First Complete Recording of OKLAHOMA! to be released this September

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/26/23 at 4:31am

Chandos record company have recorded the first complete take down of Oklahoma! and will release it this fall. John Wilson conducts with the Sinfonia of London. According to The Stage. All star musical theatre cast featured apparently - anyone know who's involved in the leads? About time we got a note-complete recording of this score. Carousel next, please!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/26/23 at 11:52am

Surprised Jay Records hadn’t already done this.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 5/6/23 at 6:49pm

The latest is that Chandos has recorded a note complete CAROUSEL to be released after its OKLAHOMA! which is to be released this falll 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 5/6/23 at 6:53pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Surprised Jay Records hadn’t already done this."

If Jay Records had done this, we'd still be waiting for it.

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 5/7/23 at 5:53pm

what's the difference between that and a cast recording?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/7/23 at 6:42pm

Impeach2017 said: "what's the difference between that and a cast recording?"

OKLAHOMA! opened on Broadway in 1943 at a time when shows didn’t record and release full Original Broadway Cast recordings (the Tony Awards didn’t even exist yet).  Pop artists usually recorded pop versions of the hit songs.  OKLAHOMA! did record most of the songs with the original cast and it’s full Broadway orchestrations so this recording was incomplete. The recording was enormously successful so they went back and recorded several more songs but still not enough to include every song. This new recording appears to be including the full score which will include the underscore music for scenes plus all the musical numbers  and extensive dance music.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 12:24am

I'm just gonna assume Julian Ovendon is singing Curly.

It would be fun to hear Ali Stroker sing the original arrangement of "Cain't Say No."

Is this a true "complete recording" (with all incidental/underscoring and entr'acte and exit music), or just "the most complete recording to date"? Semantics, but there are differences. Either's fine with me as long as it's not advertised in a misleading way.

Updated On: 5/8/23 at 12:24 AM

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 3:22am

It's John Wilson conducting, and he's as as passionate as the late John McGlinn was about preserving these works of art. It's note complete meaning all dance music, the full ballet, exit music, entr'acte and overture. There's not much else except scene change music. Wilson did a complete performance of the original orchestrations at the BBC Proms in 2017.

Casting is Leo Roberts as Curly and Sierra Bogess as Laurey. For the complete Carousel, Nathaniel Hackmann is singing Billy Bigelow and Roberts is also on that recording, presumably as Mr. Snow. 

[jo]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 8:04am

The original musical is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.

Could this be part of the celebrations?

There was also an announcement that the filmed 1998 revival of OKLAHOMA! at the Royal National Theatre ( with Hugh Jackman) will be shown worldwide in selected cinemas to mark the occasion.

Updated On: 5/8/23 at 08:04 AM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/8/23 at 2:01pm

Please note that when OKLAHOMA! was first done, 33 1/3 rpm recordings were not yet available and the original cast album was done on several 78 rpm acetate discs that were sold in paper sleeves and stored in something like a photo album. (Maybe that's how we got the term "record album".  The songs were truncated to fit on the rapidly spinning disc's and the sound quality was poor. I find it difficult to listen to.

[Fan123]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 12:35am

Full cast list here: https://sinfoniaoflondon.com/recordings/

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 9:47am

I love Nathaniel Hackmann in the BBC Proms production of Oklahoma, which I prefer watching over the Hugh Jackman version. I think Sierra Boggess will make a lovely Laurie. I'll definitely check this recording out.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/15/23 at 2:44am

I gave this a listen tonight. Overall enjoyable. I think the full original orchestrations are the star. Not much to say except I’m shocked audiences sat for two and a half minute scene changes.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 9/15/23 at 3:17am

Wow! This is a must-own recording. John Wilson’s reputation for projects like this is outstanding. I can’t wait for his complete CAROUSEL.

[scripps]

Posted: 9/15/23 at 10:47am

Nathaniel Hackmann is hotter than the sun to me right now and listening to this new album on my Bose QC45 headphones is making me a happy woman this morning. And my Scripps! What can't Jamie Parker do? Living my best life today 

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 9/16/23 at 5:05am

scripps said: "Nathaniel Hackmann is hotter than the sun to me right now"

I'm looking forward to seeing him in BTTF in January.

 

[SuttonPeron]

Posted: 9/16/23 at 7:19pm

Am I the only one that didn´t love this? I found it tried too hard to sound like an old-fashioned studio recording

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/16/23 at 7:29pm

Musicaldudepeter said: "The latest is that Chandos has recorded a note complete CAROUSEL to be released after its OKLAHOMA! which is to be released this falll"

And now my mouth waters.

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/16/23 at 7:37pm

Dollypop said: "Please note that when OKLAHOMA! was first done, 33 1/3 rpm recordings were not yet available and the original cast album was done on several 78 rpm acetate discs that were sold in paper sleeves and stored in something like a photo album. (Maybe that's how we got the term "record album". The songs were truncated to fit on the rapidly spinning disc's and the sound quality was poor. I find it difficult to listen to."

I find the idea that the OCR is difficult to listen to odd in the way I find it odd that there are people who can't watch black and white movies. The cast is wonderful, the sound holds up considering its vintage, and with the final CD and current iTunes release, one even gets a full recording of "Poor Jud is Daid."

I also like the film's soundtrack album, though I don't care for the augmented version of it now available. Without being able to remove the extraneous noises, and with a clear difference in sound quality, I think it makes the recording more uneven (and for some reason, they _still_ felt the need to make cuts to The Farmer and the Cowman). 

But I'm always up for another recording, especially a note-complete one. Just hope the results won't be staid as can often be the case with studio recordings (and was almost always the case with Angel's studio recordings in the late 80's/early 90's).

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/16/23 at 7:44pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Impeach2017 said: "what's the difference between that and a cast recording?"

OKLAHOMA! opened on Broadway in 1943 at a time when shows didn’t record and release full Original Broadway Cast recordings (the Tony Awards didn’t even exist yet). Pop artists usually recorded pop versions of the hit songs. OKLAHOMA! did record most of the songs with the original cast and it’s full Broadway orchestrations so this recording was incomplete. The recording was enormously successful so they went back and recorded several more songs but still not enough to include every song. This new recording appears to be including the full score which will include the underscore music for scenes plus all the musical numbers and extensive dance music."

I don't think you're answering the question, though I may be wrong. I think the question is: what is the difference between cast recordings and studio recordings? 

A cast recording utilizes performers from a current production who have gone through rehearsals and performances. While this may mean they sound more vocally worn from the strain of having sung the parts over and over, the characterizations are usually fully realized and there's often an innate excitement generated. 

Studio recordings don't necessarily involve singers who have performed their roles onstage, or have done so recently, there usually isn't the time to develop full characterizations and sometimes there's a lack of excitement that comes across. Though all the singers tend to have gorgeous voices. Those negative aspects don't _have_ to be present, and there are some marvelous studio recordings. But in general, cast recordings are better.