New Music

The new CDs I've purchased this month, and reviews of them

Anne and Gilbert - The Musical

• This is the sequel musical to Anne of Green Gables. I've never seen the show, and bought the CD on a whim because I love the Anne stories, and thought that it might be an interesting obscure musical to own on CD, much like my Annie Warbucks Original Cast CD, which has apparently more than doubled in price since I bought it on eBay a few years ago. Anyway, back to Anne and Gilbert, the musical is based on two Anne books.. Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island. Interesting songs. Definitely not in my top 10. All the songs sound alike and are at times hokey. The cover artwork is really cool. The instrumentation is bland, only a few instruments. Certainly not like your typical Broadway cast recording. I would only recommend a few songs. Apparently this is only "selected songs" and not everything from the show. I would be curious to hear the remaining songs that were not included on the album, as maybe there is more contrast...but at the same time, maybe it is more of the same. Anyway the singers are good, for the most part. I am not to hip on the ensemble singing. Some of the voices stick out.

Cecilia Bartoli - If You Love Me (Se tu m'ami ), 18th-Century Italian Songs

• Great CD! Especially if you like opera. This goes with the 17th/18th Century vocal book that is so popular with high school and college freshman for voice lessons. Excellently executed singing and accompaniment. Singing is a bit much for a young singer to copy, but is defiantly good inspiration.

Unsung Musicals - The Ultimate Collection

• Interesting obscure CD. There is a cd series called Unsung Musicals, which this comes from, which is recordings of Broadway flops. The music is good and my favorite song on this CD is titled Disneyland from the musical smile. It is sung by Jodie Benson, also known as the voice for the Little Mermaid. Nice thing about this whole CD is that all of the artists are actual theater performers, so it is actors and actresses performing Broadway music, not popular or classical singers trying to sing in a genre that isn't best suited for them.

Cinderella: Songs from the Classic Fairy Tale (1998 Studio Compilation)

• This is another one of those obscure CDs that I've had my eye on for several years. It is similar to the Peter Pan Studio Compilation that I absolutely love. This Cinderella cd has music from all the many many musical and movie productions of Cinderella, including The Slipper and the Rose, Into the Woods, the Cinderella Ballet, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and Disney's Cinderella. I haven't even named all the Cinderella productions whose music is on this CD. Again, this is performed by theater artists, so the singing quality is good.

Anne of Green Gables - The Musical

• This is the 1984 recording of the original Anne cast at the Charlottetown Festival on P.E.I. The cover art is a cheesy eclectic drawing. But the music and orchestration of this musical is fun, creative, energetic, and full of variety. While the singing style is good, the singers' stylistic approach to Broadway music a bit outdated, the quality of the songs outweighs those little things. I've worked on this production with a local children's theater, and have grown to love the musical, and the memories that it invokes. This cd is hard to find, and I had to get it from a Canadian vendor, as it was 1/2 the price of what I could get it for from an American vendor.