This is something of a miracle: A complete, two-disc, state-of-the-art, all-star studio recording of a lesser-known show by the greatest musical theater writing team of the 20th century, a show that was previously (mis)represented only by the severely truncated, monophonic original Broadway cast album.
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro is generally regarded as the first concept musical: Its conventional story of a man from a small town who responds to the siren call of the big city but eventually returns to home and hearth is told in an overtly presentational manner, with much of the goings-on narrated and explicated by a Greek-style chorus. The show doesn't completely work, but the score has lots of wonderful pages. Though the best known songs are, "A Fellow Needs a Girl," "So Far," and "The Gentleman is a Dope," I've always felt that Allegro's finest moment is the achingly lyrical "You Are Never Away," beautifully sung on the new CD by Patrick Wilson and ensemble.
The recording is luxury cast in its leads and featured roles (Wilson, Laura Benanti, Nathan Gunn, Audra McDonald, Liz Callaway, Norbert Leo Butz, Judy Kuhn), as well as the smaller parts (Judith Blazer, Ashley Brown, Danny Burstein) and cameos (Schuyler Chapin, Harvey Evans, Howard Kissel, Kurt Peterson, Stephen Sondheim). Even the great Oscar Hammerstein himself makes a posthumous appearance. And it's wonderful to have Marni Nixon, who dubbed Deborah Kerr's singing in the movie version of R&H's The King and I more than 50 years ago, on hand as Grandma Taylor.
