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LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY Classic Songs of Love and Romance Mary Carewe Graham Bickley Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Balcombe |
NAXOS 8.574258 [62.27]1. Long Ago (and Far Away) Mary Jerome Kern, Ira Gershwin [3:07]
2. The Very Thought of You Graham Ray Noble [3:41]
3. They All Laughed Duet George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin [2:20]
4. Someone to Watch Over Me Mary George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin [3:40]
5. The Way You Look Tonight Graham Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields [2:55]
6. A Fine Romance Duet Jerome Kern [2:23]
7. My Funny Valentine Mary Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart [3:51]
8. I Could Write a Book Graham Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart [4:00]
9. How About You? Duet Burton Lane [3:23]
10. They Can’t Take That Away From Me Graham
George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin [2:47]
11. Where or When Duet Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart [4:08]
12. Ev’rytime We Say Goodbye Mary Cole Porter [3:01]
13. The Folks who Live on the Hill Graham
Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II [3:52]
14. It Had to be You Duet Isham Jones, Gus Kahn [4:00]
15. What’ll I Do? Mary Irving Berlin [3:19]
16. All the Things You Are Graham Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II [3:11]
17. Our Love is Here to Stay Mary George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin [4:11]
18. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square Graham
Manning Sherwin, Eric Maschwitz [3:51]
19. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore Duet Duke Ellington, Bob Russell [2:47]
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: [62:27]
NAXOS 8.574258
This disc is an assortment of 19 popular romantic standards, sung by Mary Carewe and Graham Bickley and accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Richard Balcombe. Mary is a well-known cabaret and recording artist, and Graham is a talented and versatile singer and actor, and both have starred in a wide variety of musical productions. The two artists have previously performed together for recordings of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sounds of the Sixties, and other projects. Richard Balcombe is a veteran orchestrator and conductor and has led many of the world’s finest orchestras. He conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for this production and also provided the song arrangements; six solos for Mary, seven for Graham, and six duets.
Jerome Kern (1885-1945) was an outstanding composer who wrote for theater and films, and five of his ballads are here. The earliest is The Folks Who Live on the Hill, which appeared in the 1937 musical film High, Wide and Handsome. Graham performs the beautiful ballad with his soft, smooth tenor voice accompanied by strings and echoing brass in the background. The latest is the title tune, Long Ago (and Far Away), written by Kern with Ira Gershwin. The song appeared in the 1944 Hollywood musical Cover Girl, one of Kern’s last musicals, starring Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth. Mary does the honors with a lovely, sensitive rendition that displays her wide alto-soprano range and bright, clear tones and phrasing.
Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Lorenz Hart (1895-1943) wrote songs together for over 20 years. Their 1937 Broadway musical Babes In Arms introduced several outstanding tunes which have become jazz standards. Mary sings My Funny Valentine, and Graham and Mary harmonize Where or When, one of their best duets. Graham performs I Could Write A Book, from the 1940 musical Pal Joey, in a very slow arrangement which unfortunately drags the timing between singer and orchestra.
One of the earliest songs on the disc is What’ll I Do?, written by Irving Berlin and first appearing in the Music Box Revue in 1924. Mary sings the slow, poignant number surrounded with a lush string accompaniment. Another tune from 1924 comes It Had To Be You, written by Isham Jones with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It’s a great duet for Mary and Graham, and one of the few songs on this disc that swings. Fortunately, they get to perform another foot-tapper together with the classic Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, written in 1942 by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell.
This music was recorded in March, 2021 at Henry Wood Hall in London. Richard Balcombe created all of the arrangements. Andrew Walton was the producer and editor, and Deborah Spanton performed the engineering duties, assisted by Tobias Moirin. The sound quality is excellent. A 6-page booklet is included with comments by Julian Haylock.
Bruce McCollum