Which EVITA recording?

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 2:30pm

I did a search for other suggestions and couldn't find anything. But after seeing the show last night in Fort Worth, I want to get my hands on a cast album. I am looking on iTunes right now and I wanted to get some suggestions on which I should buy besides looking at the different iTunes reviews.

If you had to choose from the original London cast, original Broadway cast, the film soundtrack, or the revival London cast, which would you choose? Thanks!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 2:32pm

They all have their pros and cons. I find myself (in the minority I'm SURE) most frequently listening to the film soundtrack.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 2:32pm

L U P O N E!

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 2:32pm

The worst is the London revival album. Stay far away from that one.
Updated On: 2/6/11 at 02:32 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 2:40pm

I'd go with the LuPone album. I think the movie soundtrack is only advisable if you've seen (and are a fan of) the movie, as Madonna's whisper-singing is probably unlike what you saw on stage. The concept album has Julie Covington, a singer whose voice is pretty polarizing. I find her shrill and brittle. Elena Roger on the London revival sounds like she learned the songs phonetically and often punches the wrong syllables in words.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 3:06pm

I'd go with the Premiere American Recording (otherwise known as the OBCR) because it has the entire score on 2 discs. The Original London Cast is only highlights and it's on one disc. Same with the 1996 revival.

[canmark]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 3:34pm

Have to go with LuPone on the Original Broadway Cast recording (double album, double CD). Mandy Patinkin was Che.

I like the Original London Cast with Elaine Page and David Essex (I like his Che), but it was released as a single record (and later CD) and so doesn't have the full score.

The original concept album was with Julie Covington and Colm Wilkinson and has a stronger '70's rock sound than subsequent versions (I like The Lady's Got Potential, which was subsequently cut). I quite like it, but only have it on record and, since I don't have a functioning record player anymore, haven't heard it in decades.

Unfortunately, Elena Roger sounds a bit harsh in the London revival (when I saw the show several months after the recording she was much better) and, since she is set to do the revival on Broadway (with Ricky Martin), I would wait for that. The revival used some new arrangements, however, giving some songs more of a tango sound. And the last line of Buenos Aires ("... STAR qua-li-ty!") goes up, rather than down. Oh, and they included "You Must Love Me," which was written for the film.

The movie version with Madonna and Antonio Banderas. I would pass on that.

wikipedia has a pretty good run down of the productions and the songs (and changes). Although I have all of the above recordings, I've only seen the show once in person: the North American tour with Florence Lacey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evita_(musical)

Updated On: 2/6/11 at 03:34 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 3:48pm

LuPone. No question.

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 3:52pm

lupone/patinkin...

but i would also buy elaine paige's don't cry for me argentina

[jv92]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 6:23pm

Patti and Mandy. It's the only Evita recording that's really worth getting. It's thrilling and definitive.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 6:34pm

I agree. If you want the definitive performances of the complete score go with the LuPone/Patinkin American version.

If you just want a well sung collection of highlights and don't need every single note of the score, the original London cast will suffice.

For some reason the OLC has never been released in North America, so available only as an import, which explains why it costs about the same as the 2 CD edition.

Updated On: 2/7/11 at 06:34 PM

[binau]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 6:36pm

Does anyone find the Evita score a little, well erratic? I mean literally unpredictable, like I just don't 'get' it.

I haven't seen it on stage though, (the movie didn't help).

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 6:39pm

In my opinion, the American Premiere Recording is the best as a recording even if LuPone isn't necessarily the best EVITA. It's such a shame that both London productions only got highlights recordings...I have a feeling we might see a full recording of the Broadway revival...and what's the chances of The Lady's Got Potential being restored? :P

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 6:54pm

Does anyone find the Evita score a little, well erratic?

I don't at all. In fact I find it one of ALW's most consistently good scores, and in this case it all sounds of one cloth. That's because he actually composed it as a full score and not a collection of songs. Musical themes are ingeniously woven through the fabric of the show. The text glosses over the events of Eva Peron's life in the style of TV biography, but Hal Prince's staging included a multi-media presentation using news photos and archival film footage that helped fill in dome of the details.

After EVITA I had high hopes for future Webber scores but for a number of reasons each succeeding score he produced was one further step down in a series of increasingly disappointing shows.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 8:09pm

http://www.amazon.com/Evita-Original-Recording-Worldwide-Release/dp/B000000PHQ

[Joey.]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 8:28pm

^Hilarious. Hell's soundtrack, that.

[Joey.]

Posted: 2/6/11 at 8:40pm

The definitive EVITA recording is, without question, the Premiere American Recording with LuPone, Patinkin, and Gunton.

Honorable mentions for favorite EVITA recording are the 1981 Madrid cast starring Paloma San Basilio and the 1997 Japanese tour cast. Both feature lush, full-sounding treatments of the score with excellent casts.

I find the concept album interesting in theory, but Julie Covington's voice grates on me. She is, as another poster pointed out, very shrill.

The original London cast with Elaine is weak as well, in my opinion. I just don't feel that her voice was up to the part at the time in her life when she played it. For example, listen to her Don't Cry For Me, Argentina on the cast album and then watch/listen to her perform the song 20 years later at the ALW Royal Albert Hall Celebration. Night and day.

The 1989 world tour cast with Florence Lacey is ABYSMAL.

I do, however, have a soft spot for the 2006 London revival album. It has it's moments, it has some style. :)

[viola13]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 12:26am

Echos everyone else in that if you can only get one, it should be the OBC.

I also have a kinda weird soft spot for the 2003 European Tour cast recording. lol.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 1:14am

Agree with (most) everyone, definitely the LuPone.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 6:13am

Definitely go with the Premiere American Recording with LuPone and Patinkin. My absolute favorite is the Original Madrid Cast with Paloma San Basilio.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 6:18am

Really? I think it's awful!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 7:04am

Yes. Really. I really love it and Basilio's rendition of "No Llores Por Mi Argentina", which was a big hit for her.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 9:01am

The American Premiere album is the definitive one for me. That doesn't mean it's perfect. In fact, I've always thought Patti gave a rather restrained performance on it that did not remotely resemble her incredible live vocal performance. She recently said in an interview that she had been cast shortly before the recording was made and had very little time to develop any character at the time of the recording sessions. That might explain why.

The mixing isn't very good on the album. The brass often sound very shrill and the brilliant orchestration isn't given an opportunity to shine.

I've read lots of complaints regarding Bob Gunton's use of a heavy accent that is not even his, in his turn as Juan Peron, for how distracting it is. It has never really bothered me, to be honest, and he pulls it off convincingly enough that I was surprised it wasn't actually his and that he isn't even Hispanic. It did set a strange tendency by other actors to incorporate an accent into their take of the role, something I feel is unnecessary and was relieved to see it left out of the film version.

A lot of people like the Madrid cast recording for its alternate yet similar orchestrations. I'm usually staunchly against revising things that don't need revisions in the first place but it works to great effect here. It doesn't hurt they hired a talented orchestrator who respects artistic integrity and doesn't drastically change the sound everyone knows--his arrangements complement the original ones and the result is truly refreshing and are sometimes improvements as opposed to just "different" as is the case with the tinkering done to Les Mis.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 10:20am

FYI: The last note on the "star quality!" line always went up, even in the original production. I've seen footage of LuPone in performance singing it this way but for some reason on the recording it was decided to lower the note.

Someone on the board explained the reason for this awhile back but I can't seem to locate the thread.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 2/7/11 at 2:46pm

Go with the OBCR with LuPone. Its always a favourite of mine to play. Also, if you want, look at used cd stores in your area for the movie soundtrack. Its not the best recording, but usually used stores have a copy of the film soundtrack for a couple of dollars in my experience, anyways. Why not add the film soundtrack for a couple of bucks too.