Listen to the new Evita Cast Recording on AOL Music

Didn't see this before... thanks!

To my ear, Elena sounds a lot better here than on the recording from London. Looking forward to getting my hard copy in the mail this week.

" (I'm not a fan of the OBC, LuPone and Patinkin drive me up a wall in the lead roles.)"

While you're certainly entitled to your opinion, I just rolled my eyes so far back I got a little headache.

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I've been listening to this all morning. Although I don't like Ricky much, Elena and Michael are both absolutely phenomenal. I cannot wait to get my CD this week!

Thanks for linking to this, it's making my precal homework more bearable. I cringe whenever Ricky Martin opens his mouth though. With Elena's voice is very 50/50 for me. She's so shrill on the high notes but I love her accent. I've actually been finding her extremely easy to understand. Some lyrics I didn't catch on the original recording I completely understand here.

Updated On: 6/25/12 at 01:45 PM

I think the whole thing sounds hollow and flat to me. There is no richness to the singing, except perhaps for Von Essen and Cerveris. Other then that, the only reason some of these people sound better is because the album is auto-tuned. Broadway doesn't sound much like Broadway anymore.

Severely disappointed, but so very happy I forgot to pre-order the CD. Ricky's voice reminds me of just how nuance-free his live performance was, and the tempos. Oh lord, the tempos!

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Rachel Potter sounds really wonderful!

Rachel Potter sounds really wonderful!

Listening to it now. I'm up to A New Argentina, and so far Ricky's accent has been going in and out.

Rachel Potter's Another Suitcase is too belty for my taste.

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"The tempos are way too fast. Are they trying to run away from something?"

Yes.

The reduced orchestra and the "new orchestrations" designed to make the best of it.

Everyone else thinks they are a sort of gift, LOL.

True, they inevitably inject the work with 'newness.'

Unfortunately, it takes more than distraction for me to perceive something as truly new. Or at least newer AND better, with the fact it's better having nothing to do with it being new.

Hell, I'm willing to accept "as good as" as long as it's interesting.

Distractions, cliches, and reduction. Newness! For most, that's enough, even as they can't form a basic statement as to WHY they like it and find it necessary. They'll say it's necessary because newness (distraction) is wanted. Er, I mean, needed. Why? They have no clue. Never mind the soul and character of a work and its embedded message. That's expendable when belting is the main attraction and accents get more scrutiny than music.

Oh, the tempi are dynamic NEW insights into the mind and world of Eva.

I'm sure someone will eventually pop up to confirm that. Meanwhile, excuse me while I go finish listening to that tangoey arrangement for the upteenth time.

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This is a total mixed bag. It’s a complete improvement over the London revival recording, but that’s not saying much. It’s obviously more complete, but I hate how this production cuts the movie at the beginning. Opening abruptly with the announcement from the press secretary is very strange. To me, it doesn’t work well on stage and it doesn’t fare any better on the recording either.

The audio quality is a little strange too. It’s difficult to describe. I’m not sure if it’s just the stream, but something is up with the ensemble for the entire album, and mostly during “Requiem for Evita.” They sound so distant and muffled compared to the soloists. Maybe they wanted it to sound like that, but it all sounds like it was adjusted so that everything is relatively the same volume. There’s no difference from a soloist singing quietly and the moments that are supposed to be louder when the music builds or the ensemble is chanting. It’s all the same manufactured volume which sounds muted to my ear.

It’s also a shame that they didn’t record it the way it’s performed live. In this production there’s a brief tag at the end of “Buenos Aires” that connects it with “Goodnight and Thank You” along with a drum roll that connects “Goodnight and Thank You” with “Art of the Possible” and so on. It would have been neat to hear those bits of music on the recording too, so it doesn’t just sound like a collection of singles. They do go ahead later on and connect “Eva’s Final Broadcast,” “Montage” and “Lament” just like they do in the show, so why they didn’t do that for the first act is a bit of an annoyance. Those are the little things that make this production different from previous ones. Why not record it? The tempos are all over the place compared to the original, but I didn’t notice anything played differently on the recording from the way they do it live. I guess this is just how Webber wants the tempos now? I have no idea. It’s funny how it’s faster in some places and ridiculously slower in others. “She really brightened up your out of town engagement...” and the rest of that section is deadly slow.

Overall, I think Ricky Martin is a major improvement over Matt Rawle. I love Matt as Martin Guerre and Zorro, but his accent on the London cast recording of Evita is so ridiculously pedestrian that Ricky is a welcomed addition in spite of his flaws. Elena Roger sounds mostly the same to me. As someone said earlier, if you didn’t like her before you’re not going to like her now. “Rainbow High” will never be the same without Patti, but Elena is clearly giving it her all and it shows. I’m certain that this recording won’t replace Patti’s on my ipod. If I ever want to listen to Evita it’s usually because I want to listen to Patti LuPone belt her face off, and this recording certainly does not compare, but it’s nice to have a new complete recording after all these years.

Updated On: 6/25/12 at 05:33 PM