Following this year's rapturously received Prom of Kiss Me, Kate, Cole Porter's celebrated musical comedy of The Taming of the Shrew which received 5 star reviews across the board, The John Wilson Orchestra's new album Cole Porter in Hollywood basks in the big-screen glow of the hits he wrote for the movies. The album will be released October 14 on Warner Classics.
"Cole Porter's songs lit up Hollywood over three decades right up to the end of his career in the early 1960s," explains conductor John Wilson. "I chose the repertoire to be a mixture of hits that everyone knows -- 'Begin The Beguine', 'My Heart Belongs To Daddy' -- but also numbers that shine out from lesser-known films."
The 15 songs on the album feature world premieres of newly-reconstructed orchestrations from the original movie soundtracks, nearly all of which had been lost. The album is a glorious return to the resplendent sound that cushioned and encouraged Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Bing Crosby in films such as Can-Can, The Pirate and High Society. The energy, dynamism and detail of the playing is captured in the ideal acoustic of London's famed Abbey Road studios.
A hand-picked ensemble of leading instrumentalists from Europe's finest orchestras, these virtuoso players come together to create an unparalleled combination of symphonic forces and big band jazz embodying the golden age of Hollywood orchestras. Joined by guest singers Anna-Jane Casey, Kim Criswell, Matthew Ford, Sarah Fox and Richard Morrison, their trademark mix of sparkling authenticity and knock-'em-dead gusto has been described as "Technicolor for the ears."
For more information, visit www.johnwilsonorchestra.com, follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/johnwilsonorchestra or go to www.warnermusic.com.
ALBUM Tracklist:
1 Stereophonic Sound (Silk Stockings) (1957) 4.08
2 Begin The Beguine (Broadway Melody of 1940) (1940) 3.43
3 Love Of My Life (The Pirate) (1948) 5.02
4 From This Moment On (Kiss Me, Kate) (1953) 3.48
5 Always True To You In My Fashion (Kiss Me, Kate) (1953) 3.49
6 Wunderbar (Kiss Me, Kate) (1953) 3.10
7 Easy To Love (Easy To Love) (1953) 2.20
8 Josephine (Silk Stockings) (1957) 4.53
9 High Society Overture (High Society) (1956) 3.34
10 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (High Society) (1956) 2.50
11 My Heart Belongs To Daddy (Let's Make Love) (1960) 3.35
12 It's All Right With Me (Can-Can) (1960) 4.07
13 Let's Do It (Can-Can) (1960) 3.09
14 Les Girls (Les Girls) (1957) 5.09
15 Now You Has Jazz (High Society) (1956) 4.31
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