Customer Reviews

Evita: An Opera Based On The Life Story Of Eva Peron 1919-1952 (1976 Studio Cast)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

The original Evita concept album is the best complete recording of the show that exists. The cast is superb--Julie Covington does a great job in the title role, and Colm Wilkinson (credited here as C.T.) sings the part of Che with a flair that's not yet matched. Covington's voice can be as sweet and as demanding as is needed, and is a beautiful fit with Tim Rice's clever lyrics. Paul Jones is a Juan Peron to complement, if not to match, the leads here. The rest of the cast and ensemble make a background contribution to this great recording.

This isn't the stage version of the show, which changed things around quite a bit. "The Lady's Got Potential" is a particularly fun song that wasn't in the stage versions, though it was taken back for the movie with different lyrics. Also, the insecticide subplot (which only happens in this version) adds a bit of fun comic relief to this otherwise serious work about the life of Eva Peron. The way the songs on this album are played--especially "A New Argentina"--is not what would be done later, but it is brilliant. The album mixes rock and a much more traditional musical style, sometimes in the same song (the rock recitative after the more Broadway-style "Oh What a Circus" and the soft recitative at beginning and end of the very passionate, electric "A New Argentina" are two great examples), to great effect.

Every song on this album is excellent, but there are still those that stand out. "Oh What a Circus" is an excellent song, especially if you want to do an angry sing-along. "Goodnight and Thank You" is an ironic romp through Eva's manipulative ways. I've already mentioned how much fun of a song I think "The Lady's Got Potential" is. The role of Peron's mistress, existing mostly for "Another Suitcase in Another Hall," is a good one nonetheless, and the song is exceptional. "A New Argentina," chronicling Peron's rise to power, is an incredible, stirring song, and the lyrics sometimes seem to blend into the music. Getting onto disc 2, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is excellent--as manipulative of the crowds as Eva's real speeches were. "High Flying, Adored" is when Colm Wilkinson finally gets to stretch his voice in a big tune, and he is on top of his game when singing it. "Rainbow High" and "Rainbow Tour" are a great pair, where Eva begins to slide down from the high she reaches at the end of disc 1 and beginning of disc 2. "And The Money Kept Rolling In (And Out)" is a beautifully witty song, that was not yet sung by Che. Instead, it was done by the head of the Eva Peron Foundation. "Waltz for Eva and Che" is a great song, and well-matched with "She's a Diamond" and "Dice Are Rolling/Eva's Sonnet" in showing Eva's decline. "Eva's Final Broadcast" contains a bit of a reprise of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" that really shows Eva's desperate attempts to cling to her glory. The album concludes nicely with "Montage" and "Lament."

This is the recording of Evita to own. The original London cast is a highlights album with an excellent cast, but it's incomplete, some songs are in incomplete form, and though David Essex is quite good, he just isn't on par with Colm. The original American (Broadway) Cast has an excellent ensemble, but a hopelessly miscast Patti LuPone as Eva, and Mandy Patinkin butchering every song involving Che (which means a lot). True, the OAR has verses of "Oh What a Circus" and "And the Money Kept Rolling In" that the concept album didn't, but Patinkin's handling of the material is so annoying and pretentious that it loses the honesty that makes Che's part great. The movie cast...well, Antonio Banderas's Che and Madonna's Evita lose much of their charm off screen. It's worth WATCHING, yes, but you're better off listening to another recording. And, unless you're set on getting a foreign language version, that means this one.

So...pick it up if you like Evita. Heck, pick it up if you want to hear something that blends a rock style with more of what you'd expect from a musical, with a result that's anything but predictable. Pick it up especially if you like Colm (and if you don't, you should).

The Original Concept Album for "Evita" is perhaps one of the strongest versions of the piece, and in fact the "best kept secret." Julie Covington, who sings the role of Eva Peron, brings to it a rich gutteral tone- a more believably struggling, working class tone than the other Evitas. Neither shrill nor blaring, Covington possess a haunting sadness. This version of Evita is far more a "rock opera" than the later "pop opera" versions, with heavier guitar usage. Smarter in its sensibilities, this version doesn't patronize the listener with narrations of events- the entire body of the story is told in song. A close listening will reveal several key differences from later versions- including an "insectiside" plotline for narrator/foil Che and quite different lyrics in the final few tracks. This version is definitely an acquired taste, as it differs from the conventions of what Evita has come to be known as. However, it is by all means more poetic and disturbing than the later versions. Purchase this album if you're looking for a better understanding of where the Webber/Rice "Evita" saga began, and especially if you like "Jesus Christ Superstar", as this version of the story shares much.

I'm a true EVITA fan. I've a lot of Evita's Cd including the American Cast. Vienna Cast, Korean Cast, Spanish Cast, Movie SoundTrack, Original London Recording to name a few. This London Cast is the true Life Of Eva Peron. Julie Covington have a real nice voice, C.T. Wilkinson and Paul Jones too. You must have to hear her illusions in "Buenos Aires", the real way to succeed in "Goodnight & Thank You" and in the ORIGINAL format of "The Lady's Got Potential". Oh yes, the magic of "Rainbow High" and the charm in "Rainbow Tour" when she says: "THERE YOU ARE I TOLD YOU SO MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHERE WE GO THE WHOLE WORLD OVER JUST THE SAME YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD THEM CALLED OUR NAME AND WHO WOULD UNDERSTIMATE THE ACTRESS NOW". Do yourself a favour, buy this diamond. This is the only CD that contains "Eva's Sonnet" and the complete and beautiful "Lament". If you have any question e-mail me. BUY IT NOW!

This Cd is perhaps the best concept album of any musical ever made. There shouldn't be any comparison made from other newer versions of Evita. The many different albums of Evita should be taken in their own respecitve regard. If all of the Evita albums sounded the same then there shouldn't have been recordings of them. This album shows the first conception of this beautiful musical. People must remember that this recording never had any staging, the actors created this recording vocally, they never staged this first recording of the musical and to compare it with a recording that had been staged is ridiculous. If you are a true fan of Evita you will cherish this album as a masterpiece.

I've always been a great fan of Evita. I must have been among the first to buy this concept album. Ever since its release, I've been following the many subsequent productions of the musical and its related recordings. This concept album - followed by the OLC version- remains my favourite. It's a very simple and unsophisticated recording. Those who love lush, Broadway-style productions will, I'm afraid, be disappointed with this very basic, albeit, tremendously emotive version. No spectacular voice virtuosi or dramatic effects here; just a simple and movingly acted narrative of Evita's spectacular rise and fall, having the suffering, forsaken and dispossessed people of Argentina - the 'descamisados' - at the background. Julie Covington is my favourite Evita. She is more of an actress than a singer really, but - oh! - what an actress! Her Evita fascinatingly mixes that vulnerability we often find in rejected women with that ruthless determination found in the likes of Scarlet O'Hara. She is hard and unfeeling (in *Waltz for Evita and Che*), revolted and defiant (in *Eva Beware of the city*), dreamy and ambitious (*Rainbow High*), scheming (in *A new Argentina*), and frail and needy (in the final *Lament*). Her performance is delicate, sensitive and subtle (as in opposition to the more vivid one presented by Elaine Paige - my second best Evita). (Note: I thought Madonna's performance was very good too, but only ON SCREEN. You have to SEE her to properly enjoy her work. Madonna's singing, unfortunately, is not very dramatic and she sounds blandly poppish in the movie soundtrack.) The rest of the cast in this concept album is also very good. This show has been much revised after its first appearance, but I find this version still the most dramatic, historic and psychologically accurate. I will never understand why they removed the "Lament" song - only found in this recording - which furnishes the fundamental motivation behind Evita's ambition: the desperate need to feel loved. The bastard, the rejected poor girl, who felt so humiliated at her father's funeral, when she was 'kept out of sight, hidden from view at his funeral', desired nothing else but to feel greatly loved by the masses. She thought that the more that loved her, the more loved she'd be... A sad, but common fantasy...

Over the years Andrew Lloyd Webber has made many musicals, some more successful and appealing to the public than the others. Most people will, however, agree that "Evita" remains one of his most satisfying works to this date. Numerous reasons confirm this statement. Just like in its predecessor "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Evita" is almost entirely sung-through; the lyrics are witty and appropriate; the subject matter is again a personality larger-than-life who rises from obscurity and dies at the peak of its fame, thus becoming a legend; the score is captivating and appealing to the listener, at home or in the theatre.

This 1976 concept cast recording was the result of a two-year work by Lloyd Webber and his lyricist Tim Rice. It all started when Rice heard a radio show about Eva Peron's life. Lloyd Webber hesitated, but after his big flop with "Jeeves", he took the bait and began working on "Evita". Good for him and for the musical theatre community, since, had it been different; we would have been deprived of a first-class musical delight. The story of Evita is widely known, but for those who are new to this let's repeat the essentials: We follow the life story of Eva Duarte Peron, wife of post-World war two president of Argentina, Juan Peron. However, the musical is very loosely based on the actual life of the real Evita. The story follows Evita from the day of her death in July 1952, and then we have flashbacks until that moment, covering her coming to Buenos Aires, alleged love affairs, meeting Peron, being the first lady and dying of cancer at 33.

This recording follows the suit of "JC Superstar", which was also released as an album, prior to being put on the stage. Compared to the other two cast recordings (i.e., London with Elaine Paige and Broadway with Patti LuPone) this one is different on several points. First, it has the best orchestra, because it features the full London Philharmonics enhanced by some rock musicians. Thus, this recording is the close as you will get to the epic sound of the 1996 movie soundtrack. The other two have a standard pit orchestra and this definitely takes away the some of the appeal. The score itself here has a far greater amount of the rock music, the majority of which was dropped when the show came to the stage.

Secondly, being the first, this version features lyrics that were later omitted when thw show was staged, at the insistence of the director Hal Prince, who wanted a quicker wrap-up. Here we have a whole new song, called "The lady's got potential", which tells a bit more about Juan Peron's climbing to the centre of the power, and features a rather unusual part about insecticide, concerning the other main character, Che, which was rather pointless and was all together left out later. This song was used in the movie version with the different lyrics. The greatest lyrical novelties come at the end of the show. The first is called "Eva's sonnet", in which Evita speaks of her efforts to become a vice-president of Argentina. It is referred to as a sonnet, since it is in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet. The second important part is the last song, "Lament", whose entire two verses were later cut out. They are very beautifully written and help us to understand Eva's state of mind moments before she dies when she asks herself whether she would have lived a much happier life has she been an ordinary, obscure person. Some other lyrics were added only when the show reached West End in 1998, like the parts of "And the money kept rolling in" or "Dangerous Jade".

When "Evita" was written, the search began to assemble the cast who will record the album in the studio and they've done a good job. Julie Covington, at that time, a respectable British theatre actress was chosen to sing the role of Evita, Colm Wilkinson, who later struck gold with his portrayal of Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" is Che, a character that Tim Rice cleverly created as an antipode to Eva, who criticizes and comments her actions and Paul Jones was cast as Juan Peron. Julie Covington has a voice very similar in color to that of Madonna, but her range is much wider and she has no trouble in hitting the high notes. She is a very good singer; my only complaint would be that she brought almost no emotions to the role. She sings everything in the same very cold tone, so you don't have the feeling when listening to "Lament" that this is a person who is about to die in a minute or two. Patti LuPone, who was very fierce in the role on Broadway, as can be heard on the 1979 Broadway recording, remains my favorite Eva, since she knew when to show the much needed emotional side of the character. Colm Wilkinson is a rocking Che, just as I believe the character should be. I find that the singers with much deeper voices work better in this role, and Mandy Patinkin in the Broadway Recording is a bit too thin and sings too high for my taste. Paul Jones' Peron comes close to that of Bob Gunton, although maybe not as dark and sinister, but still very appropriate. Some minor character changes are encountered here; thus "And the money kept rolling in" is sung by the president of the Eva Peron foundation and not by Che, as in the later versions.

This double CD issue comes with a full libretto and a synopsis. It also features the photographs of the real Eva Peron, the authors and the cast. The sound quality is one of the main assets of this recording. It has been digitally remastered in such a good manner, that you can actually make out the instruments when listening to a certain melody.

For those of you who are getting acquainted with the story of Eva Peron for the first time I must point out: Bear in mind that this musical is only loosely based on the life of the real Evita. As much as Tim Rice's lyrics are craftily made, they lack a lot of historical accuracy. As a historian I became very interested in Eva Peron's life story so I did some research after seeing the movie. It turned out that the authors based their entire work on a single book called EVITA: THE WOMAN WITH A WHIP by Mary Main. It was based on rumors, lies and myths, written with the single purpose of slandering Eva Peron as much as possible. It contains no footnotes and no bibliography. The authors used it mainly because it was one of the few books available on the subject in the English language during the 70-is. So one should be very careful in making any conclusions based on the musical or the movie alone.

In the final judgment, this version of Evita is a must-have for all the fans of this story and the score. The missing lyrics give an impression of a much more completed work. And some parts, like the haunting guitar solo during the "Buenos Aires" number is one of those little things that make this recording worth your time and money.

Julie Covington sounds like the role of Evita comes from the depths of her heart. Her melodic singing is such a pleasure to listen to. Although Madonna presents the part exceptionally well on screen, the movie soundtrack is too harsh and too polished. This recording is so pleasantly melodic. CT presents Che in this recording with as much strength as Antonio Banderas brought to the role on film, and they are both much better than the person who portrayed the part in the Broadway recording.

Ah, the "White Evita" - this is not the syrupy ALW of recent years. This is a scathing character study of one of the most fascinating women of the 20th century. In this concept album, Rice and Webber pull no punches in bringing us a story of dictatorship and demagoguery. Later versions, especially the movie, have been toned down considerably. Material has also been cut out, which has stripped the story of interest and complexity.

This Eva Peron is bold, manipulative and ambitious; she doesn't apologize or ask for our sympathy. Julie Covington plays her with great style. Like Eva herself, Covington's voice is beautiful, clear and cold as a mountain stream. As her counterpart (Che), Colm Wilkinson brings a much greater depth (his signature) to the role than other portrayals, and also great range from rock to the soaring rendition of "High Flying, Adored". "Oh What a Circus" and "The Lady's Got Potential" are such fun! The interposition of Covington's sweet and insincere "Oh, but it's sad when a love affair dies" with Wilkinson's gruff and sarcastic "So put on your trousers and go!" in "Goodnight and Thank You" is brilliant.

It's 1976, and it was the first concept for all the Evitas. Although the 'rock' parts might sound too dated at some points, Julie Covington's vocal was superb in her own right. I have to count in the fact that she was the first impersonator of Evita, and it should have undertaken a much more difficult effort (simply because she had to start from zero )than latter Evita impersonators (who could simply study and improve former impersonators). Covington at that time was already an acclaimed performer among British theatre circles.

About the 'insecticide', hey folks, this is about Argentina. The'insecticide' in Evita plays a significant part in the plot describing Che's identity. It was the perfect metaphor describing Argentina's struggle as a 'third-world' agricultural-based nation. CHe represents the aspiring new generation: wanting political action (signified by his preference to the insecticide) instead of Peronist political rhetorics. Alan Parker's version with Antonio Banderas totally turns Che's identity upside down. I just wished thay had dropped the Che-Madonna dancing scenes from it.

If you love Jesus Christ Superstar, then this version of Evita is for you. If you're into the old concept of operas, be alarmed: Webber ain't about traditions.

This is simply EVITA from a different viewpoint. The first studio stab at the opera and a "what would the public think?" trial. In the UK this album spawned a huge number of successful singles (the UK singles chart being an important marketing tool for albums in those days).

There was quite some debate at the time when most of the studio cast declined parts in the staging and some doubt as to whether or not the stage show would succeed without them.

So there is no doubt that the opera had to change - both from the point of view of maturing in its transition to stage and the rock elements were dropped - I'm sure to match the completely minimalist staging by the time the show hit the London stage - and to suit the stars who did take part.

This album stands in its own right - both from a historical viewpoint as to how the staged version was finally produced (in LONDON first - fellow reviewers - where I am sure most of the London stars were considered definitive to the role - not the later Broadway cast) but also as a version of the opera in its own right. It is refreshing and vibrant and worth a listen.