Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific

Soul Music

BBC

Personal Journals, Music Commentary, Society & Culture, Music

4.7 • 772 Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ezio Pinza was the first person to sing Some Enchanted Evening when South Pacific opened on Broadway in 1949.

His granddaughter, Sarah Goodyear, recounts his extraordinary life story: from international opera singer, to political prisoner, then a star of musical theatre.

Perhaps best known for its 1958 film version, South Pacific famously starred Rossano Brazzi as Emile de Becque. However his singing voice was provided by opera star, Giorgio Tozzi. His son, Eric Tozzi, recalls hearing his father practise Some Enchanted Evening in their California beach-side home.

Canan Maxton runs the charity, Talent Unlimited, which supports student musicians. Some Enchanted Evening was the signature tune to her own love story, which inspired her to launch that organisation.

Alan Titchmarsh is best known as a TV gardener, but he has a surprisingly good voice. Some Enchanted Evening is a childhood favourite which reminds him of his parents, but he couldn't have foreseen the day when he would sing it live at the London Palladium for an ITV audience (credit to ITV All Star Musicals, produced by Multistory Media for the extract used).

Daniel Evans is the Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre. He staged a well-reviewed production of South Pacific, one which explores the racist theme Rodgers and Hammerstein originally sought to address in their Broadway production. He explains the role Some Enchanted Evening plays in the storyline of the show.

Julian Ovenden played Emile de Becque in the Chichester production. He describes what it's like to perform this very famous and much anticipated song.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

BBC Audio Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2021.

Transcript

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0:43.3	I remember distinctly as a child hearing my father rehearsed for many things, but I most remember him singing and rehearsing the song Some Enchanted Evening in our living room. We grew up in
0:57.0	Malibu, California. We had a house that was just opposite Zuma Beach, kind of up on the bluff there.
1:03.3	And so you had this beautiful Southern California daylight coming in through these windows.
1:08.4	And because he had such a deep, powerful voice,
1:12.0	it would resonate through the house.
1:13.2	Sometimes I'd be out in the driveway playing as a kid
1:15.5	riding a bike or skateboard
1:16.8	and just hearing his voice pouring out all the way outside.
1:20.4	It was quite an extraordinary thing to hear.
1:22.6	Come enchanted evening,
1:27.4	you may see a stranger, you may see a stranger across a crowded room.
1:39.3	My name is Eric Totsi, and I'm the son of opera star recording artist Giorgio Totsi, who recorded the South Pacific film soundtrack version of Some Enchanted Evening.
	...

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