There are no shortage of different recordings of Carousel. If you dig around, you will find 30 plus recordings of Rodgers & Hammerstein's epic setting of Molnar's 1909 play Liliom, although in 1955, there weren't so many. There had been the original cast recording in 1945, recorded by Decca, and UK Columbia preserved the London Cast of 1950, in highlight form. What set this 1955 studio recording apart was that it was by far the most complete recording of the score to date. Again, RCA looked to Lehman Engel to conduct, and Goddard Leiberson to produce.

The score features two operatic stars of the day in its leading roles - Robert Merrill and Patrice Munsel. Merrill and Munsel, as Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan perform with absolute class. Carousel is often attempted by amateur societies, and they often fail to really put the work across, a work that is probably Rodgers and Hammerstein's most technically difficult piece. It's such a revelation to hear songs like 'Soliloquy' and 'If I Loved You' sung as the composer intended. Florence Henderson appears as Carrie, and her performance of 'When I Marry Mr Snow' is as good as you will hear.

Yes, there are other (and longer) versions available now, but this remains an excellent preservation of the legendary score, with Don Walker's original orchestrations. It's great that it's now available in digital format. The mono transfer is excellent, and is a fitting tribute to what can only be considered a reference recording for the piece.

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Ian Gude