Gertrude Lawrence - Star Quality (CD)

All Music Guide

AEI's Gertrude Lawrence collection Star Quality consists of rare, noncommercial recordings by the stage star, most of which seem to derive from radio transcriptions. They include not only musical performances but also dramatic recitations, such as the fiveminute "La Voix Humaine" and "Scene from Private Lives." In the latter, Lawrence performs with an unidentified actor playing the part of her husband, and her other fellow performers also go without credit for the most part throughout the album. (Who are the actors heard in "Joining Charlot's Revue," which seems to be a dramatization of Lawrence's own life?) Noël Coward is named as her partner on the comic "Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?," drawn from the +Red Peppers section of his play cycle +Tonight at 8:30, but he is an exception. The sound quality ranges from good to poor, rarely reaching commercial quality even for vintage recordings. But the album does give a sense of the range of Lawrence's work, from her dramatic efforts to saucy m...usical numbers like "I Don't Know" and on to her big Broadway musical turns in +Lady in the Dark and +The King and I. It is not the collection to start with for those interested in the performer, but theater buffs already well acquainted with Lawrence should enjoy it. [The 1998 CD reissue adds nine tracks on which Lawrence sings to piano accompaniment, often with a backup chorus. The material shares the drawbacks of the rest of the collection. "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" is incorrectly titled "The Hand I Held," and Lawrence's duet partner on "My Blue Heaven" is unidentified. But Cole Porter's "The Physician" from +Nymph Errant is one of her signature songs, and its inclusion strengthens the set considerably.] - William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read more Less