First Complete Recording Of Marc Blitzstein's THE CRADLE WILL ROCK On Sale Now

Bridge Records will issue the first complete recording of Marc Blitzstein's signature creation, the opera The Cradle Will Rock.

The new recording features Blitzstein's original 1937 orchestrations and was recorded live at Opera Saratoga in July 2017.

The performance features a stellar cast including Ginger Costa-Jackson as Moll; Keith Jameson as Harry Druggist; Christopher Burchett as Larry Foreman; Audrey Babcock as Mrs. Mister; and Matt Boehler as Mr. Mister. The production is conducted by John Mauceri with direction by Lawrence Edelson. The two-disc set also includes a rare recording of Marc Blitzstein discussing the opera's opening night in 1937.

The opening night of The Cradle Will Rock (July 16, 1937) was one of the most infamous in history. The attempt to shut down and censor the production resulted in an improvised performance with Blitzstein playing his score on the piano, which has influenced performances of this American masterpiece for decades. This new recording restores Blitzstein's brilliant original orchestrations to their full glory.

Although commentators have variously called The Cradle Will Rock an operetta and a musical comedy, Blitzstein objected to both terms. In the published versions of the score and libretto, he designated the work a play in music, although in some manuscripts he called the piece an opera, by which he meant, as he stated in 1938, a form whose music and drama had "a continuous and serious mutual relation." Opera Saratoga's remarkable production of the fable of Steeltown USA, corrupted at every social level by the predations and capitalist cupidity of its boss-man, Mr. Mister, was hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as having "no polite veneer to soften Blitzstein's social outrage, with a cast that had the scrupulousness of opera but the theatricality of Broadway." Straddling the worlds of opera, musical theater and popular music, The Cradle Will Rock is as timely and entertaining today as when it first premiered in 1937.

Bridge Records, Inc. was founded by guitarist David Starobin and violinist Becky Askew Starobin. The couple's son, Robert, joined them at Bridge shortly after completing his graduate studies. Now in its 37th year, the Bridge catalog numbers more than 500 highly honored titles, including 32 Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated recordings.