Richard Rodgers (1902-1979)
Oklahoma! (1943)
Nathaniel Hackman – Curly
Sierra Boggess – Laurey
Rodney Earl Clarke – Jud Fry
Jamie Parker – Will Parker
Louise Dearman – Ado Annie
Sandra Marvin – Aunt Eller
Nadim Naaman – Ali Hakim
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
rec. 2022, Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music, London
Chandos CHSA5322(2) SACD [2 discs: 94]
The booklet for this “world première complete recording” of Oklahoma! makes large and very wide-ranging claims for the ground-breaking nature of this first of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, as the first Broadway musical show to be designed from beginning to end as a dramatic unity in which the elements of speech and song are combined on a more or less equal footing. What it fails to mention is the equally uncontrovertible fact that this was the first Broadway musical to be given the equivalent of a modern integral recording of the score featuring the original cast. This was of course issued on a series of 78 rpm singles, with swingeing cuts eliminating all the non-essential items and effectively reducing the whole to a series of fairly brief items but including all the songs that were to become well known in various productions around the world and the film version that followed ten years later. But that film eliminated substantial sections of the original stage version (including the ground-breaking nightmare-ballet sequence) and while preserving Robert Russell Bennett’s original orchestrations expanded the size of the string section to full symphonic scale. Later stage revivals made still further cuts and expanded or reduced the scoring according to circumstances, so that what was presented as Oklahoma! varied from location to location. This process was clearly under way from a very early stage. The full version, the music alone getting on for two hours in duration, was published in vocal score in 1943; but almost simultaneously the publishers issued a manuscript two-piano reduction clearly designed for off-Broadway use which differs in many respects from that printed score (not least in the removal of much of the melodic counterpoint) – and the printed vocal score itself was overhauled for reissue in 1976 with substantial amendments made in overwritten manuscript.
What we have here for the first time is the complete 1943 score with the original orchestration restored, the string body smaller than in the film version and thereby gaining to a considerable degree in clarity. This means that the close microphone observation of the singers necessary in all previous recordings is no longer necessary, but that at the same time there is no need to resort to the employment of large-scale operatic voices in the roles – as has already been done in earlier complete recordings of later Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals such as South Pacific, Carousel, The King and I and The sound of music. The results clearly mirror closely what the original audiences would have heard in the theatre (where of course the singers were not miked at all) and this enables the substantial areas of the score where dialogue is spoken over orchestration to blend properly into song at one extreme and speaking at the other.
What is missing in this admixture of course is the spoken dialogue itself. This whole idea of this underscoring, not original to Oklahama! but becoming a major feature of the score, was developed further in later Rodgers musicals to an amazing degree of subtlety and was, for example, cited by Bernstein as one of the major innovations of the era. I recall a television lecture which the great composer-conductor gave in the late 1960s in which he cited one passage from South Pacific as an example of this blending of words and music, which he more or less asserted proved the dramatic superiority of the musical over opera. I found his arguments unconvincing then, and do so now; but in this recording the fact that we have the bare minimum of spoken dialogue means that the subtle transition from words to music is not as apparent as might be desirable. That is provided by the one other recording of the score which might lay some claim to ‘completeness’ – a video of Trevor Nunn’s 1998 stage production from the National Theatre in London which includes nearly all the music on these discs (once a truncated overture is out of the way) and actually includes some extended dance music and interludes which appear to have been added since the original 1943 score was published. The scoring is expanded for full-sized orchestra, and the singers are inauthentically provided with microphones throughout – but this video version provides the only serious rival to this new set. It may however prove difficult to obtain; DVD stocks seem to be curiously limited, a CD version comes on a single disc, which would imply that substantial parts of the performance are omitted, and a Blu-Ray release is not suitable for most DVD players in the UK.
At all events, and leaving the tangled textual history of the musical to one side, what we have here is a superb account of the score as originally presented on stage. Much of the credit for this must be given to the indefatigable John Wilson and his newly-reminted Sinfonia of London, whose work in the field of Hollywood and Broadway scores over the years here reaches some kind of apotheosis. The singing cast avoid both the Scylla of full-on operatic delivery (although some have respectable credentials in that field) and the Charybdis of off-key Broadway sprechstimme which some American critics in particular seem to find so perversely attractive. Sierra Boggess as Larey even manages to give an approximation of 1940s soubrette style without sounding twee or naïve; and as her rival suitors Nathaniel Hackmann and Rodney Earl Clarke provide well-upholstered voices with plenty of body and punch, well able to ride Robert Russell Bennett’s sometimes noisy orchestration as edited here by the late Bruce Pohamak (to whom the recording is dedicated). Jamie Parker and Louise Dearman provide delightful comic relief, Sandra Marvin provides a well of home-spun wisdom, and Nadim Naaman does what he can with the nowadays somewhat distasteful caricature of a travelling salesman. The smaller parts – thirteen of them – are all well taken and the choral ‘Oklahoma’ ensemble consists of an additional dozen singers. We also have a credited tap dancer – Alistair David – which might seem very quixotic indeed in a purely audio recording, but oddly pays real dividends in the rhythms of the Kansas City dance sequence; it would surely be impossible to match such precision in any live performance.
The substantial booklet comes complete with an extensive essay by David Benedict, who also conducts an interview with John Wilson; cast biographies and session photographs; and a complete text (in English only). From the interview in particular we learn of the care that has been taken in the preparation of this recording – the use of genuine 1940s drums and guitar, the use of a rare bass oboe as specified in the score, and the careful editing of the score to ensure the maximum of authenticity. The results are simply hors concours and – together with a video of the National Theatre production – should provide a benchmark recording of Oklahoma! for generations to come.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
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Additional cast
Leo Roberts – Andrew Carnes
Juan Jackson – Ike Skidmore
Will Richardson – Joe
Sejal Keshwala – Gertie Cummings
Emma Kingston – Kate
Kelly Mathiesen – Ellen
Rebekah Lowings – Virginia
Charlotte Kennedy – Vivian
Ceili O’Connor – Sylvie
Danny Whitehead – Fred
Michael Colbourne – Cord Elam
Freddie King – Farmer
