Lerner & Loewe
My Fair Lady
Scarlett Strallen, Jamie Parker et al; Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
Chandos CHSA5358(2) 130:03 mins (2CD)
Ever since its hugely successful 1956 Broadway premiere, Lerner and Loewe’s musical has been granted classic status as one of the finest works in the genre. There exist cast albums, of course, of various
productions, but what is special about this new studio recording, founded on the Sinfonia of London and its music director John Wilson, is that he gives you the original theatrical score complete, and equally importantly in the superb orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J Lang – which no commercial management would be able to afford nowadays, even though one might consider them to
be an essential component.
In an appendix, for instance, there are extra numbers and alternative early versions of existing numbers such as Freddy’s solo ‘On the Street Where You Live’, plus even cues. The latter may be for completists
only, but the standard text is delivered to such a high standard as to make this an essential set for anyone seriously interested in the score.
Apart from the outstanding orchestral playing and choral singing (Wilson rightly mentions in a booklet interview with David Benedict the genuine London or RP accents of chorus members), the finely chosen cast is a joy in terms of vocal and verbal expertise, from the likes of Scarlett Strallen (Eliza Doolittle), Jamie Parker (Professor Henry Higgins), Alun Armstrong (Alfred P Doolittle), Laurence Kilsby (Freddy Eynsford-Hill) and Malcolm Sinclair (Colonel Hugh Pickering), down to cameo appearances from Penelope Wilton (Mrs Higgins) and Julia McKenzie (Mrs Pearce).
Those who already possess Wilson’s similar traversals of Carousel and Oklahoma! need not hesitate.