Now and Then

Maria Friedman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 2, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Classical
• ASIN: B000F2CC3G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,086 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Maria Friedman isn't as well known in America as in her homebase of England, but her stateside fanbase can only grow with this appealing album. Friedman is one of the U.K.'s most-prominent interpreters of Sondheim, and he returns the favor by backing her up on the piano on this CD's last track, his own "Children and Art" (from Sunday in the Park with George, which is also represented with "Finishing the Hat"). Before getting to that song, though, Friedman has been through a well-balanced selection culled from the American Songbook (Cole Porter's "I Happen to Like New York," Rodgers & Hart's "My Romance," Arlen & Gershwin's "The Man Who Got Away") and less-obvious sources such as Kate Bush ("The Man with the Child in His Eyes"), Cora Vaucaire ("Paris in the Rain"), Michel Legrand (the title track), and the anonymous author of 1941's "In the Sky," a young boy from the Vilna ghetto. It's hard to shake a certain mood of reflectiveness—-Friedman mentions in her liner notes the fact that she was diagnosed with breast cancer during the Broadway previews of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White—-but the singer always balances melancholy with a sense of indomitable spirit. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

In Touch Weekly

’The show must go on’ is the Broadway motto, but Maria Friedman has given the phrase a new meaning.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding CD, September 15, 2006

By 

Laurel S. Druce "passion for music" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Now and Then (Audio CD)

I don't understand the negative review here. I can't stop playing this CD. Every song is nuanced and beautifully performed. I had only heard of Maria Friedman as being in Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals, but now I know she is so much more. Anyone who enjoys cabaret and musical theatre has to get this CD. You won't regret it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth Your Time, July 5, 2006

By 

terroh "terroh" (OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Now and Then (Audio CD)

Up to now, I'm afraid I only knew of Maria Friedman because of her health scare during the run of Woman In White. After listening to this CD, I find I like her very much as a singer too. The CD starts out with a bang with I Happen to Like New York, sung with gusto and there are few misses on here. I thought I could never listen to another version of If You Go Away, but her version is very good. As is The Man Who Got Away. She also does some very fine interpretations of Sondheim songs (Children and Art and Finishing the Hat). I dont care for Broadway Baby though (sung as a slow ballad), but its different. The only criticism I may have is that too many of the songs are sung in the same way (a slow quiet start building to a crescendo finish) Well produced and arranged, this is worth your time and money.

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous, April 15, 2007

By 

Laszlo "CD Explorer" (Ashburn, VA (USA)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Now and Then (Audio CD)

If you like Broadway at a higher level, you'll enjoy this. Even if not distinctive, Ms. Friedman's voice is exquisite, her take on lyrics wonderful. Furthermore, the arrangements are tasteful, intelligent, sophisticated and varied.
These songs tell you something, and Ms Friedman's makes you feel she is revealing them to you (whoever said this was boring!?) A production of love, taste and intelligence. And Mr I-wished-I-had-his-brain-Sondheim's piano accompaniment in the last track, the cherry of this sundae.
A jewel.