COWARDS IN THE WINGS – Helen McDermott and Adrian Wright (Must Close Saturday Records – MCSR 3053)
This is a very difficult review for me to write for two reasons: I’m not a huge fan of Noel Coward material sung by other people and I have a huge respect for Adrian Wright who knows more about British musical theatre than almost any other person alive. However, I have the CD and I have been asked to review it so…
(I’d like to explain one of my reasons I gave above: many people when singing a Coward song think they have to effect a funny voice and point out the laugh lines. This is one of the things that really annoys me about Coward renditions. If you listen to his own interpretations of the songs, you find that he basically lets the lyrics do the work, and therefore they are much more effective. Also, since Coward himself was not what you’d call a singer, many artists feel the songs are easy to put across but Coward, like Sondheim, can be deceptively difficult to ‘get right’.)
Ok so on to the review of this CD. It is difficult to record a show that obviously relies a lot on visuals. The four artists on the recording (Helen McDermott, Adrian Wright, John Knowles and Annette Jude on piano) all have great talent, and I am sure that being in the theatre watching the show is great fun, but this does not come over on the recording.
Many of the songs feel strained and overplayed. I’m sure that is simply for the stage, but on record they sound a bit hackneyed. I think what I am trying to say is that the two main artists are trying too hard. Just as a for instance: in the ‘Bronxville Darby and Joan’ track McDermott effects the most horrendous old lady voice complete with off-key singing and warble. All this does is detract from the words and actually takes away any of the humour from the song. Now, I’m sure on stage this might be quite funny to watch, but on the recording it would have been better to hold that back. We know the characters are old, it’s all in the lyrics, so we don’t need it pointed out quite so blatantly!
The CD includes many rare Coward songs such as ‘Baseball Rag’, ‘Irish Folk Song’ and ‘The Wife of An Acrobat’. It’s always good to hear rare tracks rather than just the usual ‘hits’. The booklet is also very informative, as you would expect from Must Close Saturday Records, although there is a typo on the cover that rather sticks out – three ‘n’s in Annette!
I have had a look online regarding the stage presentation and it is enthusiastically received wherever it plays. This convinces me that on stage this entertainment works much better than on the recording. This is a great shame, but I am sure that the CD must sell like hot cakes at the venues where the show is playing, and perhaps I am just too set in my ways to accept Coward in anything other than the original.
Nick Wakeham
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