Customer Reviews

Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a fan of musicals, and surprisingly enough, if I were stranded on an island with a CD player and one show recording, this would be it. It does not give even a hint of the tensions that surfaced between the three major creative artists involved. The Rodgers music and Sondheim lyrics are perfect, and the performances (particularly Franchi) could not be better. The whole thing is charm distilled to its essence.

The new Fynsworth Alley recording is also quite good, although in different ways. Some performance are stronger (Carol Lawrence is a delight and Alyson Reed adds welcome depth to her role), but some are weaker (Anthony Crivello, though good, just doesn't have Franchi's pipes).

I'd start with this one. If you love it, as I do, you'll pick up the new Fynsworth Alley CD (which has music and dialogue not in the original cast recording) right after.

It was never the greatest show, but it makes one of the best original cast albums I've ever heard. "Do I Hear A Waltz?" has a terrific Richard Rodgers score, and the performances to back it up. Elizabeth Allen has a big, belting voice that supposedly worked against her characterisation in the show itself, but it's a delight to hear on this album. Sergio Franchi has the most supple, perfectly controlled male voice I've ever heard; not only can he handle the big aria-like numbers like "Stay" and "Take the Moment", he's a comedy delight in "Bargaining" where he effortlessly, instantly, and repeatedly switches from his trademark tenor to a glorious falsetto, and back again.

Stephen Sondheim did the lyrics, and one example should suffice to let you know how good they are: "Such lovely Blue Danube-y music / How can you be still?", from the title song.

Fair warning- when you hear this CD for the first time, you're going to get a lump in your throat when you hear the last track. It's called "Thank You So Much", and it's the perfect musical expression of something we've all been through: a relationship that must end, even though it was great and neither party wants it to.

Someday, hopefully, someone will revive this show, and lick the book problems, and cast it perfectly, and it will be a huge hit. Until then, we have this album, and the show we see in our heads as we listen. That's more than consolation, it's a grand time indeed.

So begins the delightful DO I HEAR A WALTZ?, one of Richard Rodgers' most accomplished post-Hammerstein scores. Not since his days with Lorenz Hart had Rodgers written such an energetic, youthful and joyful score. Stephen Sondheim's lyrics are witty and wonderful. DO I HEAR A WALTZ? received a lukewarm response from critics and audiences, lasting only 220 performances at the 46th Street Theatre.

Based on Arthur Laurents' play THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO (which turned into the film SUMMERTIME starring Katharine Hepburn), the story concerns a teacher, Leona Samish (played by Elizabeth Allen), who's holiday in Venice is dominated by her romance with the handsome Renato di Rossi (played by Sergio Franchi). There are also a host of colorful supporting characters including the ebullient hotelier Signora Fioria (Carol Bruce - SARATOGA).

The score is delicious with the opening number perfectly setting up the scene ("Someone Woke Up"), to Fioria's big number "This Week Americans", and the 11 o'clock number "Stay". There's also the Title Song, sung for all its worth by the delicious belt of Elizabeth Allen.

For all the problems that plagued the musical during its inception, nothing shows on the sparkling cast album, where it sounds like the biggest hit of the season. For Broadway fans, this CD is a must-own.

When most people (well, most theater people) hear the phrase "Do I Hear A Waltz?" they think flop, disaster, mediocre, an unexciting show better known for the backstage problems than anything else. This reputation is totally unwarrented. Although the original production may have been stilted and dry, and flawed in any number of ways, the score is utterly charming, and certainly the last great work Richard Rogers ever did. From the driving opening to the first couple ensemble numbers to the more dramatic songs, this score holds up favorably against many other shows that were far more successful. Some numbers dont work - Perfectly Lovely Couple and No Understand are really just filler - and some of the romantic songs tend to announce themselves a little to much; also, Stay really does sound like a lament from the Russian steppes, as someone else pointed out. The lyrics, while clever and impeccable (would you expect any less?) aren't all that interesting, and it's pretty clear that Songheim didnt have too much interest in what he was writing. But all things considered, this score is lovely, charming, and slight, and there's nothing wrong with that.

'Do I Hear A Waltz' ranks as one of my favourite scores for a musical, although it's hard to analyse why.

The great strength of this recording is the superb sound - the orchestra sounds marvellous - clear and classy. You do actually feel as if you are in the theatre, which many show recordings don't quite manage.

The plus of the score is it's being unknown - you'll never hear these songs on the radio, at concerts, etc. They don't stand up separately particularly well, as many Rodgers and Hammerstein do - this Rodgers and Sondheim album needs to be listened to as a whole. Any problems in book, casting, etc, disappear in this beautiful recording. The music just bubbles along - it's quite unique. Highlights must be Elizabeth Allen's drivingly passionate opening 'Someone Woke Up,' Allen and Sergio Franchi doing their twin soliloquies in 'Thinking,','Here We Are Again', a catchy melody with huge sounding choral background, and the lilting title song.

Any fans of Rodgers, or musicals full-stop, who like finding rarities, should go straight to this - give it time to grow on you, and you'll love it.

Please,give this a chance. Forget what you've read and just sit and listen. Read the libretto, available at lots of libraries, or read "Time of the Cuckoo" which Arthur Laurents based "Waltz" on. The combo of Rodgers and Sondheim is always sneered at--maybe, like me, you will see that Rodgers romanticism and Sondheim's sort of optimistic realism are actually the perfect mismatch for the endearingly troubled characters in the play.

Mr.Producer, forget all the basicstage gossip and let the score sell the show for you. Audiences, demand your favorite companies mount a production!

Despite being considered a flop by it's creative team, this is the one of Sondheim's "lyrics only" musicals I return to most often. It's melancholy charm is underlined by Rodgers' highly hummable tunes combined with Sondheim's reluctant lyrics. They are partly bitter and partly forced "happy". I love it.

Even though the show was not a success and the authors have all taken their turns at trashing it, this recording makes a strong case for DO I HEAR A WALTZ.

It's another fine record production by Goddard Lieberson. Rodgers (who was from all reports drinking and quite nasty to his collaborators) came up with many of his trademark melodies and the title song won deserved popularity outside of the show. Sondheim for his part creates some crackling good lyrics ("Someone Woke Up"; "What Do We Do We Fly!") but its an odd score... you hear the romantic older style love songs from Rodgers with fairly basic (dare we say dull) lyrics then some wonderful lyrics set to atypical Rodgers tunes. Then suddenly it all comes together in the final few numbers: The Title Song, "Perfectly Lovely Couple" and "Thank You So Much." Maybe it's a show that Encores will revive someday. In the meantime we can appreciate this original cast album and thank Sony for releasing it on Cd with good notes and a synopsis in the booklet!

In 1965 no one was going to let a whippersnapper like Stephen Sondheim blast his way through the veils of hypocrisy that shroud relationships. So for the howlingly funny, knife-sharp lyrics to the song "We're Gonna Be All Right" you need to find a modern recording. But this, the original, has a charm other recordings lack. It was recorded in the 60s, so they take themselves seriously, but unselfconsciously, and the voices are lovely. Even this watered down version of Sondheim's signature song is enjoyable. And the other songs.... Wow. Just wow.
The throaty, full voiced delivery of "This Week Americans" by Carol Bruce, with all its transparent cozening, is magnificent. "No Understand" is full of layers, double entendres and nuances , as an illicit romance is planned under cover of a language lesson.
"Someone Woke Up" is a paean to the beauties of a Venice that no longer exists, and Elizabeth Allen's passion will rip your heart out of your chest.
The comedy standout songs, "What Do We do? We Fly" and "Bargaining" range in appeal from juvenile to sophisticated: 6 year olds tend to love the former, with lines like "You're zooming up like a comet, your ears are starting to ring,/Your neighbor's starting to vomit, there's ice along the wing!" while budding thespians love the latter, as Sergio Franchi sings the parts of both the lady shopper and the harried merchant. The new recording does NOT have this comic gem of a song - you'll only get it here!
The killer song is "Stay." This is the song that tears away illusions and self-deceptions. "I am not the dream come true, but stay. You are not the dream come true, but stay. Who is clever? Who is witty? Am I handsome? Are you pretty? No one is the dream come true, but stay, stay, stay...."
What makes this musical so exceptional is the collaboration. Sondheim writes stylish, complex, sometimes-cerebral, sometimes-gutwrenching lyrics. Rogers wrote melodic, singable, hummable music. It was their only collaboration, and Sondheim went on to write his own music, which at first sounded a lot like Mozart, and then became increasingly stylish, complex, cerebral, and atonal. Lots of fun, but not exactly melodic. Here you get the best of words and music. Enjoy. SHARE and enjoy!

This was one of the first cast albums I ever bought. Back in the summer of '65 it was constantly on my turntable much to the chagring of my mother who grew tired of hearing me sing along. I could not imagine how this show failed: the score is so wonderful! A few years later, I saw a production of the show and my question was answered. While the score is charming, the book was plodding, sluggish and downright boring. Fortunately we have this lovely cast album and we can listen to this gem of a score without the burden of a book. The performances are strong, the voices in fine shape, even if Sergio Franchi is a bit over the top at times. This is later Richard Rogers and early Sondheim: who could ask for a bettre combination? The lyrics point the way to Sonsheim's future shows, always sharp, witty and right on target. And the melodies are lovely. This was made in the heydey of musical comedy recordings and the production is suberb.I still love this album and wish it would work as a stage play, but at least we have half of "Do I Hear A Waltz?" to cherish.