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John Wilson has made lightning strike again with his new recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, the follow up to last fall’s Oklahoma! (see TAS 344). The playbook is the same: return to original sources; restore traditionally cut numbers and passages of scene- and act-transitions and reprises, so that for the first time we hear every note Rodgers wrote; resurrect the great Don Walker’s original orchestrations; and employ the full complement of the original 1945 production’s 39-piece orchestra. And not least, record it in an actual theatre ideally sized for musicals, with lovely acoustics, minimally miked with virtually no console manipulation once the levels were set (dynamic range is very wide), for superbly natural yet vivid sonics in which the impression of being in a theatre is unusually persuasive. As before Wilson draws upon colleagues he has worked with numerous times, beginning with the Sinfonia of London, his crack ensemble drawing upon the finest players throughout the United Kingdom, and, once again, a magnificent cast so thoroughly at home in the style the word “ideal” is an understatement. Carousel is widely regarded as the pinnacle of R&H’s achievements I called Wilson’s Oklahoma! the most important and best musical release of 2023—the same for Wilson’s Carousel this year.

By Paul Seydor
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