Carousel: Selections from the Theatre Guild Musical Play: A Decca Broadway Original Cast Album (Original 1945 Broadway Cast)

Rodgers and Hammerstein' s Carousel took many risks for its time, and it's now easier to appreciate them.

Though the songwriters gave the story a more upbeat ending, the subject matter, about a brutal man's treatment of the women in his life and its impact on his fate, was undeniably dark.

Furthermore, Rodgers and Hammerstein were arguably more stylistically audacious than in Oklahoma! Rodgers, for instance, dispensed with the traditional overture, composing a piece titled "Waltz Suite: 'Carousel'" instead.