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Noël Coward|The Compact Coward

The Compact Coward

Noel Coward

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The first CD ever issued on Noel Coward's work is, understandably, a bit sketchy, containing 70 minutes of music dating between April of 1928 and December of 1951, thus bridging a 23-year arc in Coward's life and career. "Medley, Pt. 1," which opens the collection, comes from 1951, when Coward was embarking on the performing career in cabaret that would sustain his reputation and lifestyle into the 1960s -- the voice and the wit are still there, perhaps less playful and more wry than what listeners hear on his classic material. All of the rest of this collection save one track dates from the '20s to the mid-'40s, when Coward occupied the center of popular culture in the English-speaking world as no author since Oscar Wilde had done. The mixture of style, wit, romance, and satire, wrapped in an astonishing, off-handed simplicity, is all the more dazzling because it still rings through 70 years later; "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," "Mary Make Believe," "Mrs. Worthington," and "Parisian Pierrot" are still among the funniest, cleverest songs and performances ever recorded. There are also two tracks, an excerpt from "Private Lives" (including "Someday I'll Find You") and an excerpt from "Red Peppers," that feature Coward and his longtime leading lady, Gertrude Lawrence, together. There are also a few cuts dating from the World War II period, and it might be instructive for listeners in the early part of the 21st century to recall how much wit and humor the Allies held onto, on their side, during that war -- "Could You Please Oblige Us With a Bren Gun" ("If you can't oblige us with a Bren gun, the home guard might as well go home") simply has no equivalent in any modern wartime era. On the negative side, there is minimal annotation, and the CD was done so early in the digital era that the material sounds substandard even for '30s-era recordings, technology having improved significantly since 1989.

© Bruce Eder /TiVo

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The Compact Coward

Noël Coward

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1
Medley, Pt. I (I'll See You Again / Dance Little Lady / Poor Little Rich Girl / A Room with a View)
00:02:57
2
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
00:02:50

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Ray Noble & His Orchestra, Conductor, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1932 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

3
Mary Make Believe (This Year of Grace)
00:03:09

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Carroll Gibbons, Conductor, Performance - Carroll Gibbons & Orchestra, Conductor, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1928 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

4
Mrs Worthington
00:02:01

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1935 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

5
Parisian Pierrot
00:03:45

Noel Coward, Composer, Vocals, Performance, MainArtist - Clifford Greenwood, Conductor - Phoenix Theatre Orchestra, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1936 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

6
Private Lives
00:04:39
7
Let's Say Goodbye (Words and Music)
00:03:24

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Ray Noble & His Orchestra, Conductor, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1932 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

8
Twentieth Century Blues (Cavalcade)
00:01:22

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - New Mayfair Orchestra, Performance - The New Mayfair Orchestra, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1932 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

9
I'll Follow My Secret Heart (Conversation Piece)
00:06:18

Noel Coward, Composer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Yvonne Printemps, MainArtist, PLG Unknown Participant, Second Vocals - Reginald Burston, Conductor - His Majesty's Theatre Orchestra, Orchestra

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1934 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

10
Red Peppers
00:08:46

Noel Coward, Composer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Gertrude Lawrence, MainArtist, Second Vocals - Clifford Greenwood, Conductor - Phoenix Theatre Orchestra, Orchestra - The Phoenix Theatre Orchestra, Orchestra

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1936 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

11
Most of Ev'ry Day
00:02:32

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Carroll Gibbons, Piano

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1934 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

12
I Travel Alone
00:02:28

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Carroll Gibbons, Piano

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1934 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

13
Any Little Fish (Cochran's 1931 Revue)
00:02:23

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Ray Noble & His Orchestra, Conductor, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1931 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

14
Could You Please Oblige Us with a Bren Gun
00:03:26

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Carroll Gibbons, Conductor, Performance - Carroll Gibbons & Orchestra, Conductor, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1941 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

15
London Pride
00:03:20

Noel Coward, Composer, Vocals, MainArtist - Carroll Gibbons, Conductor

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1941 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

16
I Wonder What Happened to Him
00:03:38

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Carroll Gibbons, Piano

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1945 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

17
There Are Bad Times Just Around the Corner
00:03:29

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - The Cafe De Paris Orchestra, Orchestra - Sydney Simone, Conductor - Norman Hackforth , Piano

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1952 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

18
I Like America (Ace of Clubs)
00:02:51

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - The Cafe De Paris Orchestra, Orchestra - Sydney Simone, Conductor

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1952 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

19
Medley, Pt. II (Any Little Fish / You Were There / Someday I'll Find You / I'll Follow My Secret Heart / If Love Were All / Play Orchestra Play)
00:03:26
20
Party's over Now, The (Words and Music)
00:03:36

Noel Coward, Composer, MainArtist - Ray Noble & His Orchestra, Conductor, Performance

© 1989 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 1932 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

Album review

The first CD ever issued on Noel Coward's work is, understandably, a bit sketchy, containing 70 minutes of music dating between April of 1928 and December of 1951, thus bridging a 23-year arc in Coward's life and career. "Medley, Pt. 1," which opens the collection, comes from 1951, when Coward was embarking on the performing career in cabaret that would sustain his reputation and lifestyle into the 1960s -- the voice and the wit are still there, perhaps less playful and more wry than what listeners hear on his classic material. All of the rest of this collection save one track dates from the '20s to the mid-'40s, when Coward occupied the center of popular culture in the English-speaking world as no author since Oscar Wilde had done. The mixture of style, wit, romance, and satire, wrapped in an astonishing, off-handed simplicity, is all the more dazzling because it still rings through 70 years later; "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," "Mary Make Believe," "Mrs. Worthington," and "Parisian Pierrot" are still among the funniest, cleverest songs and performances ever recorded. There are also two tracks, an excerpt from "Private Lives" (including "Someday I'll Find You") and an excerpt from "Red Peppers," that feature Coward and his longtime leading lady, Gertrude Lawrence, together. There are also a few cuts dating from the World War II period, and it might be instructive for listeners in the early part of the 21st century to recall how much wit and humor the Allies held onto, on their side, during that war -- "Could You Please Oblige Us With a Bren Gun" ("If you can't oblige us with a Bren gun, the home guard might as well go home") simply has no equivalent in any modern wartime era. On the negative side, there is minimal annotation, and the CD was done so early in the digital era that the material sounds substandard even for '30s-era recordings, technology having improved significantly since 1989.

© Bruce Eder /TiVo

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