When, in 1989, Scottish Opera and English National Opera shared a production of Kurt Weill's Street Scene, two separate complete recordings came out of it. This was despite the fact that several singers were common to Glasgow and London. Where Decca used the conductor, orchestra and chorus of the Scottish production, they imported internationally known singers for the leading roles. TER, by contrast, recorded the ENO production as it stood—apart from a couple of relatively minor substitutions. Only Meriel Dickinson, in the role of the bitchy Mrs Jones, appears in both recordings.
For contractual reasons the TER recording was doomed to follow the Decca; but here it now is. Listening to it, the main result is to heighten admiration for a work that integrates such marvellous melodies into a score of genuine passion, and such wit and humour into a tragic story with a deep-hitting social message. As for a choice between the two recordings, let me say at once that I have come up with no overall preference. Both are of a very high standard, and both have relative advantages. I can only do my best to guide readers towards the one that will suit them better.
First, there is about the TER a definitely greater feeling of continuity and uniformity—a feeling that the performers are inside their roles—than there is with Decca. This must owe something to the fact that the TER recording was made in November 1989, during the London run, whereas the Decca was made at sessions seven months apart with singers who presumably flew in and then departed. Maybe, also, it owes something to the type of singer that Decca imported. My major disappointment with that recording (and I realize it is a disappointment that will not be shared by everyone) came from the contribution of Josephine Barstow. Her very deliberately produced, operatic-style delivery seems to me as unsuitable for this Broadway opera as it did for her EMI Kiss Me, Kate!. Kristine Ciesinski may sound too young for Anna Maurrant, but her more natural style of delivery seems to me far more suitable for this work.
To a much lesser extent the same stricture applies to the contribution of Angelina Reaux as young Rose Maurrant on the Decca, though on any grounds the contribution of Janis Kelly to the TER recording seems to me outstanding. Her beautifully clear but natural enunciation, her sense of emotional involvement, make ''What good would the moon be?'' a performance of real beauty. Yet perhaps the most striking 'plus' about this TER version is the performance of Richard Van Allan as the murderous Frank Maurrant. His ''Let things be like they always was'' shows far more expression than Samuel Ramey does for Decca and creates a far more sinister effect, a far greater sense of foreboding that is carried through the whole work. On the other hand, Bonaventura Bottone cannot really match the winning tones of Jerry Hadley in the role of Sam Kaplan.
Carl Davis's conducting makes its contribution to the effect of Frank Maurrant's number with its slightly slower tempo. Elsewhere, though, the balance seems to me strongly in favour of John Mauceri for Decca. Time and again Mauceri gives the music an element of life that is missing with Davis. Note at the very start, for instance, the way that Mauceri builds up the atmosphere. Note likewise, in ''Wouldn't you like to be on Broadway?'', how much more successfully Mauceri captures the change of mood as Harry Easter's attempt to seduce Rose is interrupted by the arrival of Mrs Jones. Whereas ''Moon-faced, starry-eyed'' (with Catherine Zeta Jones of ITV's The Darling Buds of May, incidentally) is really a piece of sweet dance music under Carl Davis, under John Mauceri it really swings.
So there it is. Both recordings reach a very high standard, both in terms of performance and also in the first-class, atmospheric sound-quality. Those who want star names and more inspiring conducting should go for the Decca; but the TER is the one that I find the more consistently enjoyably sung.'