Shows where you prefer a different recording from the original? — Page 3

I think in general I tend to prefer the revival recordings of most shows due to the better sound quality. That said there area few that stand out for both sound and performance.

Hair - in my opinion the revival recording is definitive

Pippin

The Color Purple

Assassins

Cabaret (9

Company (solely because of Raul)

The 1985 Follies Concert

Patti's Gypsy (I assume that depends on whoever your Rose preference is)

Jesus Christ Superstar 1996 Studio with Steve Balsamo

Merrily We Roll Along - used to love the 94 but i now only listen to the encores concert

Nine

She Loves Me (1994 with Boyd Gaines)

South Pacifc 2008

110 in the Shade with Audra

Violet with Sutton

In reading this thread a lot of you prefer the Roxy Cast of The Rocky Horror Show. In reading up on the show I learned that this specific recording and its arrangements were not representative of how the material was performed on stage.

It's a good recording, but producer Lou Adler set out to make a pop/radio friendly album and in doing so brought in extra musicians and musical arrangers who were not associated with the stage show to accomplish this.

And of course many recordings add extra musicians for the recording sessions. Rocky Horror was far from the first or the last to have an augmented band in the studio.

My first Sondheim obsession was at nine repeatedly playing our library's cassette of Into the Woods--they only had the London album which may be why that's my go to recording (I love the obcr, but usually if I want them I'll put in the DVD).

I have never gotten the love for the Concert Follies. Yes, at the time it was the first mostly complete recording (where's the love for Bolero D'Amour??) so it filled a gap. And the performances are often great, but it never sounds like Follies. It's Barbara Cook singing Don't Look at Me not Sally singing, etc.

For Follies I guess I play the most the remastered and remixed OBCR for the performances followed by the truly complete Papermill (and sometimes the London one especially for Rigg, but for whatever reason rarely the last revival).

Lol and I just clued in this is an old thread and I posted many of the same thoughts two years ago on page one.

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "...and? It's still the recording people prefer.

I was just sharing information. There's no need to get defensive or uptight about it.

gypsy101 said: "I guess it may be Barbara Cook singing Losing My Mind but I prefer her singing it to everyone else who ever recorded the role. I've never gotten the hate for that Follies concert recording, it's always been one of the best Sondheim albums in my mind. Sure Mandy Patinkin is 15-20 years too young for Buddy (but he's also my favorite recorded Buddy). I also think it's kinda cool that the "book" songs have the applause cut but the period songs keep it. I just think it's a fantastic recording of a wonderful score (I've always hated that Papermill recording, which has the sterile quality of something made in a laboratory).



"

I guess we come at this from different perspective because, as someone who finds it overrated (I won't call it all out bad by any means) I *constantly* see it listed among all time fave recordings here, and even more so on various Sondheim forums--so you are not alone.

Tunick's conducting on the Papermill may be a bit too careful (you can tell he really wants to show off his orchestrations as much as possible--maybe he thought it would be the last opportunity to have his original scoring recorded in full in a studio setting) but I find the performances mostly wonderfully lived in (full disclosure--I actually prefer the Papermill production to the last Broadway revival). I usually like dialogue on recording but, like many recordings from the same producer, I find the Broadway Revival one has too much, the Papermill includes dance music cut from the revival (obviously Bolero D'Amour--which, again, I dunno why it's always cut, in Bob Avian's original choreography and Bennett's staging it sums up the whole concept of Follies but I suppose it's an easy way to cut four people, who have to be great at ballroom, from the cast--but little dance bits throughout) and of course has that great Appendix of songs. My one nitpick is that for the recording they could have put Lucy and Jesse in its proper place even if Ah But Underneath replaced it in that production, but obviously one can program it that way in their player and it is cool to hear and compare Uptown/Downtown and Lucy and Jesse one after the other.

I prefer the RENT film soundtrack over the original Broadway cast recording, probably because that's what I heard first and became more accustomed to. The exception being that I like the original Seasons of Love over the film's version.

Same goes for Phantom of the Opera. 2004 film soundtrack for me, also same reason as above.

Lastly, I absolutely love the Wicked recording and the cast is fine as it is, I just prefer Rachel Tucker's voice as Elphaba. If we could have gotten a newer recording (despite the show keeping its long run thus far), while keeping the original the way it is, that would have been awesome. I'd probably listen to that 10x more than I already do with the original.

"I'm amazed that the original recording for She Loves Me was recorded 7 years after Candide. Candide and West Side Story have arguably the best sound quality of any recording made before 1970 (with Company)"



That fact probably owes everything to Leonard Bernstein. I don't think the OBCR of She Loves Me is in any way of poor quality, however.

The Other One said: ""I'm amazed that the original recording for She Loves Me was recorded 7 years after Candide. Candide and West Side Story have arguably the best sound quality of any recording made before 1970 (with Company)"



That fact probably owes everything to Leonard Bernstein. I don't think the OBCR of She Loves Me is in any way of poor quality, however.



"

Doubtful in the case of WSS. There's an interesting book (whose name I've forgotten, but it's from a university press) on the music of WSS that has a chapter on the cast album. Bernstein was conducting in Europe when they recorded it, and they print Sondheim's worried letters to him--he was concerned that Bernstein would object to Lieberson increasing the tempo on the instrumental music because, as he said, he felt it conveyed more of the excitement one got from watching it with dancers on stage. They don't print Bernstein's reply--if there was one--but judging by the laboured way he records his own version in the 1980s, Sondheim was probably right to warn Bernstein. Sondheim also notes to Bernstein some cuts him and Lieberson made that he hopes Bernstein won't object to. At any rate, it's clear that Bernstein was no where near that recording.

I'm sure if BK could get the masters/rights, the OBC would sounds stunning - and be the definitive recording in quality as well as cast (not that I don't love the new recording, but you just can't beat the unabridged original - especially with Barbara Cook).

I stand by my example of THE FANTASTICKS as a testament that the MGM records master tapes can yield extraordinary sound. That may be their only major theatre album that's had a decent remaster??

Though I prefer Barbara Cook infinitely over Miss Benanti and will always adore the entire original cast it's really the new orchestrations that make the newer recording rise above for me. I think the faster tempos help too, in comparison the OBC sounds leaden and bogged down.

Anything Goes 2011 Cast Recording

Les Miserables 10th Anniversary

Pippin 2013 Cast Recording

Cabaret 1998 Cast Recording

Jesus Christ Superstar 2000 Cast Recording

Sweeney Todd 2005 Cast Recording

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall 2011