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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0074646072226 Format: Cast Recording Label: Sony Manufacturer: Sony Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Sony Release Date: November 10, 1998 Sales Rank: 4931 Studio: Sony
Amazon.com essential recording: Based on James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pulitzer prize-winning South Pacific is one of the most beloved musicals ever to hit the stage. The appeal is simple: a collection of stunning compositions--immense symphonic sound orchestrated by Rodgers collaborator Robert Russell Bennett--and characters with a simple though cohesive through-line. On this original Broadway cast recording, the lovely, girlish Mary Martin (Peter Pan, Annie Get Your Gun) is the heartily feminine American nurse Nellie Bly to the dashing former Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Pinza as French plantation owner Emile de Becque. This release takes from the original high-quality tapes cut in 1949 (rather than the acetates, which were recorded simultaneously for the vinyl release of the day). There are alternate takes of a few songs and the restored original version of the hard-hitting racial commentary number "Carefully Taught." Pinza's "Some Enchanted Evening" is tender and lovely without being cloying. Martin's confidence and warm vocal expressiveness on numbers such as "Twin Soliloquies" and the bonus track, "Loneliness of the Evening," are stellar, and the choral numbers are both solid and spunky. --Paige La Grone
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - South Pacific
great standard of the musical theater. Music and songs hold up well over time so new generations can enjoy this lovely story and memorable songs. a great addition to any music lover of the musical-comedy theater genre.
Rating: - South Pacific - original '49 B'way cast CD
Relax and spend "Some Enchanted Evening" with Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza, and the original 1949 cast of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic "South Pacific." The catchy, familiar tunes will have you singing along in your car. With informative liner notes and a couple of songs that didn't make later recordings, this CD makes an enjoyable addition to the collection of any fan of the great Broadway musicals.
Rating: - As good as it gets!!!
Fifty years ago, my love for the Broadway musical began here. A pre-adolescent, I would listen to my older brother's recording of the original Broadway cast album and be transported to a differennt land and time with great music that still resonates. Broadway and I have both changed considerably over the years, and, while the music has always since been a part of the popular culture, I never again paid much listening attention to the album. I made sure my children knew it. The movie version helped to have then love it, too. I just recently purchased the original cast album cd, now digitally ... Read More
Rating: - Original version of South Pacific
A wonderful recording that still sounds great today. There was no one quite like Mary Martin. For me she was the classic performer just as was Ethel Merman. These ladies were in a very special class of performer.
Rating: - There's A Reason South Pacific is a Big Hit Again on Broadway!
To tell the truth, this was among the first records I ever fell in love with as a kid. The album my parents had in the early 60's was already worn, with a tattered jacket, when I happened upon it. I loved folk music and British pop at the time, but this thing won my heart, along with three other great musicals, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN with Ethel Merman, the Broadway cast recording of MY FAIR LADY with Julie Andrews, and the original cast production of GUYS & DOLLS. All of those records have held up well for me over the years, but there was a long period during which I all but forgot the Mary Martin/Ezio ... Read More
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