Search - Georges Bizet, Oscar Hammerstein II, Kenneth Alwyn :: Carmen Jones (1962 Studio Recording)

A STEREO ALTERNATE TO THE ORIGINAL CAST & FILM SOUNDTRACK .

J. T Waldmann | Carmel, IN, home to the fabulous new Regional Perf | 05/03/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Grace Bumbry had aleady established herself as one of opera's finest CARMENs by the time this concert version of CARMEN JONES was recorded in 1962. Kurt Ganzl writes: "Bumbry is the fruitiest of thee three recorded Carmens, and the lower notes of her music roll out with the same dark frisson as they do when the are well sung in the opera. She is more operatic in her tone and her approach than Horne [film soundtrack], and pays very much less attention to the words of her songs, concentrating mainly on producing a very lovely sound, which is, indeed, very lovely." (THE BLACKWELL GUIDE TO MUSICAL THEATRE ON RECORD) I personally find her performance stunning.



Heading the supporting cast as Joe is stage and film veteran George Webb ("The Dogs of War," "The Wild Geese"). His mixture of head and chest voices produces an easy, unforced sound, but he comes across as a whiner. "George Webb is a milquetoast in voice and manner. Bumbry demolishes him him in the last scene without so much as chipping her nail polish." (Richard Barrios, THE THEATERMANIA GUIDE TO MUSICAL THEATER RECORDINGS) Ena Babb does not come across as the simpy, wimpy Cindy-Lu from the movie. Instead she brings strong, ringing high notes to her version of "My Joe." (Kurt Ganzl lists her name as Ena Cabayo. Ena Cabayo played Queenie in the 1971 London revival of SHOW BOAT and also appeared in the first Broadway production of HAIR.) Guyana-born Thomas Baptiste does a fine job with "Stand Up and Fight," even though his accent gets in the way at times. Finally, the legendary Elizabeth (Elisabeth?) Welch brings her own inimitable style to "Beat out That Rhythm on a Drum," with just as much verve and panache as Pearl Bailey, but with better diction. (Ms. Welch sang "Solomon" in the orginal 1933 production of Cole Porter's NYMPH ERRANT, and can be heard on EMI's 1989 World Premiere Complete recording - sadly no longer in print.) The New World Show Orchestra and the Mike Samme Singers perform with zest and gusto under the direction of Kenneth Alwyn, and the stereo sound is bright and spacious.



William Ruhlmann writes: " . . . it's hard to see the point of performing CARMEN JONES as though it was CARMEN; the whole idea of the adaptation was to humanize the story." (The All Music Guide) Whether you agree or not, this version is definitely worth a listen. Perhaps it might persuade some of us to pick up a DVD of the spectacular 1966 Salzburg Festival staging of Bizet's opera with Ms. Bumbry, Jon Vickers & Mirella Freni; Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna State Opera Chorus and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.



Thanks to the folks at DRG for bringing this recording back to life."