Kristina At Carnegie Hall CD Date for USA

According to Amazon the USA release of the Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulveaus musical Kristina will be released on 20th April 2010.

I completely forgot they were releasing this. I thought the show was ok, but it did have some great songs.

I have the full cast recording in Swedish...will be nice to have it in English. You can get it shipped on April 12 from amazon.uk for 11.99 Brit Pounds, which is around $18.35, plus shipping. 2-CD set.
With todays exchange rate...the total was $20.32, or 13.28 Pounds

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Updated On: 4/5/10 at 10:36 AM

Just to let anyone who's interested know, It's available to purchase or download. Don't download via ITUNEs because it is not available to download as a whole album and its missing the overture. It sounds a lot better than I remember. Thanks to digital audio editing tehe. Anyone know which concert day the recording is from? Possibly a combination of both days...maybe.

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I got the cd from Amazon and am in love. Not with everything represented, but with alot of it.

First, it's so great to have such a rich score from Benny and Bjorn. Chess is still one of the greatest scores of the last 50 years, imo...and Kristina surpased my expectations.

I didnt get to see the concert, and may be glad for that. Since hearing about the musical and having heard "You Have to Be There" first sung by Alice Ripley, I've been cautiously intrigued. The big problem for me was always the size of the story. 4 huge novels crammed into a musical seems like there wouldnt be a big enough shoehorn! The story itself didnt really intrigue me either, and it seemed to me that unless you were Swedish it might not resonate. It also pushed the Christian thing too much for my comfort, especially in the final scenes...no spoilers necessary. Reviews I've read since listening to it had the same impression....with the further critique that because of the vast story, it has to be chopped into vignettes with narration setting the scenes, which can be tedious especially in concert form.

That said, I LOVED the score and especially the performers. I have not been so excited to hear a new voice in a long time, (Lea Salonga, Erie Mills)...pure and perfect voices that made me tear up when I heard them. Kevin Odekirk as Kristina's brother in law Robert was another. His voice is gorgeous beyond measure and for a tenor, huge power and range. His vibrato is so lush you can taste it. I actually cried this morning at 8am on NJ Transit coming into work while listening to his "Gold Can Turn to Sand". It's truly spectacular. Helen Sjoholm is stunning as Kristina and anyone who isnt moved by her "You Must Be There" needs to check their pulse. Russell Watson's also wonderful as Carl Oscar, Kristina's husband. Their duets are beautiful. And Louise Pitre makes a perfect Ulrika and I actually liked her narration.

So, as a concert cd, I think the whole thing works marvelously, but I still dont think it could work very well on a Broadway stage, much like Chess...which actually got worse when it was altered for Broadway.

Speaking of Chess and Kristina...If Sjoholm didnt want to make her broadway debut, I think Judy Kuhn would be perfect for the role.

Okay, this is officially my longest post.

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I was at both concerts and finally got the CD last week and I love it. My one real criticism is that the orchestra actually sounds kind of tinny and thin during some songs.

However, the same chills and tears I felt at Carnegie Hall came back big time with the CD. "Gold Can Turn To Sand" and "You Have to Be There" still take my breath away. Time has lessened my fascination with "I'll Be Waiting There," but I've already thrown seven or eight songs on my MP3 player and listen to them over and over.

i dont like that you cant buy the whole album on itunes. grrumph