Favorites in Stereo is a studio album by Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. The album was recorded in stereo and released by RCA Victor in 1959.[1] For its monaural release the title was changed to Favorites in Hi-Fi. The album peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200 chart.[2] It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 27, 1966.[3]
| Favorites in Stereo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1959 |
| Recorded | 1957 and 1958, New York, NY and Hollywood, CA, USA |
| Genre | operetta, pop |
| Length | 32:15 |
| Label | RCA Victor |
| Producer | Simon Rady, Ed Welker |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Background
editNelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald were a popular romantic screen team in a series of eight motion pictures produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1935 and 1941.[4] The two reunited on a 1957 broadcast of the CBS Television series The Big Record starring Patti Page. Their performance of the "Italian Street Song" from their first film together, Naughty Marietta (1935) created a renewed interest for the team. As a result, RCA brought them together to record Favorites in Stereo.[5] During its making, MacDonald feared that the changing music tastes of the public would cause the album to underperform, and was pleasantly surprised about the album's success.[6]
Reception
editThe album was popular with critics and audiences, selling over one million copies.[7] In his review of the album music critic, Bruce Eder, noted: "The results are impressive, even though both singers' voices had darkened somewhat since their heyday of the '30s – the dimensionality of stereo separation is not pushed artificially, but the division of the voices and the perspective of the orchestral accompaniments does allow for some superb listening moments, particularly on "Italian Street Song" on side one."[1]
The Democrat and Chronicle added: "[The album] showed the two singers in peak form."[6] Phil Sheridan for The Philadelphia Inquirer made the album his Album Choice, predicting that "young and old will embrace this album" and praised the "memorable" performances as "singing in grand style[.]"[8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Performed by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Will You Remember?" (from Maytime) | Rida Johnson Young | Sigmund Romberg | Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy | 2:48 |
| 2. | "Rosalie" (from Rosalie) | Cole Porter | Porter | Eddy | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Giannina Mia" (from The Firefly) | Otto Harbach | Rudolf Friml | MacDonald | 2:16 |
| 4. | "Rose Marie" (from Rose Marie) | Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II | Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart | Eddy | 3:02 |
| 5. | "Italian Street Song" (from Naughty Marietta) | Rida Johnson Young | Victor Herbert | MacDonald | 2:16 |
| 6. | "Indian Love Call" (from Rose-Marie) | Harbach and Hammerstein | Friml and Stothart | MacDonald and Eddy | 2:16 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Performed by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" (from Naughty Marietta) | Young | Herbert | MacDonald and Eddy | 3:19 |
| 2. | "The Breeze and I" | Al Stillman | Ernesto Lecuona | MacDonald | 2:32 |
| 3. | "While My Lady Sleeps" | Bronisław Kaper | Gus Kahn | Eddy | 3:26 |
| 4. | "Wanting You" (from New Moon) | Hammerstein | Romberg | MacDonald and Eddy | 3:03 |
| 5. | "Stouthearted Men" (from New Moon) | Hammerstein | Romberg | Eddy | 2:24 |
| 6. | "Beyond the Blue Horizon" (from Monte Carlo) | Leo Robin, Richard A. Whiting, and W. Franke Harling | Robin, Whiting, and Harling | MacDonald | 2:24 |
References
edit- Footnotes
- ^ a b c Eder, Bruce. Review of Favorite in Hi-Fi at AllMusic. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
- ^ Awards for Favorites in Hi-Fi at AllMusic
- ^ "Searchable database". RIAA. 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
- ^ Turk 1998, pp. 362–371
- ^ Turk 1998, p. 313
- ^ a b "Jeanette MacDonald Scores on Records". Democrat and Chronicle. May 13, 1959. p. 65.
- ^ "Nelson Eddy Gets Gold Record After 23 Years". The Valley Times. North Hollywood, California. February 24, 1959. p. 9.
- ^ Phil Sheridan (February 27, 1959). "Record Review". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 18.
- Bibliography
- Eder, Bruce. Favorites in Stereo at AllMusic. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
- Turk, Edward Baron (1998). Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette MacDonald. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA, USA; London, England, UK: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21202-9.