Hammerstein II

His 90-minute, two-act work, given its U.S. premiere by the New York Philharmonic on Thursday night, evokes a World War II-era sound reminiscent of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

He reteamed with Dandridge for Otto Preminger’s film adaptation of the Oscar Hammerstein II musical “Carmen Jones,” itself an interpretation of Bizet’s classic opera “Carmen,” modernized and reimagined for an all-Black cast.

He also caught the eye of the Hollywood producer and director Otto Preminger, who cast him in the 1954 movie version of “Carmen Jones,” an all-Black update of Bizet’s opera “Carmen” with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, which had been a hit on Broadway a decade earlier.

With the aid of Jonathan Tunick’s peerless orchestrations, the songwriter emulates his mentor here, Oscar Hammerstein II, by planting Broadway’s flag boldly in another culture.

Salsini suspects Sondheim himself recorded one of the shows on an acetate recorder, noting that his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II had urged him to buy such a device.