Dubbing

I first saw South Pacific when I was around thirteen at the Odeon Cinema, Dundee. The enveloping sound overpowered my senses and the intricacies of the story line drifted over my head, but my abiding memory is of Juanita Hall singing 'Bali Hai'.

Last week I discovered Juanita Hall's vocals were dubbed, at the insistence of Richard Rodgers, who was determined to use the mezzo-soprano Muriel Smith.



Due to the wonders of technology last night I listened to both versions and eventually decided I preferred Juanita's voice.  It's gritty and more dramatic, but that doesn't negate Muriel Smith's velvety performance. The diction of both singers is admirable but diction was regarded as important in those days.  Maybe I'm just getting old, but I find when listening to much of today's popular music, I can't understand a word.



Note:  The YouTube poster had to flip parts of the above video in order to upload it.

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