Something's Gotta Give

by Simon Keenlyside, David Charles Abell, BBC Concert Orchestra, Scarlett Strallen

Overview

American musicals have been performed in London for pretty much as long as there has been such a thing, yet British albums of Broadway songs are considerably rarer than those from the U.S., and usually they tend toward the international sort of spectacle production. Thus it is all the more surprising that British baritone Simon Keenlyside, not previously known for crossover material, has nailed the thing on his first time out. Several factors work in his favor. He does not affect an American accent (which many of these songs wouldn't have been sung in originally), but he finds a natural melodic flow and articulates the words beautifully. "Reviewing the Situation," from Oliver!, is especially interesting: Keenlyside effectively depicts an American put-on of a British accent. He finds an ideal collaborator in soprano Scarlett Strallen, who seems to come at the music from the theatrical side and makes an ideal foil. Keenlyside chooses a fine program of familiar but not overdone numbers, and he benefits from excellent support from the BBC Concert Orchestra under David Charles Abell, who uses sparse arrangements based on original pit-orchestra versions. The best thing of all, though, is an X factor based on the heft Keenlyside gives the material. He sings a couple of numbers from Carousel, the most serious and problematical of all the musicals, and he gets to the human spirit in something as light as Rodgers' "It Might as Well Be Spring." An ideal gift item for those who enjoy the operatic/musical theater boundary line. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	11/18/2014
Label:	Chandos
UPC:	0095115183823
Rank:	191583

Tracks

1. My Fair Lady~On the Street Where You Live
2. Kiss Me, Kate~So in Love
3. Gay Divorce~Night and Day
4. Oklahoma!~People Will Say We're in Love
5. Fiorello!~When Did I Fall in Love?
6. Oliver!~Reviewing the Situation
7. Very Warm for May~All the Things You Are
8. Carousel~Soliloquy
9. Something's Gotta Give~Daddy Long Legs
10. Kismet~Stranger in Paradise
11. State Fair~It Might as Well Be Spring
12. The Girl Next Door~Athena / Meet Me in St. Louis
13. Romance on the High Seas~It's Magic
14. Oklahoma!~Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
15. Fiddler on the Roof~If I Were a Rich Man
16. Carousel~If I Loved You (Bench Scene)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Simon Keenlyside   Primary Artist,Baritone (Vocal)
David Charles Abell   Primary Artist,Conductor
BBC Concert Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Scarlett Strallen   Primary Artist,Soprano (Vocal)
Charles Kilpatrick   Staging
Charles Mutter   Violin,Orchestra Leader

Technical Credits

Stephen Hogger   Music Librarian
Conrad Salinger   Original Orchestration
Brian Pidgeon   Recording Producer
Arthur Kay   Original Orchestration
Rosanna Fish   Recording Editor,Assistant Engineer
Finn S. Gundersen   Booklet Editor
Wayne Blood   Restoration,Music Preparation
Ralph Couzens   Engineer
Marie-Stella Paris   Liner Note Translation
Chris Christodoulou   Photography
Peter Moores   Liner Notes
Sue Shortridge   A&R
Derek Greten-Harrison   Liner Notes,Restoration,Reconstruction
Walter Ruick   Arranger
Ludmilla Andrew   Vocal Consultant,Language Consultant
Joergen Thuresson   Equipment Technician
Helen Anderson   Picture Research
Bill Cooper   Photography,Cover Montage,Session Photographer
Alfred Newman   Arranger
Frederick Loewe   Composer
Skip Martin   Original Orchestration
Simon Keenlyside   Liner Notes
Jerome Kern   Composer
Hugh Martin   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Alan Jay Lerner   Composer
Jason Carr   Adaptation
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Jule Styne   Composer
Ray Heindorf   Original Orchestration
Bruce Pomahac   Restoration
George Forrest   Composer
Lionel Bart   Composer
Robert Russell Bennett   Orchestration,Original Orchestration
Irwin Kostal   Original Orchestration
Eric Rogers   Original Orchestration
Sheldon Harnick   Composer
Alexander Borodin   Original Material
Oscar Hammerstein II   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Jerry Bock   Composer
Ralph Blane   Composer
Robert Wright   Composer
Sammy Cahn   Composer
Edward B. Powell   Original Orchestration
Robert Franklyn   Original Orchestration
David Charles Abell   Restoration
Jonathan Cooper   Assistant Engineer
Seann Alderking   Restoration,Musical Consultant
Stephanie Wollny   Liner Note Translation
Don Walker   Original Orchestration
Hans Spialek   Original Orchestration