Customer Reviews

Leonard Bernstein's New York

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I can't stop listening to this CD! It's a great introduction to Bernstein's "New York" shows. The Amazon reviewer is right; the female performers really dominate here, although Richard Muenz is very good. Mandy Patinkin is really quite effective in "Come Up to My Place" and "Ya Got Me," but "Tonight" is just not right for him. Fortunately, Audra McDonald saves that one, and she is absolutely wonderful in "A Little Bit in Love." Dawn Upshaw is simply perfect in every song; I especially loved her "Somewhere." The two other female singers, Judy Blazer and Donna Murphy, also do a great job. Judy Blazer, especially, is a very good comic singer and pairs beautifully with Patinkin in "Come Up to My Place." My only complaints about the CD are small: I thought the instrumentals were less effective than the vocals (they sound thin and abrupt), and the insert doesn't contain any background info. on the performers (I wasn't familiar with Murphy or Blazer and would like to know more about them.) Oh, and the CD wound up costing me more money, as I had to go out and order "On the Town," "Wonderful Town" and "West Side Story"!

And speaking of "Wonderful Town," it's so nice to hear music from this least appreciated of Bernstein's musicals. "What a Waste," "A Quiet Girl" and Audra McDonald's enchanting "A Little Bit in Love" have never sounded better. Donna Murphy burns the house down with the torchy "Ain't Got No Tears Left," and has fun with Patinkin and Blazer on the raucous "Ya Got Me." "One Hand, One Heart" sung by Dawn Upshaw and Richard Muenz is movingly rendered, as is Patinkin's wonderful delivery of an all-time Bernstein favorite, "Some Other Time." My only comlaint? Where is "I Can Cook Too?" A terrific recording.

As a tribute to Bernstein on Broadway, this CD is hard to beat. All the singers are stars but of a generation, ro two, beyond the originals. Naturally here's been a change of style, and these renditions are more knowing, sophisticated, and at times ironic than the originals. On their own, Donna Murphy, Dawn Upshaw, and Mandy Patinkin, among others, are masters of their craft, but I hope anyone who loves LB will also seek out the original cast albums for all of his musicals, or the clesest one can get (On the Town was remade in the Fifties). Those recordings cast a unique spel, but the next stop is this marvelous CD.

I agree that this is a great collection. But I have to wonder: Am I the only one who got a bum copy of the CD? The songs are all mixed up on my copy, as in, most of the tracks are mislabeled: "A Quiet Girl" is really "Tonight", The Balcony Scene, printed as "Tonight" is really "Somewhere". The list goes on.

So, who do I kvetch to? I'd like a copy that isn't a complete mishmash.

I loved this CD, but there was some things that kept it fromgetting four stars. First Mandy Patkin, I loved him in Sunday in The Park With George, also I have a CD of him singing yiddish songs all good, but in this CD I just don't like him. Like in the song "Come Up To My Place" I didn't like his voice and I never could quite see him as the character for that song. Also I would have liked to see (well actually "hear") some more of the dance numbers or overtures, I realize the main point of the CD was all the singers they put together, but the real highlight of the CD for me was the sections from Fancy Free, and Ballet At The Village Vortex from Wonderful Town. Also I liked "One Hand One Heart" a lot. Overall I would get this CD if you like Bernstein or any of these musicals, it is good listen, just not outstanding.

Few artists can communicate the "feel" of New York in musical theater better than Leonard Bernstein. And that experience is very well represented in this CD. Not every song is perfect...but the two standouts are "Come Up to My Place" with Judy Blazer from ON THE TOWN and "Somewhere" sung by Dawn Upshaw from WEST SIDE STORY. Judy Blazer has a sultry torch song voice (something like Julia Migenes)...and Dawn Upshaw - well, she sings so magnificently, she brings tears to my eyes. The record offers some of the best pieces from West Side Story, On The Town, Wonderful Town. In other words: Now I know why "New York, New York is a wonderful town."

New Yorkers and fans of Broadway should not be disappointed! And for those interested in Lenny Bernstein's biography, I have the highest recommendation for Humphrey Burton's life of "Bernstein."
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Having spent most of my working years in NYC, I felt this CD brought the city to me. Bernstein has allways been a favorite.