A Little Night Music Recording---which do you suggest to get?

[jovie27]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 5:38pm

So, with all this talk about A Little Night Music and the confirmation of cast, etc...which recording do you think will be the perfect recording for someone who has never heard the show before?

Thanks in advance.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 5:47pm

OBC. One of the ONLY OBCRs that is absolutely perfect, in my opinion.

The RNT recording is lovely, but has a lot of "alternate" material (read: cut songs) that Steve doesn't want in the show. PLUS it's impossible to find and woefully out of print. But IF you can find it, I'd put it at number 2.

P

[jovie27]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 5:51pm

Thank you! Any others?

[Pgenre]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 5:58pm

THIS is the perfect introduction to the uninitiated. I'd say watch this before even the cast recording just to "get you in the mood" or whatever.

It is a beautiful song evocative of much of the score, yet it is NOT a song used in the show (it was written for the movie version, and "The Glamorous Life" in the show is a completely different song in music and lyrics) so nothing will be spoiled for you, plot-wise. Anyway, it's one of Sondheim's most propulsive and lovely songs, and it has seldom been sung better than by Miss Audra McDonald.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay-9mR4m9k8

ENJOY! Tell us what you think, please!

And I REALLY wish Steve would put it into the show (the RNT production tried to and it didn't work that well because they interpolated it into the other "Glamorous Life").

P

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 6:20pm

Really the OBC. There is no second choice.

[raulmark]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 6:38pm

The OBC is the only one that I have ever listened to and I love it. I have not bothered listening to any other.....

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 7:03pm

There is (or was) a London cast- but it is completely eclipsed by the OBC.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 7:25pm

This is why you should buy the original Broadway cast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAl-EawVobY

Glynis Johns and Len Cariou re-creating the scene and song of "Send in the Clowns"

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 7:34pm

I like the Royal National Theatre cast recording the best. I heard the OBC first and hated it. I never understood why anyone liked the show until I heard Judi Dench sing these songs and then I got it. It's one of my all time favorite recordings now.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 7:37pm

I agree about the OBCR, but I must say that the lied singers on the OLCR rock!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 7:38pm

Except that you can't find the RNT recording for legit purchase, so it's a fool's errand.

Get the OBCR. It's unimpeachable.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 8:09pm

The OBC is without a doubt the best cast recording of this show. The current CD edition includes extra material left off the Lp and first CD releases.

The RCA disc of teh 1975 London production is vastly inferior, and at this point I belive it is out-of-print.

The 1977 film soundtrack has never been released on CD and teh Lp reveals a score decimated with more than half of the songs removed, and some odd lyric changes but it has the rewritten "Glamorous Life" (also a bonus track on the OBC Cd release) and some interesting lyrics to the opening "Night Waltz."

There is a studio cast CD on TER that John Yap recorded in the early 1990s. It's worth a listen even if it can't touch the original.

The 1996 London revival as noted is hard to find though apparently in the U.K. there are budget releases that don't actually label it A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. Instead it is called something like Judi Dench sings Sondheim! The original contracts restricted the CD from being released (legally) outside the U.K. and that is why no one has ever picked it up for U.S. distribution. I would list this as a second choice after the original but since it is hard to get, why not stick with the original which is readily available and at a budget price now.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 8:22pm

I think because I actually heard other recordings of the score prior to the OBC its a little less of a personal favorite of mine than it is for most people. The performance are near perfect, but the tempos are slower and the sound quality isn't as good as the RNT recording, which all in all is probably my favorite.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 8:32pm

Michael, just curious..what don't you like about the sound quality of the OBCR? The current CD edition sounds great to me.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 8:33pm

The Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library has the OLCR/RNTR, as does my college's library. I'm sure if you went to a few libraries (that carry cast recordings at all) you'll find it somewhere.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 8:34pm

The problem with RNT for me is that Joanna Riding's Anne is too annoying for me. Also, her soprano is rather thin for me. Also, the Henrik is atrocious. By all means, get the OBC.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 8:37pm

MichaelBennett, while I find it interesting you feel this way... for me, this is one of only a handful of OBCRs I really find to be definitive. I mean, I even prefer the movie AND the revival cast to the OBCR of WSS. I'm not an original cast junkie like many around here, but I think this is one case where it's pretty pitch perfect. It CAN be slightly lugubrious if you are used to the RNT or the London cast recordings, which have fester tempi.

The first recording of the score I heard was the RNT, then I saw the Live From Lincoln Center vid and then I found the OBC. That's an unusual introduction to the show, I guess, but I think many prefer the RNT who were first exposed to it. Though, I agree, it feels the most complete to me, and not just because of all the cut stuff they reinstated, it is not the "perfect" introduction to the show that the OP requested. The OBCR is that.

P

[B3TA07]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 9:27pm

I agree that the OBCR and the RNT are the two most worth their money.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 9:33pm

Frontrow - I'm sure the newest CD edition sound wise has been cleaned up. The first CD issue (which I have) has that slight tinny feel to it that a lot of the older, pre-remastered recordings have.

I think the bigger issue for me is probably the tempo. Indeed, my first exposure to the score was the original London cast recording, and then some of the studio recordings - all of which are faster than the OBC.

I completely recognize that the OBC of NIGHT MUSIC is the way to go; But as Pgenre suggests below, my own specific pattern of discovery of the material has influenced my personal tastes.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 9:38pm

I'm in Pgenre's boat too. Identically, actually.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 9:40pm

It's not too bad in here is it? A little gothic, maybe a tad macabre but...




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I'll light the candles if you want some... "atmosphere".

A Good Nightmare Comes So Rarely,
P

[jovie27]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 9:41pm

Can anyone provied me a link to the newest remastered of the OBC? I am trying to find it, but only come with the orginal.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 9:56pm

The one you want is Sony SK 64652 at the top of the liste here...
http://castalbumcollector.com/recordings/122

On amazon look for the one that was released November 10, 1998.

The 1998 remaster is the latest edition of the OBCR.

Updated On: 10/11/09 at 09:56 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 10:06pm

For some reason it doesn't say "remastered" on amazon, but it's the one with the bonus track of The Glamorous Life at the end.

ETA - FRC beat me to it.

I also suggest the OBCR btw.

Updated On: 10/10/09 at 10:06 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/10/09 at 10:10pm

The Judi Dench recording can be located.