The Desert Song - Recordings

Recordings

No original Broadway cast recording was made, but the 1927 London cast recorded eight selections for EMI. These 78-RPM records have been transferred to CD on the Pearl Label. Decca made an album in 1944 with Kitty Carlisle, Felix Knight and Wilbur Evans, covering 10 selections from the score. This was released on CD, paired with The New Moon. Earl Wrightson starred in Al Goodman's 1948 recording for RCA Victor. This has not been released on CD.

A more complete recording starring Nelson Eddy was made by Columbia Records in 1953. This was the preferred recording of this score on LP until the end of the vinyl era. It was available on compact disc briefly, but is out of print. Around the same time, Gordon MacRae recorded a 10-inch LP of the score for Capitol, which was re-issued on 12-inch LPs, but it is long out of print. Kathryn Grayson recorded selections with Tony Martin on a 10-inch record for RCA Victor, which is also long out of print. Victor recorded Mario Lanza in highlights from the score. Released shortly after the singer's death, it became one of his best-selling LP's and is now available on CD, paired with The Student Prince. A mostly complete 1958 studio cast album with Giorgio Tozzi and Kathy Barr, and conducted by Lehman Engel, was released by RCA Victor and is available on CD. A 1959 British studio cast album stars Edmund Hockeridge and June Bronhill. It has also been reissued on CD.

In 1963 as part of a series of stereo recordings of classic operettas, Capitol released a recording of the full score with MacRae and Dorothy Kirsten. Most of it can be heard on the EMI CD Music of Sigmund Romberg, along with selections from The Student Prince and The New Moon. Also in 1963, Readers Digest included a selection in their album A Treasury of Great Operettas. This stereo recording is available on CD.

The 1955 television production starring Nelson Eddy was issued on video in 2011.