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The Golden Age of Light Music – Melodies for Romantics
Details of works and artists below
Re–issued from records issued between 1948 and 1958. AAD
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5155 [78:33]

Experience Classicsonline


I have had nothing but praise for this Guild series The Golden Age of Light Music, but I have to admit that my heart sank when I saw the title of this disk – Melodies for Romantics. I know that all music is emotional – music is the most emotional art there is – despite what odd ideas Stravinsky might have held, but melodies for romantics? It’s almost as bad as Sinatra’s Songs for Swingin’ Lovers. I was ready to stick my finger down my throat to get rid of the, already growing, sickening taste in my mouth. After all, we real men don’t want this lovey–dovey stuff. It’s the musical equivalent of having your mum kiss you in public, in front of your friends.
 

So you could have knocked me down with a Valentine Card (something else we symphonic music lovin’ guys don’t relate to) when I found myself enjoying every second of this disk. I was very impressed with Conrad Salinger’s arrangement of The Boy Next Door – full of restraint and yet highly colourful. The great, and much missed, Angela Morley delivers a suave and lounge-band version of Gershwin’s A Foggy Day (in London Town). J George Johnson’s (who he?) Central Park Romance starts with a kind of horse drawn buggy ride feel (an American version of Benjamin Frankel’s Carriage and Pair, perhaps) before displaying a simply gorgeous tune, in a lovely orchestration, complete with piano solo. You can always rely on Morton Gould to deliver the goods in his arrangements and this one, of Gershwin’s The Man I Love, is tender and string based. Marvellous. 

Kuhn’s Shipboard Romance beings exactly like Ronald Binge’s Sailing By, but quickly goes its own way. Adding maracas, this ship is somewhere nice and warm, perhaps just off the Cuban coast, and we’re sipping a Hemingway Daiquirí (also known as a Papa Doble) – two and a half jiggers of Bacardi White Label, juice of two limes and half a grapefruit, six drops of maraschino liqueur, served frozen. Very refreshing. Otto Cesana started piano studies at 10 years of age, and he was adept on the organ as well as in orchestration and harmony. His original works appeared at venues such as New York City's Town Hall. Enchantment is a lovely piece – with a gorgeous cor anglais solo in the middle, which is surrounded by big, but not overwhelming, brass choruses. Norrie Paramor’s racy Wedding Day quotes Wagner – the Bridal March from Lohengrin – in a quite lovely scherzo–like setting. 

The original compositions are well placed, in this collection, between arrangements, by some of the best arrangers in the business, giving a real variety of moods and textures. 

The transfers are up to the usual very high standard we have come to expect from this company’s stable. The notes are good, but not exhaustive and I loved it. So, between you and me, my mum can kiss me in front of my friends – as long as she’s quick about it.

Bob Briggs

Details of works and artists:

Jerome KERN (1885–1945) I Dream Too Much [2:29]
Hugh MARTIN (b. 1914) and Ralph BLANE (1914–1995) The Boy Next Door (from Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)) (arranged by Conrad SALINGER (1901–1961)) [3:00]
Gus KAHN (1886–1941) and Nacio Herb BROWN (1896–1964) You Stepped Out Of A Dream (arranged by Frank CORDELL (1918-1980)) [3:16]
Cole PORTER (1891–1964) Could It Be You (arranged by Robert FARNON (1917–2005)) [3:05]
George GERSHWIN (1898–1937) A Foggy Day (arranged by Angela MORLEY (1924–2009)) [2:33]
J George JOHNSON Central Park Romance [3:19]
George GERSHWIN The Man I Love (arranged by Morton GOULD (1913–1996)) [3:29]
Irving BERLIN (1888–1989) Soft Lights And Sweet Music; They Say It’s Wonderful [3:00]
Burton LANE (1912–1997) and E Y “Yip” HARBURG (1896–1981) When I’m Not Near The Girl I Love (from Finian’s Rainbow (1947)) [3:37]
Joseph F KUHN: (1924–1962) Shipboard Romance [4:09]
Otto CESANA (1899-1980) Enchantment [3:07]
Billy ROSE (1899–1966), Irving KAHAL (1903–1942) and Dana SUESSE (1909–1987) The Night Is Young And You’re So Beautiful (1936) [3:16]
Nacio Herb BROWN and Earl K BRENT (1914–1977) Love Is Where You Find It [2:14]
Nacio Herb BROWN Temptation [3:15]
Jacob GADE (1879–1963) Jealousy (1925) (arranged by Sidney TORCH (pseudonym for Sidney TORCHINSKY) (1908–1990)) [2:55]
Max STEINER (1888–1971) It Can’t Be Wrong (arranged by Ron GOODWIN (1925–2003)) [2:55]
Gonzalo ROIG (1890–1970) and Agustin RODRIGUEZ: Yours (Quiereme Mucho) (arranged by Don Mario Ruiz ARMENGOL (b1914)) [3:14]
Charles AZNAVOUR (b.1924) Sur Ma Vie (In My Life) [2:36]
Dorothy FIELDS (1905–1974) and Jimmy McHUGH (1894–1969) I’m In The Mood For Love (1935) [3:06]
Arthur FREED (1894–1973) and Nacio Herb BROWN: All I Do Is Dream Of You (arranged by Ronald BINGE (1910–1979)) [1:59]
Richard HEUBERGER (1850–1914) The Kiss In Your Eyes (arranged by Eric JUPP (1922-2003)) [3:15]
Richard WHITING (1891–1938) and Johnny MERCER (1909–1976) Too Marvellous For Words (1937) [3:03]
Sunny SKYLAR (1913–2009) and Consuelo VELAZQUEZ (1916–2005) Besame Mucho (Kiss Me A Lot) [2:33]
Laurent HESS, Charles TRENET (1913–2001) and Paul MISRAKI (1908–1998) Why Do You Pass Me By (Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir) [2:59]
Richard RODGERS (1902–1979) People Will Say We’re In Love (from Oklahoma!) (1943) [2:53]
Norrie PARAMOR (1914-1979) Wedding Day [2:17]
Michael Freedman and the Debutantes (Love Is Where You Find It), Conrad Salinger Orchestra/Buddy Bregman (The Boy Next Door), The Melachrino Strings/George Melachrino (I Dream Too Much), New World Theatre Orchestra (Central Park Romance), The Rio Carnival Orchestra (Shipboard Romance), Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra (It Can’t Be Wrong), Don Amore (Besame Mucho), Mario Ruiz Armengol (Yours), Warren Barker (When I’m Not Near The Girl I Love), Ronald Binge (All I Do Is Dream Of You), Otto Cesana (Enchantment), Frank Chacksfield (Temptation), Frank Cordell (You Stepped Out Of A Dream), Frank de Vol (Soft Lights And Sweet Music; They Say It’s Wonderful), Robert Farnon (Could It Be You), Morton Gould (The Man I Love), Leroy Holmes (Too Marvellous For Words), Eric Jupp (The Kiss In Your Eyes), Geoff Love (People Will Say We’re In Love), Angela Morley (Wally Stott) (A Foggy Day), Glenn Osser (The Night Is Young And You’re So Beautiful), Norrie Paramor (Wedding Day), Jack Payne (I’m In The Mood For Love), David Rose (Why Do You Pass Me By), Boris Sarbek (Sur Ma Vie), Sidney Torch (Jealousy) all conducting “their own” Orchestras.

 

 
 


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