- Booklet languages: English
- Time: 215:31
- Release Date: 2004
Review
Looking at the cover of
Silva Treasury's four-CD box set Musicals: The Gold Collection, the prospective buyer could be forgiven for assuming that the collection draws upon vintage recordings from original London cast albums. After all, the word "gold" is in the title, and the artist credit is to "stars of the London stage." But those who are familiar with
Silva's other recordings, which tend to be newly made versions of classic film soundtracks, will not be surprised to discover that many of the label's usual performers, particularly the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Crouch End Festival Chorus, are on board, and that these are also new recordings. And the "stars of the London stage?" Well, they are Meredith Braun, Keith Burns, Sharon Campbell, Mary Carewe, Gerard Casey, Chris Corcoran, Keith Ferreira,
Lesley Garrett, Helen Hobson, Michele Hooper, Christopher Howard, Jason Howard, Ria Jones, John Langley, David Shannon, Deborah Steel, Jill Washington, Dave Willetts, and Tania Williams. Don't feel bad if you've never heard of any of these "stars." In addition to the name performers who originate starring roles and open shows on Broadway and in the West End, there is a small army of talented artists who stand in for those real stars when they are sick or replace them in long-running shows, and those are the kind of singers heard on this album. For example, Dave Willetts, who sings five songs, including two from
Phantom of the Opera, has, according to the liner notes, played the part of the Phantom in London and on tour for more than five years, and Jill Washington, who duets with Jason Howard on "Stranger in Paradise" from
Kismet and "Make Believe" from
Show Boat, has played the leading part of Christine in
The Phantom of the Opera "more than any other actress in the world." As Britons, these performers, not surprisingly, got their real grounding in the
Andrew Lloyd Webber-composed British musicals of the 1970s and '80s, as well as in
Les Misérables, and they are at their best when performing songs from those shows, as they do on 19 tracks out of 56. They are less impressive on the older American material, including 11 songs composed by
Richard Rodgers. And the two schools of musical do not sit well together, as they are more or less randomly interspersed on the four discs. The result is a long album of miscellaneous show music dating from the 1920s to the 1980s, recorded in the 21st century by professional, largely unknown performers. It will be of interest as a curiosity to theater music fans, but it does not deserve to be called a "gold collection" performed by "stars." ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
Performances
| Leonard Bernstein |
West Side Story, musical (America) |
5:00 |
| Charles Strouse |
Annie, musical (Tomorrow) |
2:58 |
| Irving Berlin |
Annie Get Your Gun, musical (Anything You Can Do) |
3:23 |
| Irving Berlin |
Annie Get Your Gun, musical (The Girl That I Marry / My Defences Are Down) |
4:49 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Aspects of Love, musical (Love Changes Everything) |
3:05 |
| Cole Porter |
Anything Goes, musical play (Anything Goes) |
3:01 |
| John Kander |
Cabaret, musical play (Cabaret) |
3:59 |
| Jerry Herman |
La Cage aux Folles, musical (I Am What I Am) |
2:56 |
| Georges Bizet |
Carmen Jones, musical play (adapted from Carmen by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Dat's Love) |
3:37 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Cats, musical (Memory) |
4:01 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Cats, musical (Macavity: The Mystery Cat) |
5:10 |
| Richard Rodgers |
Carousel, musical (Soliloquy) |
7:39 |
| Richard Rodgers |
Carousel, musical (If I Loved You) |
4:17 |
| Richard Rodgers |
Carousel, musical (You'll Never Walk Alone) |
3:42 |
| Stig Anderson |
Chess, musical play (I Know Him So Well) |
4:00 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Evita, musical (Don't Cry for Me Argentina) |
5:15 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Evita, musical (Another Suitcase in Another Hall) |
3:03 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Evita, musical (High Flying Adored) |
3:23 |
| Harvey Schmidt |
The Fantasticks, musical (Try to Remember) |
4:05 |
| Jerry Bock |
Fiddler on the Roof, musical (If I Were A Rich Man) |
5:11 |
| Frederick Loewe |
Gigi, musical (Gigi) |
6:12 |
| Frank Loesser |
Guys and Dolls, musical (Luck Be a Lady) |
3:00 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Jesus Christ Superstar, musical (Superstar) |
3:55 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Jesus Christ Superstar, musical (I Don't Know How to Love Him) |
3:33 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Jesus Christ Superstar, musical (Everything's Alright) |
4:09 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Joseph & His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, musical (Close Very Door) |
3:40 |
| George Forrest / Robert Wright |
Kismet, musical (after works by Alexander Borodin) (And This is My Beloved) |
3:38 |
| George Forrest / Robert Wright |
Kismet, musical (after works by Alexander Borodin) (Stranger in Paradise) |
4:47 |
| Cole Porter |
Kiss Me Kate, musical (Where is the Life that Late I Led?) |
4:37 |
| Stephen Sondheim |
A Little Night Music, musical (Send in the Clowns) |
4:23 |
| Claude-Michel Schoenberg |
Les Miserables, musical (Bring Him Home) |
3:01 |
| Mitchell Leigh |
Man of la Mancha, musical (The Impossible Dream) |
3:15 |
| Richard Rodgers |
Oklahoma!, musical (Oh! What a Beautiful Morning) |
2:53 |
| Richard Rodgers |
Oklahoma!, musical (The Surrey With the Fringe on Top) |
4:32 |
| Richard Rodgers |
Oklahoma!, musical (Oklahoma!) |
3:08 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Phantom of the Opera, musical (Phantom of the Opera) |
3:30 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Phantom of the Opera, musical (Music of the Night) |
5:34 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Phantom of the Opera, musical (All I Ask of You) |
4:23 |
| George Gershwin |
Porgy and Bess, opera (Summertime) |
2:54 |
| Gene de Paul |
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, film score (Bless Your Beautiful Hide) |
2:17 |
| Jerome Kern |
Show Boat, musical in 2 acts (Ol' Man River) |
3:08 |
| Jerome Kern |
Show Boat, musical in 2 acts (Make Believe) |
3:45 |
| Richard Rodgers |
The Sound of Music, musical (The Sound of Music) |
2:48 |
| Richard Rodgers |
The Sound of Music, musical (Climb Ev'ry Mountain) |
2:55 |
| Richard Rodgers |
The Sound of Music, musical (Edelweiss) |
2:38 |
| Richard Rodgers |
South Pacific, musical (Some Enchanted Evening) |
3:22 |
| Richard Rodgers |
South Pacific, musical (Younger than Springtime) |
3:30 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Starlight Express, musical (Starlight Express) |
3:13 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Sunset Boulevard, musical (Sunset Boulevard) |
3:01 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Sunset Boulevard, musical (With One Look) |
3:43 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Sunset Boulevard, musical (As If We Never Said Goodbye) |
5:15 |
| Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Tell Me on a Sunday, musical (original version) (Tell Me on a Sunday) |
3:36 |
| Leonard Bernstein |
West Side Story, musical (Maria) |
2:54 |
| Leonard Bernstein |
West Side Story, musical (Tonight (The Balcony Scene)) |
4:20 |
| Leonard Bernstein |
West Side Story, musical (Somewhere) |
3:29 |
| Irving Berlin |
There's No Business Like Show Business, song (for the musical Annie Get Your Gun) |
3:59 |
