The Seckerson Tapes: John Wilson on Rodgers and Hammerstein

The conductor introduces his new CD which pays homage to the greatest musical partnership of them all

by Edward SeckersonSunday, 30 September 2012

John Wilson: an authority on the great Hollywood movie arrangers and orchestrators

John Wilson Orchestra’s stunning 2010 Prom celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein was as close as those who heard it could imagine to being guests on the 20th Century Fox soundstage c. 1955... the sound, the style, the feel of how this music in these arrangements should go was “right” - every sigh, every swoon, every inflection - it couldn’t have been “righter”.

John Wilson is an authority on what the great Hollywood movie arrangers and orchestrators did for the movie versions of these classic scores.

The received wisdom is that Richard Rodgers - arguably the greatest popular melodist of them all - enjoyed a sharper, more sophisticated, relationship with his first collaborator Lorenz Hart, but in this exclusive audio podcast featuring clips from his latest EMI CD Wilson is impatient to demonstrate how Oscar Hammerstein II freed Rodgers and took him to the very top of his game.

Wilson argues that Carousel - Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second show - is the finest score ever written for the Broadway lyric stage and the new album celebrates that and the other “big five” shows in their stylish silver screen garb. Opera superstar Joyce DiDonato makes a guest appearance delivering the number that weekly rings from the terraces of Anfield, home of Liverpool FC. Everton supporters should avert their ears.

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Wilson is impatient to demonstrate how Oscar Hammerstein II freed Rodgers

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