For this new series, Jeff has invited me to choose some classic Broadway show tunes and compare versions of these songs from several different cast recordings. Wherever possible, I’ll link to the songs on YouTube, where I listen to most of them myself.
This week, I compare five recordings of “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” the first song in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first masterpiece, Oklahoma! Curly’s delivery of this spare and straightforward ballad heralded a new kind of musical storytelling where the story drives the music, a radically simple idea that continues to inspire Broadway songwriters to this day.
The tracks considered here span almost the entire audio-recorded history of musical theater, from the pioneering decision (almost derailed by a musicians’ strike) to record most of the songs on a pile of 78-rpm discs, to a sprawling studio recording that preserves every note of the score, right down to scene-changes and exit music. Somewhere in between we find a classic movie soundtrack and a stunning but controversial reinterpretation of this seminal work.
My overall favorite version is marked with two stars (**); one star (*) is used to indicate that a particular version stands out in terms of singing, orchestra, sound, or other miscellaneous qualities. (There are ties in several categories this time around.)
ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST (1943) - YouTubeCurly: Alfred Drake
SINGING: Drake’s deep timbre and pitch-perfect singing probably wowed audiences in 1943, but his vocal characterization really doesn’t do it for me in 2024. Apparently, the old approach to singing like a cowboy was to act as if there was a frog in your throat (see also Art Lund on The Most Happy Fella OBCR), and in general the singing is stodgy and a little monotonous.
ORCHESTRA: The original orchestration is mostly string-based, alternating between sustained chords and a more playful texture, with little woodwind touches and occasional bells. It’s a little bare-bones, but there’s a nice build as the song progresses.
SOUND: This very old mono recording is surprisingly clear for the most part, though the voice is too dominant. The orchestral fills between sung lines are quite vivid.
MISCELLANEOUS: Just the song, with a very short intro and modest ending.
**MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (1955) - YouTubeCurly: Gordon MacRae
*SINGING: MacRae’s singing is the most natural-sounding of them all; he manages to sound effortlessly like an Oklahoman without sacrificing vocal beauty. There’s only so much one can do with this song, at least within traditional bounds, but MacRae squeezes much more feeling out of the music and lyrics, culminating in his touching final repetition of “oh, what a beautiful day.”
*ORCHESTRA: The larger orchestra allows for more sophisticated layering, especially in the strings; there are some nice woodwind touches (e.g., when he sings “the cattle are standing like statues”) and a lovely, shimmering orchestral effect leading into “all the sounds of the earth are like music.”
*SOUND: The sound is simply perfect, with a spacious feel that seems to characterize older high-quality stereo recordings.
MISCELLANEOUS: Again, just the song.
LONDON REVIVAL CAST (1998) - YouTubeCurly: Hugh Jackman
SINGING: Although Jackman does a good job melding traditional singing to more actorly touches to create his character, he doesn’t come close to matching MacRae for the singing or Daunno for the acting. His attempt at an accent sounds effortful and therefore distracting.
ORCHESTRA: The texture is much sparer here, especially in the beginning; as the song progresses, it sounds like a slightly pared-down version of the original.
SOUND: Generally good, though the vocals can overwhelm the accompaniment in louder parts.
*MISCELLANEOUS: This track includes the long, stately orchestral introduction, with brass, flute, and harp prominent (reminiscent of the pastoral passages in the William Tell overture). It also includes the brief intra-song snippet of dialog with Aunt Eller. The tempo seems slightly brisker than the others.
BROADWAY REVIVAL CAST CAST (2019) - YouTubeCurly: Damon Daunno; Aunt Eller: Mary Testa
*SINGING: The general approach of this version is so different in just about every way from the other four that it’s almost like its own distinct entity. It’s absolutely not representative of what Rodgers and Hammerstein intended when they wrote the song - for that, listen to MacRae’s version, or really any of the others - but it’s a fascinating listen in its own right. Daunno doesn’t really try to compete in terms of pure vocals; in fact, there are lots of digressions from the tempo and from the melodic line, but these are all in service of this production’s approach to his character. Uniquely, the ensemble briefly sings at the beginning of the song; more strikingly, Testa’s Aunt Eller joins in for the final chorus, creating a rather jarring sound that foreshadows what’s to come.
*ORCHESTRA: The first section of the song is entirely unaccompanied; the remainder features an evocative, very “plucky” bluegrass accompaniment, eventually joined by a few strings. It’s not my cup of tea in terms of musical style, but I have to say that it probably works better than a full orchestration to establish the setting and the tone of this production.
SOUND: Clear and well-balanced, but somewhat “flat,” as if all the vocalists were standing in the same spot.
MISCELLANEOUS: The tempo is very slow throughout, and there are several rather extreme pauses and slow-downs, resulting in this track being a full minute longer than the original recording (without adding any musical content).
COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDING (2023) - YouTubeCurly: Nathaniel Hackmann
SINGING: Hackmann’s singing is gorgeous in an old-school kind of way, harking back to the original recordings. His operatic approach means that some vowels sound artificially pure, and there’s a noticeable clash between his singing voice and his few spoken lines.
ORCHESTRA: The original orchestrations, scaled up for a symphony orchestra, sound almost impossibly lush and beautiful, a bit more earnest and less playful than the similarly-scaled movie version.
SOUND: Very clear in general, with a nice “remoteness” effect near the beginning.
MISCELLANEOUS: This version also includes the long orchestral intro and the brief mid-song dialog. Though it’s not the best in any particular category, it’s quite strong in all of them, and lives up to this album’s goal of serving as a high-quality reference recording for the entire show.
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