Pacific Overtures (1987 English National Opera Cast) [Cast Recording]

Stephen Sondheim, Christopher Booth-Jones, Graham Fletcher, Terry Jenkins, Malcolm Rivers, Edward Byles, Richard Angas, Pacific Overtures (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 2, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003ESS
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415,205 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Prologue - English National Opera

2. The Advantage of Floating in the Middle of the Sea

3. There is No Other Way

4. Four Black Dragons

5. Chrysanthemum Tea

6. Poems

7. Welcome to Kanagawa

8. Someone in a Tree

9. Please Hello

10. A Bowler Hat

11. Pretty Lady

12. Next

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable. a score that deserves an operatic treatment, December 20, 2001

By 

spacedog "spacedog7" (boston, ma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pacific Overtures (1987 English National Opera Cast) (Audio CD)

this is a fantastic show with many standout songs. i prefer this recording to the OBC recording b/c i really believe that the lyrical score falls naturally into the operatic realm and that broadway singers don't generally have the vocal power to do it justice. i usually don't prefer opera singers in broadway shows, but i think that in this case it works extremely well, with the long, lyrical lines of songs like, "is there no other way" and "poems" really benefitting from the stronger voices.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid, April 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Pacific Overtures (1987 English National Opera Cast) (Audio CD)

This is not the real thing. This was a production by English National opera with opera voices not show voices. It doesn't even begin to sound right. For an ignored work, the ENO production appeared oddly soon after the excellent provincial production at Wythenshawe Forum in south Manchester, UK. Were ENO influenced in their choice by the Manchester show? It seemed so at the time and the ENO production was a very pale evening by comparison. This CD shows why! Avoid. The Original Broadway cast recording is the best going, though it's not at all perfect. Why is this excellent work, full of terrific music and visuals, so ignored?? Too expensive to stage?

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You want the 1976 Original Broadway Cast album, not this one, September 26, 2000

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pacific Overtures (1987 English National Opera Cast) (Audio CD)

"Pacific Overtures" is the political euphemism used by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 when Japan was persuaded to open up trade relations because of the display of naval power put on by the United States. The clash of cultures as the "Floating Kingdom" was forced to end centuries of enforced isolation is the subject of this unique musical, which dramatizes Perry's expedition to Japan. The original Broadway cast of "Pacific Overtures" was entirely Asian or Asian-American. It is this casting commitment that makes "Pacific Overtures" a rare musical to see in performance, which is a shame because of not only its presentation of history but because of its imaginative use of Kabuki.

You might recall the controversy on Broadway when Jonathan Pryce came over from England to play the Engineer in the Broadway production of "Miss Saigon." Pryce had created the role in England but there were complaints about an occidental playing an oriental (althought the character was half-French). So while I was rather surprised to discover this non-Asian cast recording of "Pacific Overtures," I realized it was understandable, not only because the British place less emphasis on such things but also because this is English National Opera cast. In opera it is the voice that matters and not appearances, which is why you end up with singers the size of offensive linemen who are twice the age of their characters.

On the one hand I find it very commendable that this show was produced in England, since the casting requirements make it difficult if not impossible to perform in most places. But if you want a CD by which to remember the show you should purchase the original Broadway cast album and enjoy the original performances (especially Mako as the Reciter).

I do not want to make this sound like an argument for political correctness, because I really do believe it is more a question of preserving the intergirty of the original production, which was a wonderful attempt to bring something different to the American musical stage. If had the opportunity to see "Pacific Overture" in performance with a non-oriental cast I will certainly do so, because I would dearly love to see this show. But I would feel that I had missed out on the true experience.