Evita Recordings — Page 2

i like the soundtrack... i think as a movie, it works to have it sung lower and not belty like the OBC... it would have been too much for me to handle... and maybe it's just me... but when i watch the movie i have to watch it in subtitles because i could never understand what antonio banderas was singing due to his accent

But LuPone uses her head voice a lot, I think. All of "I'd Be Suprisingly Good for You," much of "Don't Cry for Me," for example.

To be fair, in later concerts and TV appearances, she belted stuff a lot more than she did early in the run and on the album, I think.

So it's easy to think of her as belting her way through the whole score. But that really isn't so.

I don't listen to the OBCR that often because I don't like Mandy Patinkin's voice in it. That and Peron's horrible fake accent.

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The Elaine album is just missing something for me--like I said it's kinda lifeless and seems a bit unfinished (I assume the better orchestrations and other changes for LA/NY were incorporated into the UK show?) I admit, for no real reason, it does bug me sometimes that people often seem to forget Evita opened in London, and Elained did it before Patti. I do think the recording of I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You is great--and various performance clips of Elaine's I've seen have been much better than much of the album. Maybe I just need to give it a few more listens, but... Maybe the album was recorded too early too (I did read somewhere Elaine was sick when it happened) and she needed to grow into the role a bit

Back to the concept album, I do have to admit my fave Another Suitcase is Barbara Disckson's even if she's not particularly a fave singer of mine, usually...

Neither here nor there, but when I saw the anniversary tour of Hal Prince's production I thought the Evita was brilliant. And I have no recollection of who she was (and am not by my programs...)

As for Elena, I think she's ok on the album but several friends said she was electric in the theatre, so I suspect you had to see it (and I've also heard nothing but raves about her in Passion...)

The Broadway cast recording with Patti and Mandy will always be my favorite. My first real introduction to Evita was the clip of "A New Argentina" from the Tony Awards. I got the Broadway's Lost Treasures boxset one year for my birthday and I remember being glued to the screen when Patti belted "He supports you..." I had never heard anything like it. I love the overall sound and feel of the Broadway recording as well, as well as the fact that they recorded the Casa Rosada scene right before "Argentina", as well as Patti's "simple woman" speech which still gives me chills.

The Elaine Paige London recording, as others have said, is too incomplete. If you're only going to record two minutes of "A New Argentina", why wouldn't you include at least one of her speeches? Paige's "Don't Cry for Me..." is very nice, but other than that the recording doesn't do much for me. I'm sure she was mesmerizing in the role though, as I was practically hypnotized by her on the Cats DVD. But I was high when I watched it.

I really like the movie soundtrack as well, mainly because of the orchestrations. Antonio Banderas was great, and Madonna really wasn't that bad at all. True, her voice doesn't have the power it should, but crazy high belting may have been too jarring for the movie version. I LOATHE how slow the tempo of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is on the soundtrack, though. The Broadway recording's tempo of the song is perfect; any slower than that is just a bore. In fact, Patti is really the only one who really pulls me into that song when she sings it. I did like how Lea Michele sang the last note higher in her version (which is the only thing I liked about her version. Sorry, but I find her bland. Anyway.)

On a side note, I'd love to hear Karen Olivo sing the score. I know physically she's wrong for the part, but I think her voice would be dynamite on an audio recording. Linda Eder back in the day would have sung the hell out of it, too.

That's how it's written, chum.

Neither here nor there, has everyone seen this bizarre comedy skit routine from the 70s with Elaine singing Surprisingly Good For You (with The Hudson Brothers, whoever they were...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsuLkP05wFk

And I have to say one album not mentioned yet that I have a huge soft spot for is the "avant garde producer genius of EuroDisco" Boris Midney's "Festivale - Evita" Disco concept album with Stigwood comissioned to promote the musical in discos a year before it premiered in New York. I admit I'm a fan of the more obscure disco stuff, so I'm not even sure if I can call this a guilty pleasure--it's definitely head and shoulders of other 70s Disco musical takes like Ballad of Sweeney Todd and Grace Jone's Tomorrow/What I Did For Love/Send in the Clowns medley, albeit you have to be able to handle the cheese. And yes, I'm being serious as to my love for it.

Youtube. I'm never sure if we're allowed to mention it here or not but whatever. :P

I still think a big prob with the London recording is just a lack of energy and a poor recording mix in general.

I am not a fan of the OLC either. I don't think Elaine realized that this was the definitive recording of her show... it was like she was afraid to show herself off because she would mess up her voice or something.

LOL I never put together the last name's of Hawn's children with them. lol