Posted: 5/17/24 at 12:52am
This cast recording is wonderful representation of the show. It’s such a joy to have, and I am thankful for everyone who ensured that we have it.
What joy!
Posted: 5/17/24 at 1:19am
face it, are we not blessed?
Posted: 5/17/24 at 2:24am
pure magic. i just preordered the baby blue vinyl. i am so, so grateful.
Updated On: 5/17/24 at 02:24 AM
Posted: 5/17/24 at 3:40am
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Updated On: 5/17/24 at 03:40 AM
Posted: 5/17/24 at 3:40am
This is a wonderful reflection of the show, with just the right amount of dialogue and all the important scenes, including Marianne’s conversation with the bishop. I still wonder how the cast recording will work for people who didn’t see Here We Are, because the songs are almost all interrupted with dialogue before they build momentum. That was on purpose and it didn’t bother me in person. I’m curious how others react without the benefit of being able to fill in the visuals and context.
A few very early reactions:
- I still love that vamp of Road music.
- The Road 4 Part 2, Steven Pasquale’s come-on song to Marianne, is an underrated pleasure, an amusing and clever little song well delivered by Pasquale.
- Rachel Bay Jones dominates the second half even more on the recording. One of the reasons the relative lack of conventional musical theater songs didn’t bother me in the second act is music like Marianne and the Bear.
Updated On: 5/17/24 at 03:40 AM
Posted: 5/17/24 at 8:13am
Listening now, I'm struck by the same thing that stuck me both times I saw the actually production.
The difference between other composers imitating Sondheim and actual new Sondheim is stunning.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 9:11am
Enjoying the recording so far, but does anyone else not love the quality of Concord’s cast albums? I felt this way about the ITW album. It sounds so boxy, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not as clear and crisp as I would like.
Updated On: 5/17/24 at 09:11 AM
Posted: 5/17/24 at 9:47am
I had no issue with the sound quality and LOVE the into the woods cast recording - you can hear so much texture in both the orchestrations and the vocal performances.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 9:57am
Yeah, I thought both this and Into the Woods sounded great. If you want terrible sound quality, who approved the Gutenberg album?
Posted: 5/17/24 at 11:47am
This is really an incredible recording. I’m hearing so much in the score and orchestrations that I missed seeing it live. “Shine” is really a highlight. I know she’s a little tall, but would love to see Rachel Bay Jones tackle Sally eventually.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 11:51am
Is anyone else getting two little static spurts on track 2 somewhere between the 1:00 and 1:15 mark?
Posted: 5/17/24 at 12:31pm
This is one of the best-sounding cast recordings I've heard in a long time.
What a joy to have this score preserved.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 12:31pm
I'll need a plot synopsis before I give this a second listen. For all the dialogue and patter, I found it incomprehensible.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 12:34pm
jacobsnchz14 said: "Is anyone else getting two little static spurts on track 2 somewhere between the 1:00 and 1:15 mark?"
I believe that's the sound of two characters "air kissing" from what I remember on stage. It's in tempo at least.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 1:02pm
It is simply not fair that Steven Pasquale sounds That Good and is That Hot. Shout out to Phillipa Soo for taking him off the market and giving the rest of us a chance.
I'm with everyone else, this album sounds incredible. Jonathan Tunick's outdone himself on the orchestrations, and there's so many moments that immediately take me back to the Shed in October.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 1:29pm
Ugh, it's so wonderful getting to hear this again. I said this in the review thread, but it really amazes me how sure the lyrics are. No filler, no words stuck in just to fill out the meter, nobody sings anything that doesn't sound like something they'd say, all of the punch lines make sense and all of the lyrics matter.
An embarassment of riches. Yes, it's tempting to fantasize about Sondheim working himself to pieces on the second act as he always did, but what it is is what it is, and what it is is everything I could ask for.
Updated On: 5/17/24 at 01:29 PM
Posted: 5/17/24 at 1:40pm
You could float on Micaela and Jin's harmonies
Posted: 5/17/24 at 1:42pm
MrsSallyAdams said: "I'll need a plot synopsis before I give this a second listen. For all the dialogue and patter, I found it incomprehensible."
Not sure if you found it and just haven't read it yet, but I think the plot synopsis in the digital booklet is pretty thorough, and the lyrics also contain some mention of events that occur in the middle of a song: https://sfprodstorage2.blob.core.windows.net/prod-cdn-media/HERE-WE-ARE-DIGITAL-BOOKLET.pdf
Posted: 5/17/24 at 3:33pm
Bishop’s song sung by David Hyde Pierce.
https://youtu.be/r2TQBaQy3PY
love the orchestration, Tunick is a master. That bassoon writing and playing is so top notch.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 4:53pm
What an incredible joy it is to be listening to this final show of Sondheim's career...I was lucky enough to have seen it at The Shed some months ago, and now to relive it and savor the brilliant melodies, the intricate delicious lyrics, the sublime orchestrations...what a treasure this is!
So thankful that it even exists. Truly a great blessing for all of us Sondheim lovers.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 4:54pm
https://youtu.be/4r0TriLQvDQ?feature=shared
And Concord put out the whole audio on YouTube. We are blessed and I just remembered what I must do for the next blissful hour and twelve minutes.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 4:59pm
Had to come back just to add to my post above that listening to this now, I'm reminded how delightfully dark and hilarious this material is, how sublime every performer is here, just how freakin' great...what a glorious treat in the midst of such troubled days...
Posted: 5/17/24 at 4:59pm
I kind of with The Road songs had a subtitle just so it's easier to see at a glance which part each one is, but other than that no real complaints! Like everyone else has said, I love how much dialogue is on the album and the characters really do shine through.
Posted: 5/17/24 at 5:12pm
chrishuyen said: "I kind of with The Road songs had a subtitle just so it's easier to see at a glance which part each one is, but other than that no real complaints! Like everyone else has said, I love how much dialogue is on the album and the characters really do shine through."
A couple of us linked the digital booklet a few posts above and those do have the subtitles you're referring to. They just didn't make their way onto the track titles on the services. (i.e. Raffael's "Marianne" song)
Posted: 5/17/24 at 5:15pm
I've been listening since 11 PM last night, and I'm still digesting. There are a lot of delivery choices that changed for the album, and I'm just really accustomed to the slightly quicker, bigger performances from the stage.
I just now realized... they didn't include the monologues at the end, and now I'm completely gutted. Seems like such a huge miss to 1) capture each of these actors' incredible take on the material and 2) give listeners who didn't see the show a sense of the characters' growth.
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