As I said last time, Masterworks Broadway have been busy of late. In their quest to release some older gems on CD, some on CD for the first time, they have recently presented us with four new releases, almost at once. So, watch out for all of these over the next week or so.

The next on my list is Kurt Weill's stylish Lady In The Dark. With book by Moss Hart, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by Kurt Weill, it opened on Broadway in 1941 and enjoyed a run of over 400 performances. This version is the studio cast album from 1963, and stars Risë Stevens, one of the Metropolitan Opera’s all-time divas, who passed away in March [2013] at the age of ninety-nine. This version of Lady in the Dark also stars John Reardon, Adolph Green, Stephanie Augustine, Kenneth Bridges and Roger White, all under the musical direction of Lehman Engel.

Again, this is not the first time this has been released on CD, having been released by Masterworks Heritage in 1997. This is however, a very good transfer, although there are no extra tracks.

I can't comment on the actual story of the show - no liner notes are supplied with this release, which I think is a big miss of Masterworks, and something we need to start insisting on I think if we are all to move to 'digital' collections.

As for the performances on the recording, they are top notch, and I really enjoyed listening to this recording. I hadn't heard of Stevens before this recording, but she makes a good impression here - perhaps not to rival Gertrude Lawrence from the original Broadway cast, but good none the less. The highlights of the show, and this recording, are without doubt 'My Ship' and 'The Saga of Jenny', both sound as good as they have ever sounded here.

There are several Danny Kaye bonus tracks on here, which for me didn't really add anything, but were still a nice to have. All in all, a solid Masterworks release.

7

Ian Gude