc. - I could do it from memory in that I knew the trumpet had the tune there etc. The choreographer used this recording to estimate how long each dance was - something very important as other shows I have done the Choreographer was using a different version of the show (such as the broadway revival of Kiss Me Kate).
Singers can listen to this and know exactly what they will hear from the pit - which is always a helpful thing!! And less experienced singers (or non singers!!) can learn by ear.
I agree with another review that dislikes the singing - however my use was only for learning. The voices don't seem well suited for the parts, however they are not so bad that you cringe in horror - I think stopping after the first disc is a bit excessive!

Every note exactly as it was written - Fabulous!.......2002-05-09

Great CD - Don't be fooled by other 'jazzed up' versions - this is how it was written and how you'll normally hear it performed. A very gutsy and earthy performance all round. The original Broadway album, sounds great but has alot of "enhancements" which the composer never wanted put in and disapproved of. Go for this one if you want the true Kiss Me, Kate in it's full version - NO CUTS or HIGHLGHTS!

I never made it past disc one........2000-07-04

It's a shame the John McGlinn recording on EMI is out of print, because this travesty is no compensation at all. The singers are really, really bad. And the conductor fails to capture the swing of the score, leaving it sounding dull and lifeless. Run, don't walk, away from this CD.

Average customer rating:

Broadway

Manufacturer: Intersound Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005YOX8
Release Date: 1996-03-04

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