The Sound of Music at 50
December 23, 2009 11:56 am
It is hard to believe that The Sound of Music is 50 years old. It is even harder to believe that when the show opened in 1959 seats sold for $5. The first release of the original cast recording took place within weeks of the opening of the show on vinyl. Since then it has been released and updated quite a few times (The first cd release of the album was in 1986). Now for the 50th anniversary we get the original master restored using 20 bit technology. What sounded great 50 years ago sounds fantastic now.
There has always been a dispute about whether the Broadway performance by Mary Martin, or the film performance by Julie Andrew, is better. To me, this dispute has always been a non-starter. The only way that you could really compare the two is if they had each performed the role in both venues. It is likely that there will never be another full scale movie of The Sound of Music so there can be no comparison. However, there have already been many revivals of The Sound of Music, the most recent in 1998, and though I really like Rebecca Luker, her performance does not touch that of Mary Martin. This new 50th Anniversary release only reminds us again how spectacular the voice, clarity and diction of Mary Martin really is. The rest of the cast included: Theodore Bikel portrys Captain von Trapp with Patricia Neway as the Mother Abess, Marian Marlowe as Elsa Schraeder and Kurt Kasznar as Max Detweiler.
The notes that come with this album, and the pictures that are contained, are an added bonus, as are the three additional bonus tracks which are included in this release. The first bonus comes from the tv special “Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett at Carnegie Hall.” This show was done three years before Andrews would make the film. It is a wonderful spoof of the family……now 20 children strong (19 brothers and Burnett) and their mother (Andrews). The second track comes from the 2005 production in Austria, the first mounted production in that country. It is a performance in German of “Edelweiss,” the last song that Oscar Hammerstein wrote before his death. The third bonus track is from the 1995 production of the show in Stockholm. They did not record the album as the show was performed, but rather, cast members performed songs fromt he show. This track features Tommy Korberg singing “Climb Every Mountain.”
Even if you have previous recordings of the original cast album, this one is special enough, in sound and bonus, to add to your library.
3 Responses to “The Sound of Music at 50”
The funny thing about this world-premiere Sound of Music recording was that I wasn’t really fond of it. I know the performances are marvellous but I felt it didn’t really appeal to me that much.
I know we must give Mary Martin the same credit due to Gertrude Lawrence. Without Mary Martin there would be no Sound of Music and consequently no film with Dame Julie. She gives an earthy performance of the Sound of Music theme song but I’ve felt that the numbers with the children were a little stilted. Yet I think that Patricia Neway really sold Climb Ev’ry Mountain when she delivered the song and did it so well.
The sound quality on this release is perhaps no different from the previous CD releases. Sony re-mastered the cast album in 1993 and used that same mastering for the 1998 CD release. But at least you get a superbly mastered version of the album. It’s great to have the Pratt Family as a bonus track. And I’m prepared to secure a copy of the Volksoper cast CD after hearing this version of Edelweiss.
I know that I tend to prefer the 1998 Broadway revival with Luker. It seems livelier and fresher and just perfect, well-suited to the spirit of the score. I think that I love the Luker version a little more than this, even though I know it’s not right for an R&H fan to do so.
I really do like Rebecca Luker and I rushed to buy the album when it first came out, but to me that lovely soprano voice was just not Maria. I had seen Luker in the revival of The Music Man and it worked there, but I did not think it worked here. The clarity of this new recording of The Sound of Music was really welcome. As technology expands, perhaps it will get easier to do this with other original recordings.
Thank you so very much for your heartwarming reply. It’s good that we can talk about musicals and cast albums from different corners of the world.
I’ve wondered if you’re familiar with another Sound of Music CD in my collection. There’s an Australian cast album featuring Lisa McCune as Maria. I rather like it alongside the Luker version, and I do think it projects that bit more presence as a live version. I’m also glad it uses the Bruce Coughlin orchestrations, being based on the 1998 Schulman revival with Luker.
Care to comment?