Kostelanetz Treasures
Ronald J. Day | Clifton Park, NY USA | 02/07/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In my opinion, the composer series recordings by Kostelanetz are among his best. The arrangements are for full orchestra and some of the best examples of Kostelanetz' passion and insight into the golden age of musical theatre. Six of the Cole Porter selections I had on '78s when they were first recorded, and the arrangements are the essence of Cole Porter. Kostelanetz indeed, plays the words, that is, during recording sessions,the orchestra members had the lyrics as well as the music on their music stands. My favorite is Porter's "I Love You". The Kostelanetz strings have a way of reaching my heart strings - it seems to express in music the way I feel about my wife of 42 years - you guessed it - I'm in my late 60's. I have this CD on back order, and have not really listened to it - but I have enjoyed these recordings for many years. However, to evaluate the quality of sound on these CDs I purchased the CD in the same series "Music of Irving Berlin" . The sound is outstanding, and true to the Kostelanetz original recordings. The Vincent Youmans recordings are a bit newer and first appeared on mono-LP. Again, they are excellent Kostelanetz arrangements and outstanding performances. What a treasure to find both of these wonderful LP recordings on one CD. I expect to have my copy of this CD from Amazon within the next week or so, and I will update this review after listening."