Leonard Lehrman, piano and speaker
Helene Williams, speaker

released 2019

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New cast recording (June 2017), recorded live at Opera Saratoga
John Mauceri, Conductor
Lawrence Edelson, Artistic and General Director

Release date: July 2018

Features Blitzstein's original orchestration

Original Broadway Cast (April 1938): Howard da Silva, Ralph MacBane, Peggy Coudray, et al; Orson Welles, director; Marc Blitzstein, piano

New York City Opera cast (1960)
Tammy Grimes, David Atkinson, Craig Timberlake, Kenneth Smith, et al.; Howard da Silva, director; Lehman Engel, conductor

Theater Four Cast (November 1964): Jerry Orbach, Gordon B. Clarke, Nancy Andrews, et al.; Howard da Silva, director; Gershon Kingsley, piano

Acting Company cast (September 1985)
Patti LuPone, David Schramm, Randle Mell, et al.; John Houseman, director; Michael Barrett, piano

Blank Theatre Company cast (1995)
Jeffrey Rockwell, Peter van Norden, Ali Mandelbaum, et al; Stephen Bates, piano

Cradle Will Rock (film soundtrack). With Audra McDonald, Eddie Vedder, Susan Sarandon, Vicki Clark, et al. (includes “Nickel under the Foot,” “Moll’s Song,” “Croon Spoon,” “Joe Worker,” “Honolulu,” “Oh, What a Filthy Night Court,” “Reverend Salvation,” “The Cradle Will Rock”)

Marc Blitzstein Discusses His Theatre Compositions.

Spoken Arts Distinguished Composers Series

With Evelyn Lear, Roddy McDowall, Jane Connell, Alvin Epstein; Marc Blitzstein, piano and narration (includes "Nickel under the Foot" and the Hotel Lobby scene)

Leighton & Wechsler, duo-pianists; Milt Hinton, bass and Osie Johnson, drums (includes arrangement of “Nickel under the Foot”)

Bennett Lerner, piano (includes three short dances arranged for piano solo: Variations II, Pas de deux, Three-Four Dance)

In a collection called American Composers at the Piano, Blitzstein recorded three short selections from an earlier version of The Guests with the working title “Show.” The selections were titled “Variation III,” “Three-Four Dance,” and “Finale.” The recording was released as a numbered limited edition on Concert Hall Society B9 (78 rpm) in 1948.

Studio Cast (1991): Rosalind Rees, Thomas Bogdan, Fay Kittelson, et al.; Adirondack Chamber Orchestra and the Gregg Smith Singers; Gregg Smith, conductor

(1937) Lotte Lenya, vocals

Songs included: the Suicide's Aria from I've Got the Tune ("And so, the last thing, too"); “Pirate Jenny,” “Solomon Song,” “Tango-Ballade” from The Threepenny Opera (1937, 1954)

Original Broadway Cast (1959)
Shirley Booth, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Stapleton, et al.; Jose Ferrer, director; Robert Emmett Dolan, conductor

Selections from the score performed by Marc Blitzstein (demo recordings)

Original Cast (1941): Martin Wolfson, Carol Channing, Olive Deering, et al.; Marc Blitzstein, piano

New York City Opera (April 1958): Brenda Lewis, George Irving, Elizabeth Carron, et al.; Herman Shumlin, director; Samuel Krachmalnick, conductor

Reissue of New York City Opera 1958 recording

Brenda Lewis as Regina Giddens; Joshua Hecht as Horace Giddens; Helen Strine as Alexandra Giddens; George Irving as Benjamin Hubbard; Elisabeth Carron as Birdie Hubbard; Emile Renan as Oscar Hubbard; Carol Brice as Addie; Loren Driscoll as Leo Hubbard; Andrew Frierson as Cal; Ernest McChesne as William Marshall

New York City Opera Orchestra & Chorus
conducted by Samuel Krachmalnick

Scottish Opera (May 1991): Katherine Ciesinski, Samuel Ramey, Angelina Reaux, et al.; John Mauceri, conductor

(translated and adapted by Blitzstein)

Original Off-Broadway Cast (1954): Lotte Lenya, Scott Merrill, Jo Sullivan, Charlotte Rae, Bea Arthur, et al.; Carmen Capalbo, director; Samuel Matlowsky, conductor

Note: The Off-Broadway cast recording includes many cuts and changes in Blitzstein's original English lyrics.

Tryout cast, Brandeis University (1952): Lotte Lenya, David Brooks, Jo Sullivan, Marc Blitzstein (narrator); Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Released as part of 12-CD Set: Leonard Bernstein: Historical Recordings 1941-1961.

New York City Symphony, Robert Shaw, Charles Holland, Walter Scheff, RCA Victor Chorale; Leonard Bernstein, conductor (October 1946)

The RCA original release and the BMG reissue include the song “Dusty Sun,” from the film score to Native Land, performed by Walter Scheff and Leonard Bernstein (piano).

New York Philharmonic, Orson Welles, Andrea Velis, David Watson, Choral Art Society; Leonard Bernstein, conductor (October 1966)

Czechoslovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hugo Weisgall, conductor (1947)

Michael Barrett, piano; Brooklyn Philharmonic, Lukas Foss, conductor (1988)

The first movement of the Piano Concerto was reissued on a CD titled Gay American Composers, vol. 2 (CRI CD 750). An excerpt from the third movement was issued on a sampler titled “Lollapalooza USA,” issued by Boosey & Hawkes (2005).

Steffen Schleiermacher, piano

includes Blitzstein Sonata for solo piano

includes "Innocent Psalm"

Lara Downes & Friends

featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Thomas Hampson, Javier Morales-Martinez, Kevin "K.O." Olusola

2008 release of Blitzstein chamber works

• Solo Piano Music: Piano Sonata (1927) - Sarah Cahill, piano
• Piano Percussion Music (1929) - Sarah Cahill, piano
• Scherzo: "Bourgeois at Play" (1930) - Sarah Cahill, piano
• String Quartet: "Italian" (1930) - Del Sol String Quartet
• Serenade for String Quartet (1932) - Del Sol String Quartet

(1991) William Sharp, baritone; Karen Holvik, soprano; Steven Blier, piano

Songs included: "Monday Morning Blues," "Croon Spoon," "The New Suit" ("Zipperfly"), "In the Clear," "Then," "I Wish It So," "In Twos," "Penny Candy," "Emily" ("Ballad of the Bombardier"), "Displaced," "o by the by," "until and I heard," "open your heart," "jimmie's got a goil," "What Will It Be for Me?," "Rose Song," Blues," "Nickel under the Foot," "The Cradle Will Rock," "Bird upon the Tree," "Stay in My Arms"

(1990) Helene Williams, Ronald Edwards, vocals; Leonard Lehrman, piano and vocals

Songs included: "Miracle Song"/"Lovely Song," "The Russian Language"/"Mamasha Goose," "Who Will Close the Door on a Neighbor's Misfortune"/"How I Met My New Grandfather," "A Quiet Girl," "The New Suit," "Send for the Militia," "Penny Candy," "What Is the Stars," "My True Heart," "Quarrel Song," "Modest Maid," "Be with Me," "Rose Song," "Love at First Word," "With a Woman to Be," "Miracle Song"

(2001) Helene Williams, soprano; Gregory Mercer, tenor; James Sergi, baritone; Leonard Lehrman, piano and vocals

Songs included: "Nickel under the Foot," "Who Knows" (Let's Be Blue), "Smoking Glasses," "Few Little English," "Outside Agitator," "Secret Singing," "Lullaby," "Expatriate," "The Best Thing of All," "Musky and Whiskey," "The Hills of Amalfi," "Ireland's Eye," "I Wish It So," "Farewell, Me Butty," "Under the Sky," "Rosa-Sacco Suet," "Vanzetti's First Aria," "Sacco's The Whole Shoe," "Vanzetti's Last Statement"

(2005) Helene Williams, Lars Woodul, Robert Osborne, vocals; John Craven, Leonard Lehrman, piano

Songs included: "Song" (text by Rupert Brooke), "What's the Matter with Me?," "The Way You Are," "Hard to Say," "Lovely to Get Back to Love," "War Song"; From Idiots First: "Under the Sky," "Who Will Close the Door?," "How I Met My New Grandfather,"; from Walt Whitman settings: "As if a Phantom Caress'd Me," "After the Dazzle of Day," "As Adam"; from Sacco and Vanzetti: "Memorial Day Parade," "With a Woman to Be," "Torremaggiore-VillafallettoTrio"; from I've Got the Tune: "Prologue," "The Street," "The Salon," "The Neighbor," "The Street"; from The Cradle Will Rock: "Nickel under the Foot" performed by Blitzstein.

(2013) Lucy Schaufer, soprano, with Ensemble; Kevin Amos, music director

Songs included: “Best Thing of All,” “I Wish It So”

(1994) Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Eric Stern, conductor

Songs included: "I Wish It So," "In the Clear," "Never Get Lost"

Includes "I Wish it So"

Rosemary Clooney, vocals; Nelson Riddle, arranger and conductor

(1991) Jeff Harnar, vocals; Alex Rybeck, piano and arrangements

Songs included: “I Wish It So”

(2015) Laura Claycomb, soprano; Marc Teicholz, guitar

Songs included: “open your heart,” “until and I heard”

Mary Carewe, Voice
Philip Mayers, Piano

(1955) Charlotte Rae, vocals; John Strauss, piano and arrangements

Songs included: "Modest Maid," "Fraught"

(1997 Remaster) Paul Robeson, baritone; Lawrence Brown, piano

Songs included: “The Purest Kind of Guy” (1942)

(1986) Judy Kaye, soprano; Peter Howard, piano

Songs included: "I Wish It So"

John Amis, vocals, Penelope Thwaites, piano (1992) (includes "Emily" from The Airborne Symphony)