CHSA5358(2)

Scarlett Strallen, Jamie Parker, Alun Armstrong, Malcolm Sinclair, Laurence Kilsby, Julia McKenzie, Penelope Wilton, Sinfonia of London, John Wilson

Chandos (United Kingdom)

[World Premier Complete Recording!]

John Wilson comments: My Fair Lady is the quintessential American London musical. There is not a semiquaver or a semi-colon in the wrong place. Steven Wilkie, one of the fiddle players in my orchestra, describes it as The Marriage of Figaro of the twentieth century. And when I asked the great opera conductor Richard Bonynge what the finest post-World War Two operas are, he said, ‘My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!... they’re the great operas that will live on’. We have recorded every note, including underscoring, plus all the music written but cut before opening, with the instrumentation exactly as it was on opening night. Also, thanks to recent research, we have the restored original orchestrations. The reason I want to record
everything the composer, lyricist, book-writer, and orchestrator did is that I believe it is a piece of significance by people who were masters of their art and craft. This was not written in an afternoon; it was chiselled away for months. They were ruthless in excising anything they felt would not make the grade. We have a duty to set down as closely as we can their final thoughts on what they created.

Cast List:
Eliza Doolittle ........................................................................................ Scarlett Strallen
Professor Henry Higgins ........................................................................ Jamie Parker
Colonel Hugh Pickering ......................................................................... Malcolm Sinclair
Alfred P. Doolittle .................................................................................. Alun Armstrong
Freddy Eynsford-Hill .............................................................................. Laurence Kilsby
Mrs Higgins ........................................................................................... Penelope Wilton
Mrs Pearce ............................................................................................ Julia McKenzie
First Cockney (Nos 3 and 21) ................................................................ Tom Ping
Second Cockney (Nos 3 and 21) ........................................................... Connor Carson
Third Cockney (Nos 3 and 21) .............................................................. Tom Liggins
Fourth Cockney (Nos 3 and 21) ............................................................ Hal Cazalet
Solo Tenor (No. 3) ................................................................................. Hal Cazalet
Harry (Nos 4, 6, and 22) ....................................................................... Adam Vaughan
Jamie (Nos 4, 6, and 22) ....................................................................... Sharif Afifi
Angry Woman (No. 4) .......................................................................... Maria Coyne
Angry Man (No. 4) ............................................................................... Connor Carson
Mrs Hopkins (Act I, Scene 4) ................................................................ Annie Wensak
Bartender (Act I, Scene 4) .................................................................... Leo Roberts
First Maid (No. 10) ............................................................................... Deborah Crowe
Second Maid (No. 10) .......................................................................... Wendy Ferguson
Charles (Act I, Scene 6) ........................................................................ Matt McDonald
Policeman (Act I, Scene 8) ................................................................... Will Richardson
Flower Girl (No. 13) ............................................................................. Charlotte Kennedy
Footman, Embassy (No. 16) ................................................................ Tom Ping
Footman, Higgins’s Servant (No. 19) ................................................... Annie Wensak

Yes