West Side Story 2009 in the Recording Studio (Amazon.com)- Page 2

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 8:44pm

Say what you want about the production, but this recording is BEAUTIFUL.

Matt Cavenaugh sounds fantastic, his vibrato is perfect.

Karen really did go all out, as did Josefina. Her acting and singing during A Boy like That/I Have A Lot is just heart wrenching.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 8:47pm

How is everyone hearing it?

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 8:49pm

Can you please stop? The point of this thread was not for you to beg for the link to the illegal download.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 8:52pm

Okay!

[jv92]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 9:28pm

Watching Steve coach Karen reminded me of the Company recording session and my recurring Follies dream where he coaches Yvonne DeCarlo at the Follies recording session. If only THAT documentary existed.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 9:53pm

Is it available at the Palace yet?

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:05pm

"Say what you want about the production, but this recording is BEAUTIFUL. "
Agreed!
I love this recording so much! Also, I am one of the few who actually loved the production :)

[Kad]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:09pm

I'm rather underwhelmed by the recording. Karen Olivo sounds wonderful, though.

I think the Spanish lyrics in the Quintet just do not work.

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:12pm

Matt Cavenaugh - Something's Coming = BLAH

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:13pm

"I think the Spanish lyrics in the Quintet just do not work. "

I'm with you there. I started to sing along, and realized that I was speaking the wrong language.

It fits A Boy Like That very well, and too a lesser extend I Feel Pretty, but it is totally unneeded in the Quintet.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:15pm

I find it especially distracting when the Sharks and Jets are singing together. I think it works the best in A Boy Like That. I can take it or leave it for I Feel Pretty. But in the Quintet, it's just distracting and doesn't sound like native Spanish speakers.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:16pm

I love it in the Quintet.

[scott68]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:17pm

I don't mind any of the Spanish, but does anyone else think the tempos seem off? For some reason a lot of parts (including the gangs at the beginning of the quintet) just feel really sluggish.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:18pm

I love the quintet too, but I really loved I Have a Love in Spanish and I know I say that a lot, but it was so beautiful in Spanish. I really wish that was one of the songs they did NOT change. Hearing this recording pretty much reaffirmed my love for the show, and say what you want, but I love this revival.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:18pm

These are Bernstein's original tempos. You may be used to the very fast and inaccurate tempo of the OBCR.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/18/09 at 10:24pm

I agree with the tempos, this is my major problem with "Un Hombre Asi," it feels soooo slow. While Olivo does a great job with it, I don't think the sluggish tempo makes the number land the way that it does on the OBCR. Same goes for the tempo during "Me Siento Hermosa" (so happy they didn't call it "Siento Hermosa" and correctly added the "me" to the title though).
The only thing that works about the Spanish in the Quintet is that there is literally no "harmony" to it, since they are speaking in different languages, the marked difference between the two groups at that moment right before the Rumble becomes highly pronounced. Having said that, I don't think this is particularly needed, and I think that the Spanish takes away from the beauty of listening to everyone singing together at the same time. In fact, one can argue that by having the Sharks and Jets sing the same lyrics at the same time in the same language we get a sense that the groups are not really that different in terms of their thirst for violence and whatnot.
And let me say that while I absolutely adore Olivo on the recording, her vocals are spectacular, she's not having nearly as much fun with "America" as Chita Rivera does on the OBCR. Rivera--perhaps in part because she's not the belter that Olivo is--acts a lot of the lines that are just sung in the current recording (ie "what have they got there to keep clean").
Love the video, Sondheim is lovely, the cast seems to be having a good time, and everyone does sound great even the very problematic Matt Cavenaugh.

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 7:40am

I love the Spanish translation for "A Boy Like That". The lyrics stay true to the original's intent and it has "guts" and is even more powerful coming from "Anita" being sung in Spanish. A job well done by Lin-Manuel. "I Have A Love" is also amazing in Spanish...on stage one initially is jarred by the songs being sung in Spanish.

I was trying to take it all in but now that I can easily sit down in the comfort of my own home, put the headphones on and really listen and re-listen to it I have to say that the Spanish translations especially for these two songs are stellar.

[Barnaby151]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 12:53pm

Cavenuagh is so difficult to listen to, it sounds like he's a good singer, but he is so nasal, I skip the song every time he comes on

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 1:58pm

I miss Tengo Un Amor.

This is interesting to compare to the Company documentary. It always struck me how nervous he was then. If he only knew.

Updated On: 5/19/09 at 01:58 PM

[insertclevernamehere]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 2:12pm

If Maria was going to yell at Anita in English, Un Hombre Asi would have worked better if Anita sang in Spanish and Maria in English. Instead, she just switches languages to sing the next song.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/19/09 at 7:00pm

I think Matt sounds fine. I'm still not a fan of the way he talks "Could be, who knows", but other than that I was expecting something really horrid from the way everyone trashes him, but he sounds fine to me.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/20/09 at 12:55am

Cavenaugh's singing isn't the problem, it's his... "acting."

[Marquise]

Posted: 5/20/09 at 10:31am

His line readings on the new recording are cringe worthy. He's the weakest Tony I've ever seen or heard, he makes Richard Beymer look like a total street thug.

Favorite track are few and far between but I would have to pair it down to:

Un Hombre Asi/I Have A Love

Cool
and

The Dance at the Gym
Only the MAMBO, JUMP and CHA-CHA sequences. I can't get through the cringe-worthy line delivery during the "meeting scene"

which is pretty sad 'cause WSS is my ALL TIME favorite musical and this recording is at the bottom of my long list of favorite WSS recordings.




Updated On: 5/20/09 at 10:31 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/20/09 at 4:30pm

In his book, Laurents praises how this revival is all about the acting, when the acting is awful.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/20/09 at 4:46pm

Maybe Matt was intentionally reading some of his Tony lines as Joe Kennedy Jr? It certainly sounds that way.