Customer Reviews

Sondheim Evening: A Musical Tribute (1973 Concert Cast)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aside from featuring a song ("Two Fairy Tales") that appears on no other tribute/compilation CD that I'm aware of, and several other rarely performed tunes, this tribute has another significant feature: All the singers appeared in, or were intended to appear in, original Sondheim productions, so the net effect is to provide some tantalizing examples of how these songs sounded live on stage by their original singers.

There are so many treasures on this CD! Examples: If you doubted that Beth Howland owns "Getting Married Today," this rendition will put your doubts to rest; she actually sings it faster than on the OBR of Company! Similarly, while there have been plenty of decent renditions of "Broadway Baby," Ethel Shutta proves why she was the first (and best). Nancy Walker's "I'm Still Here" ranks with the greatest versions of this song. And what a joy it is to hear Angela Lansbury, by this time an experienced musical thespian, singing songs from Anyone Can Whistle with considerable assurance.

One small complaint I have is that while the cast of the then-current A Little Night Music appears, none of them sings any songs on their own; they merely provide part of the chorus (and Hermione Gingold was one of the "Beautiful Girls). As I am a Len Cariou fan, I was disappointed that I didn't get to hear him live. Still, this is a sensational collection that should delight both Sondheim fans and musical theatre fans in general.

This concert was recorded live at the Shubert theatre in New York in March of 1973 - just a few weeks after A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC had opened. Being a live recording there are some technical drawbacks - hence 4 stars instead of 5 - but the electicity generated by the performers and the event have never been matched by any subsequent Sondheim concert.

Among the highlights: -Nancy Walker's definative performance of "I'm Still Here."

-Ethel Shutta recreating her showstopping "Broadway Baby" which was abridged on the FOLLIES cast album

-Jack Cassidy and Susan Browning in a premiere recording of "So Many people" from the unproduced SATURDAY NIGHT

-Larry Kert offering both "Happily Ever After" and its replacement "Being Alive" from COMPANY.

-A half-dozen songs that had not been heard because they were dropped from shows before opening night or left off teh cast albums.

-Angela Lansbury recreating two of her big numbers from the ill-fated ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

-and, a grand finale where Sondheim himself sings (?) the title song from WHISTLE.

A useful overview of some of his best work (to 1973 at least) enlived by some steller performances. The original 2 LP set had been out-of-print for many years fetching $85 a copy at collector shops. RCA's CD edition restores some addional material left off the Lp and is a great bargain!

This is probably my favorite of the Sondheim compilation CDs I have. It's a live concert recorded in 1973, right in the middle of the "Golden Age" of Sondheim. It's got the great songs one would expect ("Being Alive", "America", "Broadway Baby") and it also has a good handful of songs that were cut from his shows...all of them on par or better with the ones that were kept in! It stars many of the members of "Company" and "Follies" along with biggies like Chita Rivera and Angela Lansbury, whose "Me and My Town" is a riot. My only complaint is the sound quality. But if anything, it just gives the recording more character! This is a great CD and I couldn't consider my Sondheim collection complete without it.

The best Sondheim collection available. The live performances add greatly to the album. All the performances are fresh and fun, or heartfelt and lovely. Added bonus is the performance of unused songs from several shows. The whole thing is wonderful. Only wish it had been done more recently to include the shows of the past 30 yrs. Could be quite an evening. The Carnegie Hall tribute album is glossier and more recent, but I like this better.

I bought this set used on vinyl when I was 17. Then again on cassette when I was 25. I'm now about to buy it on cd. Why? Hands down it is the best concert album of his works. Nothing gimimicky, just a great evening of song, most with the original performers recreating their moments. Also, there are more than a handful of cut songs and obscure lyrics. For you Sondheim buffs: the original lyrics to "We're Gonna Be All Right" which got sanitized during the tryout becuase Dorothy Rodgers thought the lyrics were too racy. And a previous reviewer complained that there were No performance of Night Music songs on the disc, Here's why. The Cast Album had just been recorded by Columbia and they held the rights to any of the original cast recording of the songs. During "Liasons" and "Send in the Clowns" the Engineers from Warner Brothers (the original Label) had to shut off the mics. A shame...written accounts of the evening state that Glynis Johns had the house in tears with Send in the Clowns. Still and all, a worthwhile album.

If you've read Ted Chapin's "Everything Was Possible," this concert is doubly valuable for its glimpses into the genesis of "Follies." Sondheim had Dorothy Collins in mind for Sally after seeing her in a revival of "Do I Hear a Waltz?" She performs a song from that ill-fated Sondheim/Rodgers collaboration. She and John McMartin also perform the cut-in-rehearsal "Pleasant Little Kingdom" from "Follies," along with an expansive rendition of "Losing My Mind," a song not originally intended for Sally but one which the late Ms. Collins owns now and forever. Sondheim's vulnerable rendition of the title song from "Anyone Can Whistle" is liable to bring a tear to your eye. He could have made a great second career of giving recitals of his own songs, accompanying himself at the piano and telling introductory anecdotes, if he so chose.

Reviewing this album in 1998 I wrote:

This concert was recorded live at the Shubert theatre in New York in March of 1973 - just a few weeks after A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC had opened. Being a live recording there are some technical drawbacks - hence 4 stars instead of 5 - but the electicity generated by the performers and the event have never been matched by any subsequent Sondheim concert.
Among the highlights: -Nancy Walker's definative performance of "I'm Still Here."

-Ethel Shutta recreating her showstopping "Broadway Baby" which was abridged on the FOLLIES cast album

-Jack Cassidy and Susan Browning in a premiere recording of "So Many people" from the unproduced SATURDAY NIGHT

-Larry Kert offering both "Happily Ever After" and its replacement "Being Alive" from COMPANY.

-A half-dozen songs that had not been heard because they were dropped from shows before opening night or left off teh cast albums.

-Angela Lansbury recreating two of her big numbers from the ill-fated ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

-and, a grand finale where Sondheim himself sings (?) the title song from WHISTLE.

A useful overview of some of his best work (to 1973 at least) enlived by some steller performances. The original 2 LP set had been out-of-print for many years fetching $85 a copy at collector shops. RCA's CD edition restores some addional material left off the Lp and is a great bargain!

I should add a few small advisories: The sound is only so-so - picked up mainly by floor mics, and the orchestra sounds tinny. But in the end it only adds to the you-are-there quality. Collectors have traded complete tapes of the whole show for years, and having heard these I can say that the tracks here are the best of the lot.

This re-release of a 1973 live concert tribute to Stephen Sondheim, long out of print, is a must for any Sondheim lover. It contains some performances preserved no where else, including re-creations by the original performers of songs from little-known Sondheim shows, or songs that were dropped before the musicals they were from debuted on Broadway, or songs in the case of "Follies" that were not included on the original cast recording. Just a few of the performers include Angela Lansbury, Larry Blyden, Alexis Smith, Chita Rivera and Jack Cassidy. It ends with an especially poignant performance by Sondheim himself singing the title song from his short-lived musical "Anyone Can Whistle".

This is a must for Sondheim fans. Nancy Walker does "I'm Still Here" and gives the best version on disc to this date. Most of the other performances are done by the actors who introduced them in the original productions.

One of the best things about this collection is the end with Sondheim himself singing the title song to his flop show, Anyone Can Whistle. Lary Kert, the orginal Tony from West Side, Angela Landsbury, and Chita Rivera are some memorable names. Very good musicical selections. A little form everything up until Company. even thhings from Sondheim's first, Saturday Night.