Comments on: Ivor Novello & Kurt Gänzl: “The Dancing Years” On JAY Records

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 00:16:55 +0000

John Groves’ suggestion seems to fit Jay Records’ statement that this recording was made “over the years”: https://www.jayrecords.com/recording/the-dancing-years/. On the other hand, the suggestion that the newly released tracks involve a different conductor and different singers does not fit very well with the fact that Jay Records lists only one singer (Valerie Masterson) in the main role of Maria. The additional tracks include Maria’s reprises of numbers that were included on the 1996 CD release. (In 1996, Masterson was about 59 and close to retirement.) So I suspect that back in the 1990s, Jay Records recorded more of this work than they then decided to release.

By: John Groves

John Groves — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 17:03:23 +0000

Yes, most of this was recorded in 1996 (that’s 22 years ago!) and Jay Records do not make that clear!! Presumably it was not recorded complete (I have the 12 track CD that was issued) and additional tracks have been recorded (when?) with a different conductor/singers! To my ears it all sounds a bit ‘clinical’ – not as sumptuous as you would have expected. The BEST Novello excerpts are those issued on Classics for Pleasure – even though the original orchestrations are not used, they seem to have the necessary Novello/operetta style.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 22:40:06 +0000

Was this recording made back in 1996? If so, it’s perhaps worth mentioning, as some readers might think the release is of a brand new recording.