Gordon MacRae in 'The Student Price' and 'Merry Widow'

I enjoyed preparing the recent post of Gordon MacRae with highlights from Roberta and Desert Song, so here is a second post containing two more operettas from the same series.

As before, Capitol teamed MacRae and Lucille Norman for Lehar's The Merry Widow. Dorothy Warenskjold was the female lead for Romberg's The Student Prince.

The Merry Widow production comes from 1952, The Student Prince from the following year. Capitol originally issued them on separate 10-inch LPs, then combined them on the 12-incher that was the source of my transfer.

As I mentioned in my previous post, these LPs were inspired by MacRae's long-running Railroad Hour radio show, which featured highlights from operettas and musicals, along with other musical fare. Both Norman and Warenskjold were heard on the program at various times during its 1948-54 run on the airwaves.

Lucille Norman

Lehar's operetta dates from 1905 and has been the subject of many recordings, being popular with both opera companies and with artists such as MacRae and Norman who enjoyed a broader appeal. Decca had Kitty Carlisle and Wilbur Evans record highlights in 1944. Then in 1949, Columbia came out with a selection of songs by Risë Stevens and Dennis Morgan. In 1952, Columbia invested in another recording, this time with Dorothy Kirsten and Robert Rounseville. That same year there was a film adaptation of the work starring, unpromisingly, Fernando Lamas and Lana Turner. M-G-M issued soundtrack highlights on LP. So there was no lack of competition for MacRae and Norman. But as before, the duo worked smoothly together and produced a highly enjoyable product. The recording uses the English lyrics by Adrian Ross, I believe. During this time, Norman had achieved enough renown to have her own trading card (at left), which could be found in the 1953 Bowman series, "Television and Radio Stars of NBC."

The Student Prince had been a enormous success on Broadway in the 1920s, running even longer than Show Boat. As with The Merry Widow, the operetta had quite a revival on records at mid-century, starting with heldentenor Lauritz Melchior, who starred in a 1950 Decca album that was offered here several years ago and is still available. Columbia came out with a Kirsten-Rounseville version in 1952. I am fairly sure I have that one too, if you haven't had enough of "The Drinking Song." In 1954, RCA Victor had Mario Lanza record highlights timed to the release of a movie version where he dubbed the vocals of Edmund Purdom. I definitely do not have that LP or its stereo remake.

Dorothy Warenskjold

For The Student Prince, Capitol teamed MacRae with Dorothy Warenskjold, an artist who appeared both with opera companies, mainly the San Francisco Opera, and on radio and television. In addition to this LP, she also recorded two solo albums for Capitol. As with Norman, Warenskjold also had achieved enough fame as to have a trading card in the 1953 Bowman "Stars of NBC" series (at right). The 96-card set included network personalities from Arnold Stang to J. Fred Muggs, but no MacRae.

In common with the previous collection, the backing and arrangements here are by George Greeley. The sound is very good.

1951 Railroad Hour ad (click to enlarge)