Porter, C: Anything Goes

Of all the great American song-writers of the time Cole Porter was, perhaps, the most sophisticated and 'European'. In 1917 Porter moved to Paris where he kept a luxury apartment and where he gave parties for his large group of friends of varying sexualities and mores. Porter was one of the few song-writers who wrote both the words and music for his songs, some became renowned for their bawdy originality and sophistication. Porter's songs should be listened to carefully, not only for the originality of the melodies but for the inventive and creative cleverness of the lyrics. Anything Goes, from 1934, was one of Porter's few notable Broadway successes and was the first of his musicals to star Ethel Merman, who went on to star in several other Porter shows.

This set brings together the five complete recordings of famous Broadway musicals made under the direction of the American conductor and musical theatre archivist John McGlinn – Show Boat (1927) by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cole Porter’s Anything Goes (1934), Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon (1947) and Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate (1948). The Show Boat recording also contains a substantial amount of extra material cut from the original production before opening or written for subsequent revivals and the 1936 film.