Evita Recordings- Page 2

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 4:41pm

I've always wondered about this: everyone has said the Elena Evita album is horrible, but is her PERFORMANCE horrible? The same criticism doesn't seem to befall Elena herself as the recording does.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 4:42pm

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

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 5:49pm

I meant head voice, not high notes, sorry for the confusion. On a different note: Mandy is a million times better than Antonio Banderas in every way.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 6:25pm

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.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 6:34pm

And I don't know if I think it's stylistically appropriate for her to use her head voice more often than the examples Reggie cited. I think the high belting makes it that much more thrilling.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 6:47pm

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.

[alxscrz2]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 9:08pm

I like the Original cast recording of Evita with Elaine Paige. I thinks she sang this role better than Patti. I also like the movie soundtrack. The spanish recording of the show is pretty good also

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 11:33pm

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.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 11:45pm

I still don't get this whole "head voice" argument. Patti uses hers when needed, which is to be seductive or vulnerable (The Actress Hasn't Leanred the Lines, Eva's Final Broadcast, Don't Cry for Me Argentina, I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You), but when she needs to be powerful, which is basically 85% of the show, her voice reflects that.

I find that the fact that Madonna uses her head voice more often on the soundtrack isn't an artistic choice, but simply because she can't reach the notes any other way.

As a side note, I really don't care for Elaine Paige as Evita. She is a case study of using her head voice in all the wrong places, the most extreme examples being "Buenos Aires" and "Rainbow High." She's got a beautiful natural sound and she sounds lovely on "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," but her voice just doesn't have the strength that is required for some of the songs. For strong vocals other than Lupone's, check out Loni Ackerman on "that site." She adds an extra G to "A New Argentina."

Posted: 5/12/11 at 12:53am

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...)

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/12/11 at 1:12am

I find that the fact that Madonna uses her head voice more often on the soundtrack isn't an artistic choice, but simply because she can't reach the notes any other way.

Wasn't the score also lowered for the movie?
(I say this like I could sing the original score without using my head voice.)

[Nickira Margherita]

Posted: 5/12/11 at 2:25am

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.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/12/11 at 2:34am

Yes, I like that Madonna uses her head voice a lot more than Lupone. I'm not sure if it's because she can't hit the notes, but it gives a lot more emotion to the songs.

The clip of Lupone at the Tonys singing "A New Argentina" is the perfect example, she is screaming the whole song, no pauses, no head voice.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 5/12/11 at 2:41am

That's how it's written, chum.

Posted: 5/12/11 at 3:49am

And I also find it thrilling--it's one of my fave Patti/Evita moments (to be fair I'm no big Patti fan, though I do love her 70s work in general--Evita and Baker's Wife especially).

I do like how the movie in many ways returns to an updated version of the concept album orchestrations--ie Hershy Kay (I think it was him?) added to Buenos Aires a sorta bossa nova rhythm, which I kinda like but I think I prefer the rockier concept/film version.
Updated On: 5/12/11 at 03:49 AM

Posted: 5/12/11 at 3:55am

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.

[Joey.]

Posted: 5/12/11 at 4:19am

"I like the Original cast recording of Evita with Elaine Paige. I thinks she sang this role better than Patti."

I don't understand this at all. The OLCR is unlistenable for me. She sounds labored through the whole thing and she screams the notes she can't hit. I'm not saying she can't sing, I just think that at the time she played that role, her voice hadn't matured yet.

Patti's performance on the OBCR, while more reserved and scaled back than how she would come to service the score once she learned how to handle it, is far more dynamic and thrilling than what Elaine was able to do on her cast recording. Just my two cents.

P.S. - What the hell is "that site" ?!

Posted: 5/12/11 at 5:09am

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.

Posted: 5/12/11 at 5:35am

. Updated On: 5/12/11 at 05:35 AM

[wiggum2]

Posted: 5/12/11 at 7:16pm

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.

[LALALand]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 1:49pm

Eric - I remember the Hudson Brothers. One of them was married to Goldie Hawn and is the Father of Kate Hudson. AND..that performance is beyond bizarre. Oh how I miss those weird variety shows.

Posted: 5/13/11 at 8:43pm

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

[spike3]

Posted: 5/29/11 at 2:52pm

the OBC recording, with Patti LuPone, and the Madrid Cast recording with Paloma San Brasilio are 2 of the best. The German cast album? Stay away from it.