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When Paul Robeson took the stage at Carnegie Hall in May of 1958, it had been 11 years since he had previously concertized freely in the United States. Blacklisted from the entertainment industry at home, and with the State Department unwilling to issue him a passport, he had fallen into eclipse as a singer and actor over the previous eight years. The concert recorded here, one of two at Carnegie Hall in May of 1958, marked his return. The performances on this record would also be his only stereo recordings -- all were, naturally enough, the work of Vanguard Records, the New York-based record company that was also the home to fellow blacklistees the Weavers. The singing legend is in excellent voice throughout, his rich bass-baritone reveling in performances of a repertory that encompassed Bach, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Dvorák, Beethoven, traditional gospel, Russian and Chinese folk songs, "Old Man River" from Show Boat, and monologues from Shakespeare and the opera Boris Godunov. With a piano accompaniment by Alan Booth, Robeson ranged across a huge part of his own performing history. The 60-year-old singer, despite the decade of artificially imposed inactivity, still had much of his vocal power intact and all his dramatic instincts, and makes every moment count in his performance, investing immense power in every note and nuance. Sadly, his Vanguard performances were to be his only work captured on modern recording equipment -- because of the blacklist, everything else predated the arrival of recording tape and the long-playing record. But the performance captured here, and those represented on Vanguard's The Essential Paul Robeson, show a man still capable of moving huge numbers of people with his voice -- and equally important, even at this late date, who had not lost the ability to walk a crowd through a vast and difficult range of repertory; his performances, even after ten years of professional exile, were also learning experiences, and consciousness-raising, which is why reactionaries in the United States were so afraid of him in the first place. And none of it has lost any of its power in the five decades since the actual event.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Lawrence Brown, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Unknown, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Unknown, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Paul Robeson, MainArtist - George H. Clutsam, Composer
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Jerome Kern, Composer - Oscar Hammerstein, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Antonín Dvorák, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Modest Mussorgsky, Author - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Modest Mussorgsky, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Brown, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Earl Robinson, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Langston Hughes, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, ComposerLyricist - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Paul Robeson, MainArtist - Lehman Engel, Composer
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Traditional, Composer - Paul Robeson, MainArtist
℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
Album review
When Paul Robeson took the stage at Carnegie Hall in May of 1958, it had been 11 years since he had previously concertized freely in the United States. Blacklisted from the entertainment industry at home, and with the State Department unwilling to issue him a passport, he had fallen into eclipse as a singer and actor over the previous eight years. The concert recorded here, one of two at Carnegie Hall in May of 1958, marked his return. The performances on this record would also be his only stereo recordings -- all were, naturally enough, the work of Vanguard Records, the New York-based record company that was also the home to fellow blacklistees the Weavers. The singing legend is in excellent voice throughout, his rich bass-baritone reveling in performances of a repertory that encompassed Bach, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Dvorák, Beethoven, traditional gospel, Russian and Chinese folk songs, "Old Man River" from Show Boat, and monologues from Shakespeare and the opera Boris Godunov. With a piano accompaniment by Alan Booth, Robeson ranged across a huge part of his own performing history. The 60-year-old singer, despite the decade of artificially imposed inactivity, still had much of his vocal power intact and all his dramatic instincts, and makes every moment count in his performance, investing immense power in every note and nuance. Sadly, his Vanguard performances were to be his only work captured on modern recording equipment -- because of the blacklist, everything else predated the arrival of recording tape and the long-playing record. But the performance captured here, and those represented on Vanguard's The Essential Paul Robeson, show a man still capable of moving huge numbers of people with his voice -- and equally important, even at this late date, who had not lost the ability to walk a crowd through a vast and difficult range of repertory; his performances, even after ten years of professional exile, were also learning experiences, and consciousness-raising, which is why reactionaries in the United States were so afraid of him in the first place. And none of it has lost any of its power in the five decades since the actual event.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 22 track(s)
- Total length: 01:00:54
- Main artists: Paul Robeson
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Vanguard Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company ℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company
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