Is it a good preservation of the score?
I love Bock and Harnick and I loved the orchestrations of the last revival. But, most of the time the sound quality of OBCRs tend to be very sub-par.
How is this one?
I know I should pick it up for Barbara Harris alone. But, I figured I'd ask.
I have it. The sound is quite good in comparison to some of the older OBCRs I have.
It is quite good considering
I believe there is one brief ensemble number from "Lady or the Tiger?" that didn't make it. Otherwise, most of the score is there, and in Eddie Sauter's one of a kind orchestrations. Performances are great. Sound quality is terrific. Get it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/07
Roxy- Are you going to finish your sentence?
I have it and like it but I enjoyed the voices of the Revival cast more.
Then again, this thread is rather pointless. If you want a recording of The Apple Tree, it's not like there are any other choices to be made.
I have it, I love it (Harris is AMAZING) I highly recomend it... sound quality is very good...
What's Alan Alda like?
Alda's charming, but not particularly spcial.
The real star is Harris - her "Ive Got What You Want" is one of the best recordings of any showtune i've heard - and Blyden has a sinfully smooth voice.
I agree that the sound quality is better than a lot of other shows that were recorded in that same era. Or at least it's been better preserved for the transfer.
Either way it sparkles and I don't think you'll be diappointed.
I like Alan Alda but prefer Malcolm Gets and D'Arcy James. Larry Blyden is fantastic though.
However, this is Barbara Harris' cast recording and she truly shines. Her "Gorgeous," "Lady or the Tiger," "What Makes Me Love Him," "Feelings," and "Oh To Be a Movie Star" can't be matched, I adored Chenoweth in the role, but Harris' performance on this cast recording is one of a kind.
Get it FOAnatic. It's really a wonderful preservation of the score and Harris is spectacular.
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/06
Its quite good. Too bad the recent revival didn't make a recording. (I wonder why.)
I have quite an extensive collection.
It's late and I don't want to go looking for the information cause I'm tired, but who did the original orchestrations for Apple Tree? They were wonderful!
Are my posts invisible? Eddie Sauter did the original orchestrations, and they are incredible. Tunick's work for the revival was ok, given the reduced orchestra he had to work with, but Sauter's stuff blows it out of the water.
Sauter's other major credits are It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, 1776, Henry, Sweet Henry, Foxy, Milk and Honey, Two by Two and Georgy, all of which have superb orchestrations. He was one of the best, and his name is seldom mentioned with the great orchestrators, like Phil Lang, Sid Ramin, Red Ginzler, Irwin Kostal, Mort Lindsay, Ralph Burns, Luther Henderson, Michael Gibson and '70s Tunick.
With regard to the sound quality of older OBCR's, I find that with digital remastering from the original tapes the sound is great. As I mentioned on another thread, digital remastering has been a god-send to the older OBCR's going back to the late 1950's. I also look to see where the recording was originally made. Some studios have a more resonant sound, such as Webster Hall for RCA recordings and the 30th Street Studios for Columbia. That helps.
Smaxie: Thanks for the information about Eddie Sauter's orchestrations. I was not familiar with him. You put him with the fine company of orchestrators you mentioned. But you left out Robert Russell Bennett, one of the best.
This is one of those late-60s cast albums by Columbia records and teh sound on teh original LP was good but on the CD it's even better. THey managed to get almost the entire score onto one Lp. The score is a a very fine one by Bock and Harnick.
There is also an Lp of the Canadian production which was JUST the first act (ADAM AND EVE). The Lp starring Tom Kneebone and Dinah Christie features more dialogue. It is very rare: The radio station that made it dumped most of the copies in the garbage after several years and never bothered retrieving the master tapes from the pressing plant.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
i love it & i am googoogaga for Barbara Harris!!!!
I enjoy it a lot, I think it is a very good preservation of the score. Barabara Harris is wonderful.
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