Caravelli - Plays Musicals (2026)

Plays Musicals is a 2026 compilation release from Legacy Recordings (Sony Music Entertainment France SAS), part of an ongoing series of archival reissues drawn from the catalogue of Caravelli — one of the most distinctive French orchestral arrangers of the twentieth century.
Born Claude Vasori in Paris on 12 September 1930, Caravelli trained at the Paris Conservatoire before founding his own orchestra at the age of 26 and signing with the Versailles label in 1959. His stage name, borrowed from the newly launched Caravelle jetliner and given an Italianate twist, became synonymous with lush, sophisticated instrumental pop that earned gold records across France, Japan, Israel, and South America. He passed away on 1 April 2019, aged 88.
The album traverses the golden canon of the international musical stage: Gershwin standards ("Summertime," "The Man I Love," "All the Things You Are"), Bernstein's West Side Story triptych, Broadway blockbusters from Herman and Lloyd Webber, and a French-language wing encompassing three numbers from Berger and Plamondon's rock opera Starmania alongside Michel Legrand's cinematic gems from Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort.
What defines the collection is Caravelli's inimitable orchestral touch: sweeping strings, shimmering harp, and graceful brass lines that transform theatrical source material into self-contained instrumental listening. The release continues Legacy Recordings' mission of making these recordings available to new generations, preserving a vision of popular music that found common ground between the concert hall and the living room.

Tracklist:
1-1 Caravelli - Summertime (From "Porgy And Bess") [3:25]
1-2 Caravelli - Mack the Knife (From "Threepenny Opera") [5:50]
1-3 Caravelli - The Phantom of the Opera [3:13]
1-4 Caravelli - Hello, Dolly [3:10]
1-5 Caravelli - Acquarius (From "Hair") [2:27]
1-6 Caravelli - Memory (From "Cats") [3:51]
1-7 Caravelli - Don't Cry for Me Argentina (From "Evita") [4:36]
1-8 Caravelli - Night and Day [3:13]
1-9 Caravelli - All the Things You Are [3:05]
1-10 Caravelli - America (From "West Side Story") [4:03]
1-11 Caravelli - Maria (From "West Side Story") [2:22]
1-12 Caravelli - Tonight (Combien de nuits) (From "West Side Story") [4:05]
1-13 Caravelli - I Could Have Danced All Night (From "My Fair Lady") [3:41]
1-14 Caravelli - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [2:06]
1-15 Caravelli - Monopolis (Starmania) [3:55]
1-16 Caravelli - Les uns contre les autres (Starmania) [3:18]
1-17 Caravelli - Besoin d'amour (Starmania) [2:46]
1-18 Caravelli - The Man I Love [3:57]
1-19 Caravelli - On the Street Where You Live (From "My Fair Lady") [3:46]
1-20 Caravelli - People (From "Funny Girl") [5:02]
1-21 Caravelli - Les parapluies de Cherbourg [3:33]
1-22 Caravelli - La chanson des jumelles (Les demoiselles de Rochefort) [1:58]
1-23 Caravelli - Chanson d'Emilie Jolie et du grand oiseau (Emilie Jolie) [3:03]
1-24 Caravelli - With a Little Bit of Luck (From "My Fair Lady") [2:30]
1-25 Caravelli - Superstar (From "Jesus Christ Superstar") [3:32]