Some Enchanted Evening (song)
Encyclopedia
"Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune
from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein
musical South Pacific
.
In the musical, it is sung as a solo by Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who falls in love with the American navy nurse Nellie Forbush. In this song he sings of seizing the moment so that it won't slip away. In the original Broadway production, it was sung by the operatic bass Ezio Pinza
.
In the film version, the song is sung by Giorgio Tozzi
, who dubbed for Rossano Brazzi
.
According to the running commentary on the DVD release of South Pacific, this song provides an example of Oscar Hammerstein II
's use of verbs in a song. The DVD commentary mentions that Lehman Engel
remembered how Hammerstein wanted to write a song based around verbs, but waited ten years to do so before he wrote this song.
The song made former Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Pinza a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera.
Show tune
A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
.
In the musical, it is sung as a solo by Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who falls in love with the American navy nurse Nellie Forbush. In this song he sings of seizing the moment so that it won't slip away. In the original Broadway production, it was sung by the operatic bass Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
.
In the film version, the song is sung by Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi was for many years a leading bass with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as playing lead roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.-Career:Tozzi was born George John Tozzi in Chicago, Illinois...
, who dubbed for Rossano Brazzi
Rossano Brazzi
-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
.
According to the running commentary on the DVD release of South Pacific, this song provides an example of Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
's use of verbs in a song. The DVD commentary mentions that Lehman Engel
Lehman Engel
Lehman Engel was an American composer and conductor of Broadway musicals, television and film.-Work in theatre, television and films:...
remembered how Hammerstein wanted to write a song based around verbs, but waited ten years to do so before he wrote this song.
The song made former Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Pinza a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera.
Selected recorded versions
- Ezio PinzaEzio PinzaEzio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
(recorded April 18, 1949, Original Broadway cast recording of South Pacific) - Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
(1949) - Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
(1949) - Jo StaffordJo StaffordJo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
(1949) - Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
(1949) - Al JolsonAl JolsonAl Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
(1949) - Eddie CalvertEddie CalvertEddie Calvert was an English trumpeter, who enjoyed his greatest successes in the 1950s. Calvert had his first United Kingdom, number one instrumental single in 1954, with "Oh Mein Papa".-Biography:...
(1951) - Giorgio TozziGiorgio TozziGiorgio Tozzi was for many years a leading bass with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as playing lead roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.-Career:Tozzi was born George John Tozzi in Chicago, Illinois...
(1958 for the film soundtrack, 1967 for the Lincoln Center revival cast recording with Florence HendersonFlorence HendersonFlorence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
) - Carl MannCarl MannCarl Mann is an American rockabilly singer and pianist.Mann was raised in rural Tennessee; his parents owned a lumber business. He sang in church and did country songs for local talent shows, playing guitar and piano...
(1960) - Jay and the AmericansJay and the AmericansJay and the Americans was a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane , Kenny Vance and Sandy Deanne , though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.-Early years:They were...
(1965) - Jane OlivorJane OlivorJane Olivor is an American cabaret singer. She was initially compared, often favorably, to Barbra Streisand and Édith Piaf.-Background:...
, on her debut album, First Night (1976) - José CarrerasJosé CarrerasJosep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
(1986) for a studio cast recording of South Pacific with Kiri Te KanawaKiri Te KanawaDame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, Mandy PatinkinMandy PatinkinMandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
and Sarah VaughanSarah VaughanSarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."... - Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
(from her 1993 album Back to BroadwayBack to BroadwayBack to Broadway is the twenty-sixth studio album by Barbra Streisand, released in 1993. The album is Streisand's second collection of songs from Broadway musicals, after 1985's The Broadway Album, and peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 189,000 copies in that week, and has been...
) - The TemptationsThe TemptationsThe Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
(1995, For Lovers OnlyFor Lovers OnlyFor Lovers Only is a 1995 covers/pop standards album by The Temptations for the Motown label, something of a sequel to their 1967 album The Temptations in a Mellow Mood. The album features the final recordings of Melvin Franklin, who fell ill during recording and died before the album's release...
) - Bryn TerfelBryn TerfelBryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
- Something Wonderful: Bryn Terfel Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein (1996) - Philip QuastPhilip QuastPhilip Quast is an Australian actor perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Javert in the stage musical version of Les Misérables, or for appearances in numerous Australian soap operas including Sons and Daughters, The Young Doctors and Police Rescue.-Personal life:Quast was born in 1957 in...
for the 2002 London revival cast recording of South Pacific - Paulo SzotPaulo SzotPaulo Szot is a Brazilian opera baritone singer and actor. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of South Pacific. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in the musical, becoming the first Brazilian to receive...
- South Pacific (The New Broadway Cast) (2008) - Harry Connick, Jr.Harry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
(from his 2009 album Your SongsYour SongsYour Songs is a studio album by American multi-platinum selling recording artist Harry Connick, Jr., released by Columbia Records.It was released first in the United States on a 2 disc limited edition vinyl LP on August 25, 2009, then released on CD on September 22.The album is a collaboration with...
) - Alfie BoeAlfie BoeAlfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe, known professionally initially as Alf or Alfred Boe and now as Alfie Boe, , is an English tenor.-Background:...
, on his 2010 album, Bring Him HomeBring Him Home (Alfie Boe album)Bring Him Home is a studio album by Alfie Boe released on 27 December 2010 by Decca Records.- Track listing :-Chart Performance:The album peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. This is Boe's most successful album so far, and is his first top ten hit....