The appeal of a collection of favourite duets from musicals, sung by two popular British singers, is obvious, and fans of Valerie Masterson and Thomas Allen will scarcely be disappointed with the results. Their programme has been excellently chosen to concentrate on popular numbers from Broadway shows of the 1920s, 1940s and 1950s, when the American musical was at its most richly romantic. All the numbers are performed with the benefit of the original orchestrations, which contribute much to the richness of the effect.
The problem with opera singers in programmes such as this is always to scale down their operatic voices to the rather different demands of the musical theatre. I think that Valerie Masterson achieves this a good deal better than Thomas Allen. Throughout, the clarity and sweetness of her contribution is a delight, from the way in which her voice soars to such splendid effect in the opening number from The Phantom of the Opera, through the lightness and flexibility of the succeeding number from Brigadoon, to the tender expression of ''Hello young lovers!'' from The King and I. By contrast, Thomas Allen seems stiff and ill-at-ease as the Phantom or, more particularly, in the vernacular speech-song opening of the number from Guys and Dolls. He comes more into his own in Rodgers and Hammerstein numbers such as ''People will say we're in Love'' from Oklahoma!, the extended ''If I Loved You'' from Carousel and, above all, the solo from South Pacific, which was written for an operatic voice. Even if not everything shows his fine baritone to maximum effect, the collection will provide an enchanted evening for many listeners.'