Born in 1899, Noël Coward as a composer had one foot in the British operetta style of Gilbert & Sullivan and the other in the jazz-inflected, light-verse song styles of the Gershwins and Cole Porter (with perhaps a toe touching the European-influenced American operetta style of Victor Herbert). Since his death in 1973, and even before, Coward has been embraced by some classical singers who have attempted to fit him somewhere in the light-classical or art-song realm. Light baritone Richard Conrad is one of these, and in this ...
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Born in 1899, Noël Coward as a composer had one foot in the British operetta style of Gilbert & Sullivan and the other in the jazz-inflected, light-verse song styles of the Gershwins and Cole Porter (with perhaps a toe touching the European-influenced American operetta style of Victor Herbert). Since his death in 1973, and even before, Coward has been embraced by some classical singers who have attempted to fit him somewhere in the light-classical or art-song realm. Light baritone Richard Conrad is one of these, and in this album, accompanied by pianist William Merrill, he declaims Coward songs in his formal, mannered voice, emphasizing his own rolling tones over the lyrics. This is unobjectionable when he is singing ballads, especially ones actually written for operettas, such as "Where Are the Songs We Sung?" from Operette and "I Saw No Shadow on the Sea" from Pacific 1860. But Conrad also insists on taking on some of Coward's humorous songs, such as "Mrs. Worthington" and "Uncle Harry." He treats them as if he is singing Gilbert & Sullivan, with whose work he is very familiar. But you can't really sing "Uncle Harry" as if it were "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General," a song in which the singer himself is part of the joke. Coward always took the stance of a witty observer sharing his humor with listeners. When Conrad sings these comic songs, he sounds pompous; you don't laugh with him, you laugh at him (if, indeed, you laugh at all), which Coward certainly did not intend. There is no doubt that Conrad is knowledgeable about and sympathetic to Coward, whom, he explains in his liner notes, he knew slightly, even to the extent that Coward scribbled some alternate lyrics on a napkin (now lost), allowing him to sing "If Love Were All" from a male point of view. But his knowledge and sympathy do not mean that his interpretations are always valid. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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Add this copy of Room With a View [Audio Cd] Conrad, Richard to cart. $29.98, new condition, Sold by We Ship FAST to YOU rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wilmington, NC, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Newport Classics.