A tribute to composers whose melodies in the past twenty-five years have enriched the world of musical comedy and operetta Introduced by Eric Maschwitz and ' The First-Nighter' Written by Gale Pedrick
Chapter 11
The music of: Fraser-Simson and James Tate Jerome Kern , Vincent Youmana
Sigmund Romberg with Billie Baker , Lucille Graham
Bruce Trent , Dudley Rolph
Jan van der Gucht
BBC Chorus
(Chorus-Master, Leslie Woodgate )
BBC Concert Orchestra
(Leader, John Sharpe )
Conductor, Gilbert Vinter
Produced by Michael North
Although in essence, ' Nights of Gladness ' is a nostalgic series, its audience is by no means limited to the greybeards beckoning thear fireside memories from a distant past. Most of the music played by the Concert Orchestra is familiar to all ' moderns ' who know a melody when they hear one. It is true that in this programme we glance back over, our shoulders to 1917 and to
The Maid of the Mountains: but in truth, * The Maid ' has had an almost non-stop run, and one more successful tour hat ended only recently. Sopranos and ban-tones everywhere are still telling us that ' Love will find a way ' and singing about ' A Bachelor Gay.' But from these evergreens we happily pass to Kern's Roberta and ' Smoke gets in your eyes.' We recall. too, th- slick American style of Hit the Deck with its exciting chorus, ' Halleluiahl '; and Chapter Eleven of the series ends with operetta at its most romantic-the Finale to Act 1 of Romberg's The Student Prince.