Release Date: 01 January 2007
Label: Naxos - Nostalgia / Naxos Nostalgic
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943284520
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: PORTER
Description
Can-Can (Original Broadway Cast 1953) Mexican Hayride (Original Broadway Cast 1944) The Pirate (Original Film Soundtrack 1948) Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter Cole Porter was – without a doubt – the most well-travelled of all Broadway composers. His parties in Venice, cruises down the Rhine and hot nights in Bora-Bora were the stuff of legend.But, most intriguingly, Porter's love of travel also made its way into his work. Some shows were set on cruises (Anything Goes), others on global journeys (Nymph Errant), or some in the kind of out-of-the-way places he adored, like Siberia (Leave It To Me) or the Panama Canal (Panama Hattie).This collection is devoted to three musicals (two for stage, one for screen) that he wrote during the decade from 1943-1953 and it reflects a trio of his different geographic passions – France (Can-Can), Latin America (Mexican Hayride) and the Caribbean (The Pirate).What's worth noting is the way that in each of the pieces he manages to give you a real flavour of the place you're visiting, while remaining quintessentially Cole Porter – with witty, wry lyrics and plangently haunting melodies.Can-Can began with its producers, Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin. Feuer came back from a stint with the army in Paris during World War II convinced he wanted to do a musical set in Montmartre in the 1890s. Martin, who spent his life fighting censorship, knew the cultural climate of the times and felt it would make a great story.The two men had scored their initial hits with Where's Charley? and Guys and Dolls, both scored by Frank Loesser, but they felt they needed a different sound this time around.With musicals like Paris and Fifty Million Frenchmen under his belt, it's no wonder they turned to Porter. He instantly approved of the idea, but had no desire to meet with the librettist, Abe Burrows.Even in this post-Oklahoma! era of increasingly integrated musicals, Porter wanted to keep working the way he always had.'Just tell me what you want and I'll write it', he said to Feuer and Martin, 'let me stick to what I can do'.Martin offered Porter one piece of advice before he began writing. He told him to avoid creating any songs about Paris itself because 'Songs about Paris are so stale'.Had he known his composer better, he would have realized this was like waving a red flag at a bull. After one early production meeting, where Porter saw designer Jo Mielziner's spectacular painted backdrop of Paris, he calmly went home and went to work.He didn't just write 'any song about Paris', but the classic song about the City of Light – 'I Love Paris'.Even Martin had to grudgingly admit its genius, once he heard the song's unforgettable release ('I love Paris every moment …') and marvelled at the way Porter could make 'things we've heard a hundred times before suddenly sound new'.But while some of the Can-Can score is vintage champagne ('It's All Right With Me', 'C'est Ma
Tracklisting
Various
Wisdom:Grenfell:Murray
Whiteman
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
Various Artists
