Before you buy the CD make sure you listen to the music samples they provide on Amazon (and make sure you buy the Broadway cast recording with the brilliant Donna Murphy instead of the one with the horrendous performance by Maria Friedman).
I believe this is one of the most romantic, touching, emotional, and passionate scores I've listened to. The story centers around Fosca, Giorgio, and Clara. The cast recording has a great synopsis so I won't give away much. Fosca's intense emotions and actions are probably only comparable to Momma Rose's, she feels so deeply.
This is not a typical by the numbers show. Sondheim and Lapine created a musical where sometimes it's quite hard to distinguish between the book and the music. I find it a brilliant show, probably not the most accessible one but if you're already familiar with Sondheim's work and you like it, then I highly suggest getting this CD. It features a first-rate cast (Murphy, Jere Shea, Marin Mazzie, Tom Alredge, Gregg Edelman) and it's just so beautiful. Let us know what you think if you do get it.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
