Post by cinemediapromo on Sept 12, 2006 22:48:44 GMT -5
For Immediate Release
First Time On CD!
Candide, The King And I, My Fair Lady, South Pacific
FOUR CLASSIC BROADWAY MUSICALS
SING AGAIN IN ESSENTIAL STEREO REVIVAL RECORDINGS
FROM THE MASTERWORKS BROADWAY CATALOGUE
DIGITALLY REMASTERED FOR THEIR CD DEBUT
CDs IN STORES AUGUST 29, 2006
Christine Andreas, Florence Henderson, Risë Stevens,
Giorgio Tozzi, Ian Richardson, George Rose
Among The Stars Of These Long-Unavailable Recordings
A quartet of legendary Broadway musicals – Candide, The King and I, My Fair Lady and South Pacific – gets a fresh airing in Masterworks Broadway’s restoration of four essential cast recordings never before been issued on CD. Originally recorded in stereo and each a more complete representation of the show than its original cast recording, the four Masterworks Broadway titles have been remastered for this release from original analogue source tapes using Sony’s Direct Stream Digital (DSD) System and SBM Direct to achieve the best in restored sound. Candide, The King and I, My Fair Lady and South Pacific will be in stores August 29, 2006.
Masterworks Broadway is a new imprint of Sony BMG Masterworks, showcasing the label’s commitment to the great music of Broadway past and present. Masterworks Broadway will explore the riches of its combined catalogue of show recordings, originally made for RCA/BMG Classics and Columbia/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical, in addition to recordings of new musical productions, such as the current hit The Wedding Singer, the upcoming revival of A Chorus Line and a deluxe 10th-anniversary edition of Chicago.
All four recordings have been repackaged with original cover art, and each booklet is illustrated with rarely seen session photos from the Sony BMG Archives.
The two Rodgers and Hammerstein titles – The King and I and South Pacific – are recordings of lavish Music Theater of Lincoln Center revivals, which were cast and supervised by Richard Rodgers himself in 1964 and 1967, respectively. Original cast recordings of both shows predated stereo recording, so these are the only stereo theatrical recordings that directly reflect Rodgers’ famously specific ideas about how the scores should sound.
For South Pacific – a recording produced by Edward Kleban, who would later become the lyricist of A Chorus Line – the composer cast the operatic bass Giorgio Tozzi for the role of Emile de Becque (Tozzi “ghosted” the songs for actor Rossano Brazzi on the soundtrack of the 1958 film version) and, as the irrepressible Ensign Nellie Forbush, Broadway veteran Florence Henderson, shortly before she entered the pop-culture pantheon as the mom on TV’s The Brady Bunch.
The CD release of The King and I includes a brief track – “Western People Funny” – that was recorded at the original sessions but never released. Opera’s Risë Stevens and the late TV star Darren McGavin headline as Anna and the King of Siam, with richly sung supporting performances by Tony winner Patricia Neway (The Sound of Music) as Lady Thiang, Lee Venora as Tuptim and Frank Porretta as Lun Tha. This musically impeccable interpretation – led by Stevens’ gracious Anna and McGavin as a powerful but less domineering King than Yul Brynner – might well be taken as Rodgers’ final word on the show.
The Candide recording captures the uproarious energy – dialogue as well as musical numbers – of director Harold Prince’s iconoclastic reinterpretation of this problematic musical, first staged in Brooklyn in 1973 and transferred to Broadway the following year for a lengthy run that resulted in five Tony Awards and a special citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle. With its cheerfully profane new book, some fresh Stephen Sondheim lyrics and zesty orchestrations, this Candide is a radical but hugely entertaining departure from the much grander original production, featuring infectious performances from Mark Baker, Maureen Brennan, Lewis J. Stadlen and June Gable.
The 1976 recording of Broadway’s 20th anniversary revival of My Fair Lady gives a new lease on life to a show inevitably haunted by the voices of Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway on the original cast recordings from New York and London. Christine Andreas, who is currently starring in the national tour of The Light in the Piazza, had her breakthrough on Broadway as Eliza Doolittle in this production, opposite Ian Richardson’s distinctive Henry Higgins and George Rose’s Tony-winning portrayal of Alfred P. Doolittle. The sumptuous recording includes “The Embassy Waltz,” which did not make the cut on either of the show’s original cast recordings.
Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal and deutsche harmonia mundi are labels of SONY BMG MASTERWORKS. For e-mail updates and information regarding RCA Red Seal, Sony Classical and deutsche harmonia mundi artists, promotions, tours and repertoire, please visit www.sonybmgmasterworks.com.
###
CONTACT: cinemediapromo@yahoo.com
First Time On CD!
Candide, The King And I, My Fair Lady, South Pacific
FOUR CLASSIC BROADWAY MUSICALS
SING AGAIN IN ESSENTIAL STEREO REVIVAL RECORDINGS
FROM THE MASTERWORKS BROADWAY CATALOGUE
DIGITALLY REMASTERED FOR THEIR CD DEBUT
CDs IN STORES AUGUST 29, 2006
Christine Andreas, Florence Henderson, Risë Stevens,
Giorgio Tozzi, Ian Richardson, George Rose
Among The Stars Of These Long-Unavailable Recordings
A quartet of legendary Broadway musicals – Candide, The King and I, My Fair Lady and South Pacific – gets a fresh airing in Masterworks Broadway’s restoration of four essential cast recordings never before been issued on CD. Originally recorded in stereo and each a more complete representation of the show than its original cast recording, the four Masterworks Broadway titles have been remastered for this release from original analogue source tapes using Sony’s Direct Stream Digital (DSD) System and SBM Direct to achieve the best in restored sound. Candide, The King and I, My Fair Lady and South Pacific will be in stores August 29, 2006.
Masterworks Broadway is a new imprint of Sony BMG Masterworks, showcasing the label’s commitment to the great music of Broadway past and present. Masterworks Broadway will explore the riches of its combined catalogue of show recordings, originally made for RCA/BMG Classics and Columbia/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical, in addition to recordings of new musical productions, such as the current hit The Wedding Singer, the upcoming revival of A Chorus Line and a deluxe 10th-anniversary edition of Chicago.
All four recordings have been repackaged with original cover art, and each booklet is illustrated with rarely seen session photos from the Sony BMG Archives.
The two Rodgers and Hammerstein titles – The King and I and South Pacific – are recordings of lavish Music Theater of Lincoln Center revivals, which were cast and supervised by Richard Rodgers himself in 1964 and 1967, respectively. Original cast recordings of both shows predated stereo recording, so these are the only stereo theatrical recordings that directly reflect Rodgers’ famously specific ideas about how the scores should sound.
For South Pacific – a recording produced by Edward Kleban, who would later become the lyricist of A Chorus Line – the composer cast the operatic bass Giorgio Tozzi for the role of Emile de Becque (Tozzi “ghosted” the songs for actor Rossano Brazzi on the soundtrack of the 1958 film version) and, as the irrepressible Ensign Nellie Forbush, Broadway veteran Florence Henderson, shortly before she entered the pop-culture pantheon as the mom on TV’s The Brady Bunch.
The CD release of The King and I includes a brief track – “Western People Funny” – that was recorded at the original sessions but never released. Opera’s Risë Stevens and the late TV star Darren McGavin headline as Anna and the King of Siam, with richly sung supporting performances by Tony winner Patricia Neway (The Sound of Music) as Lady Thiang, Lee Venora as Tuptim and Frank Porretta as Lun Tha. This musically impeccable interpretation – led by Stevens’ gracious Anna and McGavin as a powerful but less domineering King than Yul Brynner – might well be taken as Rodgers’ final word on the show.
The Candide recording captures the uproarious energy – dialogue as well as musical numbers – of director Harold Prince’s iconoclastic reinterpretation of this problematic musical, first staged in Brooklyn in 1973 and transferred to Broadway the following year for a lengthy run that resulted in five Tony Awards and a special citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle. With its cheerfully profane new book, some fresh Stephen Sondheim lyrics and zesty orchestrations, this Candide is a radical but hugely entertaining departure from the much grander original production, featuring infectious performances from Mark Baker, Maureen Brennan, Lewis J. Stadlen and June Gable.
The 1976 recording of Broadway’s 20th anniversary revival of My Fair Lady gives a new lease on life to a show inevitably haunted by the voices of Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway on the original cast recordings from New York and London. Christine Andreas, who is currently starring in the national tour of The Light in the Piazza, had her breakthrough on Broadway as Eliza Doolittle in this production, opposite Ian Richardson’s distinctive Henry Higgins and George Rose’s Tony-winning portrayal of Alfred P. Doolittle. The sumptuous recording includes “The Embassy Waltz,” which did not make the cut on either of the show’s original cast recordings.
Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal and deutsche harmonia mundi are labels of SONY BMG MASTERWORKS. For e-mail updates and information regarding RCA Red Seal, Sony Classical and deutsche harmonia mundi artists, promotions, tours and repertoire, please visit www.sonybmgmasterworks.com.
###
CONTACT: cinemediapromo@yahoo.com
