So, you may ask, what is Opera Ramblings doing reviewing a recording of Rodgers & Hammerstain’s Oklahoma!?  Well, it’s a project in the same vein as my reviewing the Bru-Zane recordings of more or less forgotten late 18th and 19th century French operas.  It’s an attempt to put the piece in the context of its early performances and also to look at how it was originally performed for, like many early 19th century French operas, if and when Oklahoma! does get performed it’s usually in a style very different from the original   The occasion for doing so is a new Chandos recording that attempts to reconstruct the sound of the original 1943 Broadway run.  That the recording is very high definition and released in SACD format only increased my interest.

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