Track Listing

1. Introduction and Maidens Typical of France
2. Never Give Anything Away
3. Quadrille
4. C'est Magnifique
5. Come Along with Me
6. Live and Let Live
7. I Am in Love
8. If You Loved Me Truly
9. Montmart'
10. Allez-Vous En (Go Away)
11. Never, Never Be an Artist
12. It's All Right With Me
13. Every Man Is a Stupid Man
14. I Love Paris
15. Can-Can

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87334 in Music
• Released on: 1992-11-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
As Cole Porter was emerging from a severe depression in 1951, he threw himself into this story set in the Montmartre of the 1890s, turning it into a tribute to a world immortalized in the artwork of Toulouse-Lautrec. To be sure, this isn't top-shelf Porter. Too many of the songs sound like self-parodies, especially "C'est Magnifique" and "Every Man Is a Stupid Man" ("Every man is an awful fool / Every man is a nincompoop."). You also get the feeling that Lilo, who plays the lead, doesn't have much affinity for what she sings, which of course makes sense since the German-born French actress didn't speak English when she was hired and had to learn her songs phonetically. Despite all that, songs like "It's All Right with Me," "I Love Paris in the Spring," and the Gwen Verdon/Peter Cookson duet "If You Loved Me Truly" make you realize that even second-rate Porter is still vastly entertaining. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Not the Best
I am a huge Cole Porter fan, but this one did not work for me. I think the reviewer before me who called this CD "lively and infectious" was referring to the movie's soundtrack, because this recording of the score was anything *but* lively or infectious. In fact, I knocked off only one star for Porter's score being a rung below his best stuff, but two stars were taken off for the absolutely dead vocals on this. The singers are so stiff and unemotional that it's a wonder they made it to Broadway at all. They seem so intent on e-nun-ci-at-ing the lyrics that they lose all of the Gallic joy and charm that most singers would have a field day with. "C'est Magnifique" and "It's All Right With Me," arguably the best songs in the score, are given especially straight-laced interpretations.

As for the score itself: this is an unusual Porter score in that, in my opinion, the lyrics play second fiddle to the music. None of the songs display the amazing linguistic acrobatics of other Porter works, but much of the music is bubbly and fun.

So, if you are a real Porter fan and cannot find a better recording of this score, then try it. But for the casual listener, this one isn't worthwhile.

Porter Never Fails To Entertain!!
It would be easy to say, as many critics did, that Porter was not up to his usual standards. I have to disagree. "Can Can" is a wonderful score that never has been given it's due. Many popular songs came from this, but the best ones are overlooked.


The performers are all top notch. Lilo takes her material and belts it to perfection. Being a Gwen Verdon fan, I found her numbers thorougly enjoyable.


The sound quality is great considering the age of the material. Angel supplied wonderful liner notes, and the synopsis is very helpful. I can recommend this to Porter fans, and those who enjoy great music. Also for Porter fans, "Mexican Hayride" is now available from Decca Broadway.

CAN-CAN A MASTERPIECE COMPARED TO TODAY'S BROADWAY
"Can-Can", as most reviewers indicate, is second-rate Cole Porter in comparison to "Anything Goes" and "Kiss Me Kate"; but any score that includes standards such as "I Love Paris" and the stunningly beautiful ballad "It's All Right With Me" can't be dismissed lightly. This Capitol Original Broadway Cast album showcases the show's strengths (Porter's score & Abe Burrows bawdy book) and weaknesses (lackluster performances from most of the stars and indifferent orchestrations) but still is better than the 1960 film version, which cut most of the score and story, but benefits from the lush Nelson Riddle scoring and features miscast Frank Sinatra's poignant definitive vocal of "It's All Right With Me, one of the greatest vocal performances of the 20th. Century. The soundtrack can be enjoyed on its own level (if EMI ever decides to reissue it on CD) away from the mediocre film and both versions belong in any musical theatre collection. A new production of "Can-Can is opening at the Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California at the time of this review with a revised book and a superb cast which could be Broadway bound and may introduce "Can-Can" to a new generation of theatergoers. This is a good thing for, as it has been established that Cole Porter's score for "Can-Can" is second rate Porter, compared to most of what has passed for musical theatre on Broadway since the 1980's, "Can-Can is a masterpiece. It is genuine musical theatre, not a thrill ride masquerading as musical theatre. And when the audience applauds, they will be applauding the artistic aspects of the show, not the technology as is common with today's Broadway musicals.