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MGM Musical Score:

ATHENA: Songs: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane, Underscoring: Georgie Stoll, Robert Van Epps, Andre

Previn, Jacob Gade

Arrangements/Orchestrations: Georgie Stoll, Robert Van Epps Al Sendrey, Conrad Salinger, Wally

Heglin

Rhino Handmade RHM 27768, TT: ??.??, 33 tracks (stereo) **** Excellent
Producer: George Feltenstein, Performed: MGM Soloists, Studio Orchestra & Chorus, Conductor:

Georgie Stoll

by Ross Care

Athena, a 1954 musical about an eccentric family of California health enthusiasts, is primarily

distinguished by its score of songs by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. The song writing team first gained

fame with their collegiate Broadway musical, Best Foot Forward. They were soon signed by MGM who

produced the film version of Best Foot, and where they contributed several original songs to the eclectic

score of one of the studio’s biggest hits of the mid-1940s, Meet Me In St. Louis. After St. Louis the team

went their various ways but reunited to produce Athena, their most extensive score. Hyped as “The

musical with young ideas,” Athena showcases the talents of MGM’s young ‘50s stars, Jane Powell,

crooner Vic Damone, Debbie Reynolds, and Edmund Purdom, the latter a new British leading man best

(or worst known) for lip-synching the voice of Mario Lanza in MGM’s nonetheless touching

CinemaScope remake of The Student Prince.

Athena itself is a modestly entertaining affair with a witty, satiric screenplay shot in classic ‘50s

Technicolor with an appealing cast. The score itself was first released in a truncated version on

Mercury, (Damone’s home label), the soon-out-of-print 10-inch LP becoming a sought after collector’s

item. The 2001 Rhino Handmade release is the first complete release of this appealing score and with 33

tracks (including songs, outtakes, demos, and underscoring) the CD is one of Rhino’s most elaborate

productions. The score opens with a lyrical main title for chorus and orchestra, the ethereal melody of

which is beautifully developed in ensuing underscore cues. The songs range from energetic up-tempo

numbers, the operetta-like waltz, “Vocalize,” and the jazzy duet, “Imagine,” to one of the most under-

rated ballads in the vast MGM catalog, the haunting “Love Can Change the Stars,” sung by Powell.

Damone performs another moody ballad, “Venezia,” and the film’s opening, “The Girl Next Door,” a
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slight variation on the durable standard from Meet Me In St. Louis. Damone also handles an outtake,

“Faster Than Sound,” an elaborate up-tempo tune cut from the film but which ended up in Martin’s

High Spirits, the Broadway musical based on Noel Coward’s Blythe Spirit.

Other bonus tracks include seven demos sung by Blane with Martin at the piano, a virtual mini-

album that demonstrates the team’s considerable performing talents. (Visually the team can also be seen

performing a “soundie” on the recent 2-disc DVD of Meet Me In St. Louis). Though Athena was not shot

in CinemaScope the score was nonetheless recorded in authentic stereo, the sound brilliantly showcasing

the jazz soloists in numbers like “Imagine” and the lush MGM orchestral sound in the rest of the songs

and underscore. Athena is one of Rhino Handmade’s finest releases and provides a welcome and

complete restoration of one of the most appealing and under-rated classic MGM musical scores. Bravo!

Ross Care