Cole Porter - Night And Day
Louise Gold starred as Reno Sweeney from Anything
Goes, Reader’s Digest Recording
Catalogue number: (CD) RDCD
1181-3, (Cassette) RDC 9281-3
Cast
Thomas
Allen (as Fred
Graham/Petruchio from Kiss Me Kate)
Graham
Bickley (as Bill
Calhoun/Lucentio from Kiss Me Kate)
Sally
Burgess
Clare
Burt
Paul
Collis (as Ralph
from Kiss Me Kate)
Janice
Day
Gregg
Edelman (as Billy
Crocker from Anything Goes)
Louise
Gold (as
Brian
Green (as 1st
Gangster from Kiss Me Kate)
Tara Hugo (as Erma from Anything Goes)
Salena
Jones
Darryl
Knock
Diane
Langton (as Lois
Lane/Bianca from Kiss Me Kate)
Michael
Law
Simon
Masterson-Smith (as
the Captain from Anything Goes)
Diana
Montague (as Lilli
Vanessi/Kate from Kiss Me Kate)
Katrina
Murphy (as Hope
Harcourt from Anything Goes)
Shezwae
Powell (as Hattie
from Kiss Me Kate)
Bertice
Reading
Liz
Robertson
Issy Van
Randwyck
Elisabeth
Welch (as Haidee from Nymph Errant
and other characters)
Matt
Zimmerman (as 2nd
Gangster from Kiss Me Kate and Moon-Face-Martin from Anything
Goes)
Production Team
Music and
Lyrics - Cole Porter
Conductors
- Jonathan Cohen, Michael Law, John Owen Edwards, Paul
Sawtell, Neil Thornton, Chris Walker, Roger Webb, and,
Martin Yates
Produced by
JAY/TER
Sleeve notes
- The Reader’s Digest Ltd
Track Listing
Volume 1: Melodies That Will Live Forever
RDCD 1181
1. Wunderbar (from Kiss
Me Kate) - Thomas Allen and Diana Montague with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
2. Why Can’t You Behave
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Diane Langton with the NSO
conducted by John Owen-Edwards
3. Easy To Love
(from Anything Goes) - Gregg Edelman with the NSO conducted
by John Owen Edwards
4. Were Thine That Special Face
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Thomas Allen with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
5. So In Love (from
Kiss Me Kate) - Diana Montague with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
6. I Get A Kick Out Of You
(from Anything Goes) - Louise Gold with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
7. We Open In
8. Brush Up Your Shakespeare
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Brian Green and Matt Zimmerman,
with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
9. Where Is The Life That Late I Lead
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Thomas Allen with the NSO conducted
by John Owen Edwards
10. Anything Goes
(from Anything Goes) - Louise Gold, and company, with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
11. It’s Delovely
(from Anything Goes, and, Red Hot & Blue) - Gregg
Edelman and Katrina Murphy, with the NSO conducted by John
Owen Edwards
12. Friendship
(from Anything Goes, and, Du Barry Was A Lady) - Louise
Gold and Matt Zimmerman, with the NSO conducted by John
Owen Edwards
13. Another Op’nin’, Another Show
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Shezwae Powell and company, with the
NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
14. Public Enemy Number One
(from Anything Goes) - Simon Masterson-Smith and Company,
with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
15. Buddy Beware
(from Anything Goes) - Tara Hugo and Quartet, with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
16. Bianca (from Kiss
Me Kate) - Graham Bickley and Company with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
17. Always True To You In My Fashion
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Diane Langton with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
18. All Through The Night
(from Anything Goes) - Gregg Edelman with the NSO conducted
by John Owen Edwards
Volume 2: Magical Memories RDCD 1182
1. Night And Day
(from Gay Divorce) - Darryl Knock with the NSO Ensemble
conducted by Martin Yates
2. In The Still Of The Night
(from Rosalie) - Clare Burt with the NSO Ensemble
conducted by Martin Yates
3. Miss Otis Regrets
(from Hi Diddle Diddle) - Sally Burgess with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Neil Thornton
4. Just One Of Those Things
(from Jubilee) - Darryl Knock with the NSO Ensemble conducted
by Martin Yates
5. I Love Paris
(Can Can) - Clare Burt with the NSO Ensemble conducted
by Martin Yates
6. All Of You (from Silk
Stockings) - Darryl Knock with the NSO Ensemble conducted
by Martin Yates
7. Get Out Of Town
(from Leave It To Me) - Bertice Reading with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Roger Webb
8. Solomon (from Nymph
Errant) - Elisabeth Welch live with instrumental accompaniment
9 It’s Alright With Me
(from Can Can) - Darryl Knock with the NSO Ensemble
conducted by Martin Yates
10. What Is This Thing Called Love
(Wake Up And Dream) - Elisabeth Welch with Ensemble
conducted by Jonathan Cohen
11. True Love (from High
Society) - Salena Jones with the NSO Ensemble conducted
by Paul Sawtell
12. I Concentrate On You
(from Broadway Melody Of 1940) - Darryl Knock with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
13. Allez-Vous-En
(from Can Can) - Clare Burt with the NSO Ensemble
conducted by Martin Yates
14. Love For
15. You Do Something To Me
(from Fifty Million Frenchmen) - Clare Burt with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Martin Yates
16. From This Moment On
(from Out Of This World) - Liz Robertson with the NSO
Ensemble conducted by Chris Walker
17. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
(from Seven Lively Arts) - Issy Van Randwyck with the NSO
conducted by Martin Yates
Volume 3: Golden Favourites 1183
1. You’re The Top
(from Anything Goes) - Gregg Edelman and Louise Gold,
with the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
2. Blow, Gabriel Blow
(from Anything Goes) - Louise Gold, and the company, with
the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
3. Begin The Beguine
(from Jubilee) - Michael Law with the Piccadilly Dance
Orchestra conducted by Michael Law
4. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
(from Born To Dance) - Michael Law and Janice Day,
with the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra conducted by Michael Law
5. How Could We Be Wrong
(from Nymph Errant) - Michael Law and Julia Shore, with
the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra conducted by Michael Law
6. Silk Stockings Medley
(from Silk Stockings) - the NSO conducted by John Owen
Edwards
7. Can-Can Medley
(from Can Can) - the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
8. Too Darn Hot
(from Kiss Me Kate) - Paul Collis and company, with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
9. Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love
(
10. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
(Leave It To Me)-
11. Rosalie (from Rosalie)
- Michael Law with the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra conducted by Michael
Law
12. Experiment
(from Nymph Errant) - Michael Law and Julia Shore,
with the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra conducted by Michael Law
13. Jubilee Medley (from
Jubilee) - the NSO conducted by John Owen Edwards
14. Out Of This World Medley
(from Out Of This World) - the NSO conducted by John
Owen Edwards
The Cassettes follow the same track listing as the CDs
with: the first cassette containing CD1 Tracks 1 to 9 on Side A and Tracks 10
to 18 on Side B, the second cassette containing CD2 Tracks 1 to 8 on Side A and
Tracks 9 to 17 on Side B, and the third cassette containing CD3 Tracks 1 to 7
on Side A and Tracks 8 to 14 on Side B.
The material on this album from Anything Goes
(Easy To Love, I Get A Kick Out Of You, Anything
Goes, It’s Delovely, Friendship, Public
Enemy Number One, Buddie Beware, All Through The
Night, You’re The Top, and, Blow Gabriel Blow),
starring: Louise Gold with Gregg Edelman, Matt Zimmerman, Katrina
Murphy, Brian Green, Tara Hugo and Simon Masterson-Smith
and conducted by John Owen Edwards comes from the JAY/TER
recording of Anything Goes - Website
Recommended Album
An excerpt of Louise Gold’s recording of I
Get A Kick Out Of You has also managed to find its way onto The History Of The Musical
Clare Burt, Gregg Edelman,
and, Louise Gold also feature on Cabaret,
which was also conducted by John Owen Edwards
Gregg Edelman, Simon Masterson-Smith,
Katrina Murphy, Louise Gold, and, Matt Zimmerman also
features on On The Town, which also featured the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards
Katrina Murphy also features on Stop The World I Want To Get Off,
which also featured the NSO conducted by Martin Yates
Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Louise
Gold, and, Selena Jones, along with the conducting of John Owen
Edwards, Paul Sawtell, and, Martin Yates also feature on The Best Of Broadway Musicals,
which also features this albums recording of I Get A Kick Out Of You
from Anything Goes.
Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Clare
Burt, Louise Gold, Katrina Murphy, Shezwae Powell,
and, Issy Van Randwyck, along with the NSO conducted by John
Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates also feature on Encore - The Very Best From
The Musicals, which also features this album’s recordings of Blow
Gabriel Blow from Anything Goes, and Another Op’n
Of Another Show from Kiss Me Kate.
Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Gregg
Edelman, Louise Gold, and, Katrina Murphy, along with the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards and Martin Yates also feature on Great Duets From The Musicals,
which also feature this album’s recording of You’re The Top from Anything
Goes.
Graham Bickley, Clare Burt, Gregg
Edelman, and, Katrina Murphy can also be heard on Simply Musicals, which also features the NSO
conducted by John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. That album
also contains the same recording of Anything Goes (sung by
Louise Gold).
Louise Gold and Matt Zimmerman
also appeared together in the stage version of Anything
Goes, where they dueted Friendship.
Louise Gold and Matt Zimmerman
also appeared in Let ‘Em Eat Cake
John Owen Edwards’s previous musical
direction credits include Metropolitan Mikado
and a concert of highlights from Ratepayers' Iolanthe
& Metropolitan Mikado
Martin Yates’s credits include writing
the music for a musical called The Soap Opera
Graham Bickley also appeared in The Pirates Of Penzance (Stage)
and with the cast of that show in The Pirates Of Penzance
(Gala Preview).
Graham Bickley, Diane Langton, Liz
Robertson, and, Matt Zimmerman also appeared in The Royal Variety Performance
(1982)
Diane Langton and Liz Robertson
also appeared in Chicago & Company
Shezwae Powell and Elisabeth Welch
also appeared in Kids At Heart
Liz Robertson and Elisabeth Welch
also appeared in: A Time To Start Living
Liz Robertson and Issy Van Randwyck
went on to appear in: Regents Park 70th
Anniversary Gala
Liz Robertson also appeared in Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It, Side By Side By Sondheim, Side By Side By Sondheim 25th Anniversary
Gala, Happily Ever After, and, Side By Side By Sondheim 30th Anniversary
Gala, and on the album Noel/Cole:
Let’s Do It (Recording) (where she was involved in singing another version
of From This Moment On)
Issy Van Randwyck also appeared in: Love Life, By Jupiter, Kiss Me Kate, Hot &
Spicey 2 and Dress Circle Grand
Reopening
Liz Robertson may have appeared in Will-Aid, which Jonathan Cohen may also have
been involved with.
Diane Langton may have appeared in Comedy Tonight
Diane Langton and Schezwae Powell
went on to appear in Follies
Diane Langton’s recording credits
include Defiant Dames
Chris Walker
has gone on to work on Chitty Chitty
Bang Bang
Thomas Allen, Brian Green, Schezwae
Powell, Julia Shore, Issy Van Randwyck, and, Matt
Zimmerman, along with The Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, and The
National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards and Martin
Yates also feature on The History
Of The Musical which includes excerpts from Louise Gold’s recording
of I Get A Kick Out Of You, and, Brian Green & Matt
Zimmerman’s recording of Brush Up Your Shakespeare.
Clare Burt, Brian Green, Darryl
Knock, Simon Masterson-Smith, and, Matt Zimmerman, along with
The National Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Owen Edwards
and Martin Yates can also be heard on another Readers Digest
album The Greatest
Musicals of the 20th Century, as can the recordings of: I
Get A Kick Out Of You, I Love Paris, It’s Alright
With Me, and, Brush up Your Shakespeare on this album.
Clare Burt has gone on to
appear in A Love Letter To Dan.
Thomas Allen was a guest on
the TV programme The Ghost Of Faffner
Hall.
Graham Bickley, Paul Collis, Louise Gold, and, Diane
Langton along with The National
Symphony Orchestra conducted by John
Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates
can be heard on The Great Musicals - Wonderful
Tales, as can the recordings of Anything Goes, and Two
Darn Hot on this album; which was also produced by The Reader’s Digest.
Clare Burt’s recording
credits include Centre Stage Showtime!;
Which also features The National
Symphony Orchestra; along with maestros John Owen Edwards, and, Martin
Yates.
Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Louise Gold, Michael Law,
Diana Montague, and, Katrina Murphy’s recording credits
include The Great Musicals – Glamour And
Majesty. This also involved the National
Symphony Orchestra, and, the Piccadilly
Dance Orchestra; with the maestros Michael
Law, John Owen Edwards, and, Martin Yates. The album was also
produced by The Readers Digest; and
includes the same recordings of Wunderbar, and, I Get A Kick Out Of You.
Thomas Allen, Graham Bickley, Michael Law, Katrina Murphy,
Julia Shore, and, Elisabeth Welch’s recording credits
include The Great Musicals –
Dashing Heroes, Blushing Maidens; This also involved The National Symphony Orchestra, and, The Piccadilly Dance Orchestra; with maestros Michael Law, John Owen
Edwards, and, Martin Yates. It
was also produced by The Readers Digest. This includes
the same recording of Were Thine That Special Face.
Sally Burgess, Gregg Edelman, Louise Gold, Darryl Knock,
Diane Langton, Liz Robertson, Issy Van
Randwyck, and, Elisabeth Welch’s
recording credits include The Great Musicals –
Laughter And Tears; This also involved The
National Symphony Orchestra; with maestros John Owen Edwards, Chris
Walker, and, Martin Yates. This
album was also produced by The Readers Digest. This includes
the same recording of You’re The Top.
Louise Gold has appeared in six and a
half Cole Porter shows (and one of those she’s done twice), namely the
five shows he wrote for Ethel Merman: Anything
Goes, Red Hot & Blue, Du Barry
Was A Lady (see: Du Barry Was A
Lady (1993 Production), and, Du Barry
Was A Lady (2001 Production)), Panama Hattie,
and Something For The Boys, as well as
Kiss Me Kate, the half being Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It (since it is half by
Cole Porter and half by Noel Coward). She has also sung Cole
Porter’s songs on stage on various other occasions, such as: A Time To Start Living, A Lost Musicals Occasion, and, her own
cabaret LOUISE GOLD...By Appointment.
Unfortunately she has seldom recorded Cole Porter. In 2001 she starred
on BBC Radio in a broadcast of Du Barry
Was A Lady; While in her capacity as a puppeteer she sang (and puppeteered)
a parody of I Get A Kick Out Of You as I Get A Kick Out Of U on Sesame Street. But the only actual albums she has
recorded are Noel/Cole: Let’s Do
It (Recording) (where she sang another version of Blow Gabriel Blow) and, JAY?TER version of Anything Goes - Website Recommended Album, both of which
were difficult to come by, although various excerpts from the latter have
turned up on a number of compilation albums, including this one, and it
eventually went on general release in its own right early in 2004.
Although it is not mentioned anywhere in the sleeve
notes for this album, The Readers Digest, besides a variety of
mentions in a diverse array of musicals, was itself the inspiration for one Cole
Porter musical, Something For The Boys.
Diane
Langton has gone on to appear, along with Louise Gold, in Mary
Poppins.
Review
by Emma Shane, 21
July 2002
If,
like me, you are a fan of Cole Porter then this 3 CD set is certainly a welcome
addition to any collection, a shame it only seems to be available through The
Reader’s Digest. Some of the numbers on it are outstanding. That said
there are also some bits one could do very well without. The best tracks on it
are performed seriously, with only carefully considered individual
embellishments. This is just the way Cole Porter songs should be
performed. I for one frequently get fed up with hearing these glorious songs
over embellished.
The
first CD is indeed full of melodies that will live forever, and on this CD,
thankfully, they are performed very much the way they should be if they are to
live forever. Many of these songs would not be remembered if they were not
introduced in a straightforward manner. That does not mean to say performers
may not include their own individual interpretations, for some of the artistes
on this disc, in particular: Gregg Edelaman, Louise Gold, Diane
Langton, and, Matt Zimmerman, most certainly do perform these songs
in their own way, but they still do it in the spirit of the original. Perhaps
one could say they perform these songs the way they themselves would have done
it had they been around at that time and playing that role in the show where
the song was first introduced. In some cases this works magnificently, in other
cases it is not so good, but still it is quite listenable to. This CD is
entirely songs from Kiss Me Kate and Anything Goes
(although some of the latter are interpolations from other shows). Thomas
Allen manages more than adequately with the role of Fred Graham/Petruchio
from Kiss Me Kate, although he is no match for Howard Keel
or even Alfred Drake, his work is more than comparable to Thomas
Hampson’s recording of the same role. Diana Montague is also more or
less adequate as Kate, perhaps on a par with Patricia Morrison who
originated the role. She certainly seems to be no where near as bad as Josephine
Barstow was on the EMI Classics recording, although without hearing
the crucial I Hate Men number it is a bit difficult to truly
judge. Although her singing on: Wunderbar, So In Love,
and, We Open In Venice are satisfactory, I still haven’t heard
anyone who can sing that role anywhere near as well as either Kathryn
Grayson and Louise Gold have done, they truly are incomparable. Tara
Hugo has a similar, although less extensive, problem with Buddie
Beware. She performs the song very nicely, but there is something not
quite perfect about it. There is nothing remotely wrong with her performance,
but there just seems to be something missing. That something is the fact that
the song was written for Ethel Merman, and although Tara Hugo does
her best with it, a case of full marks for trying, she isn’t quite the sort of
person the song was written for; and as with most songs written for Merman it
does show a bit. Graham Bickley sings the Bill Calhoun/ Lucentio role,
from Kiss Me Kate, quite satisfactorily, certainly he is far
better than Tommy Rall, and at least on a par with most of the other
major people who’ve done the role. Only George Devorsky may possibly be
just that bit better. But to all intents and purposes he is most certainly more
than good enough. singing the Billy Crocker role from Anything Goes,
Gregg Edelman has the advantage of performing some excellent but
slightly less well known ballads, Easy To Love and All
Through The Night, needless to say he handles both of these very well,
as a soloist. He also duets very satisfactorily with Katrina Murphy in It’s
Delovely, although as an interpolation the song is a little out of
place, but it is such a funny song one can adjust to that.
There
are two really memorable performances on this first disc. Diane Langton
singing the role of Lois Lane/Bianca from Kiss Me Kate is one of
the surprises of the album. I had not heard her Kiss Me Kate
recording before, but I was extremely impressed by it. Having been played by
The
second CD is the least remarkable of the three. It is supposed to be magical
moments, but I could not find anything particularly magical about any of the
moments on it. I don’t know if the absence from this CD of that excellent
conductor John Owen Edwards had anything to do with that. At best it seems to be very much background
music. I won’t single out any particular performers, but even some singers who
are normally excellent were somewhat unremarkable. While some tracks are better
than others, for the most part I found this CD is quite simply boring.
The
third CD does indeed contain some golden moments, especially those moments
conducted by the wonderful John Owen Edwards. The various selections
from the Piccadilly Dance Orchestra, conducted by Michael Law,
are a good example of how Cole Porter’s classic songs became famous,
being performed by dance bands, so I suppose it is quite appropriate to include
them on this album. Far more interesting, however, are three stunning medleys, from:
Silk Stockings, Can Can, Jubilee,
and, Out Of This World. This quartet has that wonderfully lush
sound of John Owen Edwards’s conducting. This is a great way to hear
those Cole Porter tunes in a dance or instrumental setting. The first
two tracks on this CD, however, You’re The Top, and, Blow
Gabriel Blow, quite literally fit the title ‘Golden moments’. In
a way it is a great shame they start the CD off, as it makes it that march
harder for any other track to really follow that. You’re The Top may
not be performed quite the way Ethel Merman would have done it, what
with Louise Gold’s gift for changing accent several times a song (if she
wants to, she can, and does, change accent every other line of a song), not to
mention the way Gregg Edelman gets overshadowed by his lively co-star,
but the spirit of the song remains intact (another of Louise Gold’s
gifts is that, rather like The Muppets, she can do the most
extraordinary things to a song, without spoiling it one little bit). In fact
her performance actually benefits the song immeasurably. You’re The Top
is probably one of Cole Porter’s greatest list songs, but performed
properly it can get a bit dull. Between them John Owen Edwards and Louise
Gold have managed to use their collective talents to liven it up just
enough to make it thoroughly interesting, but without being at all silly.
However where this wonderfully lush lively conductor and this glorious brass
band of a singer really come into their own is Blow Gabriel Blow.
John Owen Edwards conducts is beautifully with distinction. But what
really makes the track a true golden moment is that the song is sung with the
full blown power that it demands, but very rarely gets. It is a fitting tribute
to Cole Porter and Ethel Merman, one of his favourite singers;
and it is perfectly performed by one of the current era’s greatest performers
of Cole Porter s songs, especially those written for Ethel Merman.
I only wish someone would get her to record the whole lot of songs Porter wrote
for Merman, from I Get A Kick Out Of You and You’re The Top
to The Leader Of The Big Time Band and By The Mississinewah.
All
in all by far the best tracks in this 3CD set are those where John Owen
Edwards is conducting. This man really can conduct well, and most
especially he can conduct Cole Porter’s music well. The highlights of
the set include: Owen Edwards conducting four medley’s from various shows, and,
a variety of excerpts from the JAY/TER studio cast album of Kiss
Me Kate, on the latter Diane Langton should be singled out for
her excellent performance of Lois/Bianca, and her southern states accent. But
the very best thing about this album is the Anything Goes
excerpts. This fantastic recording really deserves a wider audience. Gregg
Edelman, and Matt Zimmerman sing very well on it. But the star of
the piece is Louise Gold. No one, except possibly Kim Criswell,
can sing Cole Porter as well as she can. It is truly fitting that she
should feature on this album, especially singing some of those wonderful
numbers he wrote for Ethel Merman, which she does so incomparably.
Links about Cole
Porter - Night And Day
The
Reader’s Digest page for this album: https://myrd.readersdigest.co.uk/misc/JVEY-6PWEKL.htm
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