I have to admit I've been leery of this entire project. COMPANY was the first show I saw on Broadway and, though I've always thought the birthday party scenes drag down the show, I've since enjoyed it everywhere from the first national tour to off-Broadway (ELT) to dinner theaters. Went back to see the Philharmonic broadcast (with NPH) FOUR times! The only version I don't like is the Raul Esparza revival recording (didn't see it) where I think having the actors play instruments cuts the heart out of the score.
Whatever its flaws, I've never thought the show needed "revisal" and I only bought the OLC recording to be a completist.
What a pleasant surprise! I'll reserve judgment on the new version of the show, but I absolutely love the recording. If the orchestra is thinner (and it is), the gorgeous vocal arrangements more than compensate, if you ask me. And, yeah, Patti Lupone and Rosalie Craig are fantastic! The new swing version of "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" is sublime (and that could have easily been a sore point for me).
As for the new lyrics, yeah, I notice them because I know the show so well. But not a single change is jarring to my ear or out of character, given the revised genders of the principals. I'm assuming Sondheim did his own lyric revisions; leave it to the master to still have a keen ear for idiomatic New York speech at the age of 112 or whatever he is now.
Well done, London!