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#26

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/17/12 at 2:03am

You mean the memoir Rodgers didn't write, but took full credit for?

I'm a fan of Rodgers' work as much as you are After Death, both of the Hart AND Hammerstein eras, but he was not beloved in the community as a kindhearted and even-tempered man. Not even by his own daughters.

But why bother arguing with you? It's like having an argument with Michele Bachmann.

#27

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/17/12 at 2:21am

^

And you're so open to discussion.

#28

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/17/12 at 10:07am

jacobsnchz14,

My favorite Sondheim cds include:

--"Company" (original Broadway)
--"Sunday in the Park with George"
--"Anyone Can Whistle" (concert version with the inimitable Madeline Kahn)
--"A Gala Benefit for Carnegie Hall Honoring Stephen Sondheim and his Music"
--"A Stephen Sondheim Evening" (with a hearbreaking rendition of "With So Little to Be Sure Of")
And if you enjoy jazz:
--"Color and Light: Jazz Sketches on Sondheim"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MCVsMSsIJU

"Be a Fountain, Not a Drain." --Rex Hudler

Updated On: 8/17/12 at 10:07 AM

#29

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/17/12 at 3:55pm

Sondheim's lyrics stank...

His original lyric for "We're Gonna Be Alright" is one of the best comic lyrics ever written. It was certainly Rodgers who was the problem on that number. (Or Mrs. Rodgers, if one believes the rumors.)

#30

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/17/12 at 5:23pm

My favorite Sondheim score is Passion. My second is Sunday (original). I could never get tired of listening to them.

Gypsy - Betty Buckley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUN5XoB5vFs&feature=youtu.be

#31

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/17/12 at 6:32pm

I agree, ChiChi, particularly with regard to PASSION.

But I took it that the OP was fairly new to the Sondheim cannon. I wouldn't insist he collect those scores initially unless I knew his ear was fairly sophisticated.

I don't know if I could have appreciated them if I hadn't been memorizing Sondheim scores for decades before they appeared.

#32

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 1:12pm

A great overview of Sondheim's early years as both a composer and lyricist can be heard in the 2 Cd set of the concert SONDHEIM: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE with many original cast performers on hand to recreate showstopping moments. hear Ethel Shutta play up to the crowd with her "Broadway Baby", Angela Lansbury getting a huge ovation as she walks onstage to lead "Me and My Town." The concert also gave many a chance to hear cut songs "Pleasant little Kingdom" from FOLLIES, "Silly People" from NIGHT MUSIC and the original version of "We're Gonna Be All Right" from WALTZ.
SONDHEIM: A Musical Tribute

Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com

#33

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 1:41pm

@GavestonPS I was always familiar with some of Sondheim's more popular of his major works and those that had major revivals in the past decade or so. Shows like INTO THE WOODS, COMPANY, FOLLIES, WEST SIDE STORY (lyr), GYPSY (lyr), et al. but somehow I seemed to have missed shows like SUNDAY IN THE PARK..., ASSASSINS and PACIFIC OVERTURES. Then when I recently picked up the new MERRILY recording, I was wondering about these other works that I had never heard the score from before, like MERRILY.

Updated On: 8/18/12 at 01:41 PM

#34

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 1:46pm

Jason, as a true fan of musical theatre you will find all of Sondheim's scores well worth exploring, along with the HAT books which will give you a lot of background on how each show was created.

From Sondheim you can branch out into the works of his collaborators (Bernstein, Rodgers, Styne) and in turn to their other co-writers (Comden & Green, Hammestein.)

Enjoy your journey!

#35

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 1:52pm

Thanks, Frontrowcentre2!

I did get the HAT books a couple of months ago and that's another thing that got me so interested in the shows and scores I didn't know about. His lyrics are genius and really move their respective stories forward, and I can only imagine what their music and orchestrations further provide. I just want the right recordings with enough of the scores that will be my first listening experience of. This really is a journey. :)

#36

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 8:00pm

@GavestonPS I was always familiar with some of Sondheim's more popular of his majhor works....

My misunderstanding then, Jacob: SUNDAY and PASSION are glorious.

I'll probably be banned for admitting this, but SATURDAY NIGHT, ROAD SHOW and FROGS are my least favorite scores. However I'd never tell anyone NOT to buy them.

#37

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 8:03pm

I doubt you'd be banned. Those shows are almost never performed and are almost never talked about here. I bet those three shows would make the bottom of many lists.

Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.

Updated On: 8/18/12 at 08:03 PM

#38

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 8:11pm

I have honestly not been able to get through all of THE FROGS in its entirety. I have both recordings on my iPod, but I just can't get into it. I was just thinking today that I should give it a chance.
It really is like his least discussed score.
I do think ROAD SHOW is an excellent score.

Updated On: 8/18/12 at 08:11 PM

#39

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/18/12 at 8:19pm

I listened to Nathan Lane's FROGS during a road trip where I couldn't escape from the car. Also, I wanted to hear the few tunes from EVENING PRIMROSE at the end.

To me, almost every melody and motif in ROAD SHOW is one I can identify from another Sondheim show. Listening to the recording is like playing "Name That Tune" in my head.

SATURDAY NIGHT is just, well, young.

But all these shows have their champions here, and there's nothing wrong with that.

#40

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/19/12 at 2:29am

ROAD SHOW worked really well at The Public. I know that's not the majority opinion, but I really thought it was excellent. I like the score a great deal. "Isn't He Something!" is one of my favorite Sondheim songs. Period.

THE FROGS has one really lovely song, "Ariadne", but the rest doesn't thrill me.

#41

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/19/12 at 3:06am

"SATURDAY NIGHT is just, well young"
And mayhaps the best score by a youngster.
It's full of amazing tunes and witty lyrics,
it also is Steve's most positive score, so full of hope.
And you can hear the Future too, WHAT MORE DO I NEED is a young positive step toward ANOTHER HUNDRED PEOPLE, and SO MANY PEOPLE reminds me of TOO MANY MORNINGS in style melodically.
After SAT NIGHT, Sondie almost never wrote such a less cynical song as ONE WONDERFUL DAY.
The Original New York Cast CD has so many wonderful vocals, Lauren Ward, David Campbell, Andrea Burns, Chris Fitzgerald, Clarke Thorell, Natascia A. Diaz, Kirk McDonald, and the whole cast.
And Tunick's work is sublime, as always.

#42

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/19/12 at 7:50pm

jv and Curtain, I respect you both and your opinions. I'll give both shows another listen.

#43

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/19/12 at 8:15pm

On a similar note, I've been listening to the original Night Music recording and I'd forgotten how wonderful it is. Now/Later/Soon has some of his best lyric work, especially Now.

I know you. I know you. I know you.

#44

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/19/12 at 8:36pm

I couldn't agree more, Glinda.

#45

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/19/12 at 10:14pm

I agree with FrontRowCentre about SONDHEIM: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE.

There have been many tribute and celebration albums in the years since, but none of them have as many of the original performers providing exciting live performances, which augment your experience of their performances on the original cast albums and, in some cases, provide performances that were never otherwise recorded.

And--for Sondheim's sake!--get Sunday in the Park and memorize it! The man won a Pulitzer for that one and, as far as I'm concerned, should have won the Nobel Prize for Literature for it!

#46

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/20/12 at 6:39pm

Funny how in 1973 they thought they needed to put the word "tribute" in the title.

I think nowadays folks would just assume.

#47

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/20/12 at 7:53pm

""Oh and Do I Hear a Waltz is a surprisingly gorgeous score,"

The expert opinion of an expert."

AfterEight, where did I even SUPPOSE that I was an expert. You gave that title to me--thank you, I guess. If it upsets you that someone loved R&H and also loves Sondheim, I'm sorry.

#48

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/20/12 at 7:55pm

Curtain--I completely agree. I admit, I gave the show no credit, so I stand by what I said. I think it holds up with, for instance, Wonderful Town and I recommend Gaveston give it another listen.

The Frogs, on the other hand... (though I love the chorus work)

#49

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/20/12 at 8:20pm

For Christ's sake! I SAID I'd give it another listen. There's no reason to pile on! (LOL)

#50

Sondheim Recording Suggestions

Posted: 8/20/12 at 9:36pm

Get the original Off-Broadway Assassins and the Sunday in the Park OBC recordings. I can't praise them enough!

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