The Student Prince - Recordings

Recordings

There are quite a few recordings of this score, though most date from the 1950s. No original Broadway cast recording was made, but the 1926 London cast did record some selections for EMI. These 78-RPM records have been transferred to CD on the Pearl Label. Earl Wrightson starred in Al Goodman's recording for RCA Victor. This has not been released on CD. The last issue was on the budget label Camden in 1958.

Decca made an album in 1950 with Lauritz Melchior heading the cast in eight selections. This is on CD paired with The Merry Widow. A more complete recording starring Robert Rounseville and Dorothy Kirsten was made by Columbia Records in 1952. It has been re-released on CD by DRG. Around the same time, Gordon MacRae recorded a 10-inch Lp for Capitol of the score. It was later repackaged on one side of a 12-inch album (The Merry Widow is on the reverse) but that album has been out-of-print since the late 1960s.

RCA Victor recorded Mario Lanza in highlights from the score, released when the singer's voice was used in the 1954 film version. Lanza later re-recorded the score in stereo for the same label, but it is the earlier mono recording that is on CD paired with selections from The Desert Song.

Readers Digest include a selection in their album A Treasury of Great Operettas, first offered for sale in 1963. This stereo recording is available on CD. Also in 1963, as part of a series of stereo recordings of classic operettas, Capitol had MacRae and Kirsten record a full album of the score. Most of it can be heard on the EMI CD Music of Sigmund Romberg along with selections from The Desert Song and The New Moon. Around the same time, Columbia made a new stereo recording with Giorgio Tozzi, Jan Peerce and Roberta Peters. This has not been issued on CD.

The most complete recording is a 2-CD set from That's Entertainment (TER/JAY) that includes much of the underscoring.