44.00 PLN

CD:

Nr kat.: FRC6102
Label  : Regis Records

Oklahoma! & South Pacific Richard Rodgers (1902 - 79) and Oscar Hammerstein Il (1895 - 1960) are unquestionably the most successful songwriting team ever to grace the New York and London stages. For many, they are the American musical and most of their shows enjoyed record-breaking runs as follows: Oklahoma! 2212 (1543 in London), Carousel 890 (566), South Pacific 1925 (792), The King and l 1246 (926) and their final show The Sound of Music 1443 (2386). Only in the mid fifties did their success falter (Flower Drum Song- a modest hit running for a year and a half on Broadway). Both men bad known each other since 1916 and collaborated on a Broadway show in 1919, but they only came to work together as a regular team through the antisocial behavior of Richard Rodgers' great partner Lorenz (Larry) Hart. Larry Hart, born in 1895, was probably the most gifted lyricist in the history of modern musical theatre. His complex internal rhymes, a constant joy, demonstrated an assumption that his audience was equally well-read and indeed directors often demanded that songs be removed because they found them to be too erudite. Hart was the complete opposite of Rodgers: twitchy, gnome like, basically lazy (although he was equally capable of huge bursts of creative energy, composing lyrics often in crowded rooms) and, sadly, also an alcoholic with a wretched choice of `friends' who sponged off him and encouraged him down the slippery slope. The more languid Rodgers, on the other hand, liked to keep a regular timetable, was always impeccably dressed, and spent his money wisely. He also reluctantly found himself in the position of being Hart's keeper, rescuing him from the streets and hospitals on the many occasions when Hart was out on a bender. Both men shared a hatred of formulaic shows and each successive piece, whether success or failure, had something new to offer the musical stage. Of their many successes those best remembered today are On Your Toes (1936), famous for `There's a small hotel' and the ballet sequence `Slaughter on Tenth Avenue' and Babes in Arms (1937), which starred a cast of precocious teenagers but boasted a wealth of memorable songs: `Where or when', `I wish I were in love again', `My funny Valentine', Johnny- One-Note' and the hilarious spoof cowboy song `Way out West'. Other groundbreaking shows were A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur (1927), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), and Pa Jjoey (1940). Their last was Byjupiter, produced in 1942. Larry Hart died the following year. During the run of By Jupiter the Theatre Guild had announced a new musical adaptation of Lynn Riggs' play Green Grow the Lilacs. Hart, wanting a holiday, was against the idea and Rodgers instead approached a common friend Oscar Hammerstein 11 to ask his advice. Hammerstein, responsible for writing the lyrics for some of Broadway's greatest shows including Show Boat, Rose Marie and New Moon, offered to help out with the lyrics and once it became clear that Hart was incapable of work, stepped in as Rodgers' partner. Both men raised the money for the new show themselves as the Theatre Guild was currently penniless but it was clear, during the Boston tryout, that they had a major hit on their hands. The show, now named Oklahoma!, opened at the St James Theatre on 31 March 1943 and perfectly captured the mood both of the original play and of the times. Rodgers and Hammerstein both saw eye to eye with regard to the integration of music and text. Unlike Hart, Hammerstein rarely displayed his erudition: the songs, in keeping with the characters in the play are written in a simple language that spoke directly to the audiences, one such example being the opening song `Oh what a beautiful morning' which is largely made up from Riggs' stage directions. The story concerns the rivalry between two ranch hands (Curley and Jud Fry) for the affections of Laurey. Laurey appears initially to favour Jud, allowing him to escort her to a dance. However, Curley demonstrates his love by bidding his entire possessions for Laurey's food basket and they marry. The jealous Jud picks a fight with Curley and is accidentally killed. Curley is acquitted of murder just as the new state of Oklahoma is announced. The cast featured Alfred Drake (a member of the original Babes in Arms team) as Curley and a young singer Joan Roberts who had previously starred in one of Hammerstein's many recent failures took the part of Laurey. Celeste Holm played Ado Annie, the girl who `cain't say no' to perfection whilst Howard Da Silva as the bullying Jud Fry created a superb villain. Tempers often flared up in rehearsal between the director Rouben Mamoulian, choreographer Agnes de Mille and Rodgers and Hammerstein but once the show opened, everything ran smoothly. The fourth Rodgers and Hammerstein show South Pacific opened six years later in 1949. This was based upon a series of episodes taken from James Mitchener's Tales of the South Pacific. Once again the songs were perfectly integrated into the story line which concerned racial and cultural tensions between two pairs of lovers: an American sea captain and a Polynesian girl and a young American nurse's on-off affair with a more mature French planter. The casting of the Metropolitan Opera's favourite bass Ezio Pinza as the planter Emile de Becque caused a stir but he proved to be an inspired choice, his gloriously warm and dark voice virtually untouched after singing Verdi at the Met and elsewhere for the past thirty years. Mary Martin, who originally turned down the part of Laurey, in the meantime had become a star herself. She created the role of Nellie Forbush for Broadway and London. Although extracts from shows had been recorded in the past by original cast members, Oklahoma! was the first show to be recorded almost complete on 78s. By the time of South Pacific, the concept of an original cast album had become an accepted marketing tool and over the years that LP became one of RCA's best ever sellers.