E. Y. Harburg work in a nutshell
E. Y. Harburg 's first CD release in 1990 was the album
Finian's Rainbow (1960 Broadway Revival Cast). During those last 5 years, 2 albums of the artist were released (see our
discographies to learn more about these albums). Hereunder are some of E. Y. Harburg's best successes. By the way, did you ever wonder how the artist succeded ? Check out
E. Y. Harburg biography to find out !
E. Y. Harburg collaborative pages
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Your latest reviews - E. Y. Harburg : Revival superior to original cast recordingI have always preferred the performances on the 1960 revival album to the original cast recording. Although David Wayne won a Tony award for the creation of his Og, the Leprechaun, there is nothing vocally in his two songs to indicate anything special about the interpretation, while Howard Morris in the revival embellishes his vocal comedic acting with inventiveness and delight. Jeannie Carson is a superior vocalist to Ella Logan and Biff McGuire is less beefy than Donald Richards. The orchestrations are bright here and recorded in stereo, not the low fidelity of the 1947 original. In addition the non-dependence on 3.5 minute 78-rpm side limits allows the revival to give us extra material from the show - the LOOK TO THE RAINBOW dance, the reprise of SOMETHING SORT OF GRANDISH between Og and the children and the finale chorus of GLOCCA MORRA.
When one looks at the structure of the show it does strike one oddly that the four ballads come first in the show - after the opening choral number - with only one of the comic songs interspersed before the fourth ballad. Then come four of the five satirical songs all in a row, followed by the second comic song. It's unusual to have a show's songs bunched like this by type rather than blended for variety.
It's also an oddity that both an Irish and a Scottish fantasy should arrive on Broadway the same year (1947). While BRIGADOON has gone on to continued revivals and a healthy life, FINIAN'S RAINBOW due to its politically dated libretto, has faded from public view, rarely revived, and probably needing a program glossary for audiences to catch all the satire based on popular figures and movements of its day.
What does go on is the score. The four ballads have entered the standard repertoire and are the main reasons for purchasing either cast album. The cleverness of the lyrics in the satirical numbers can't match the sheer beauty and feeling in OLD DEVIL MOON, IF THIS ISN'T LOVE, GLOCCA MORRA and LOOK TO THE RAINBOW.
For my money the revival is a far superior purchase - consider all of the remastering involved in bringing the 1947 original back to the public, including use of three alternate takes - which hardly in my mind constitutes recreating the original cast recording as released to the public in 1947.
