Customer Reviews

South Pacific (1986 London Studio Cast)

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

 

 

To re-record classic Broadway scores with opera singers is certainly an interesting idea, although some shows (ANNIE GET YOUR GUN for example) do not require that kind of vocal weight. But if that is the concept one should cast it with singers appropriate to the roles: DeBeque was written as a bass. The character is French. Jose Carreras has a wonderful tenor voice ...... and he is Spanish! Kiri Te Kanawa tries hard to sound like she is from the American mid-west but her performance is wildly inconsistant. Only Many Patinkin brings some new character insight to Cable and gives a lovely, understated performance of "Younger Than Springtime." But his performance of "Carefully Taught" is ruined by a curious new orchestration that syncopates the song in such a way as to detract from its powerful lyric. Then there's Sarah Vaughan's oddly mannered take on Bloody Mary, totally lacking the mystery and exoticism the role cries out for.

One of the big plusses of this disc is the London Symphony orchestra and the fact that the complete Overture, Entr'acte and several orchestral passages not previously recorded are included, but it does not help when the singing starts. Columbia's original cast album with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza is the one to get. Those in need of a more complete recording would be far better served by the recent 2 CD set on JAY than by this dreadful disc.

Although this album sold very well when it was released (it was the only SOUTH PACIFIC avaialble on CD at the time) it has also turned up in huge quantities in used CD stores. I suspect most folks who bought it quickly replaced it with the Broadway disc when it finally made an appearance on CD. If you are really curious buy this one used!

Kiri Te Kanawa(with her British accent) as Nellie Forbush of Little Rock, Arkansas?!!! I don't think so. This recording just doesn't work. Instead, buy the original with the great Mary Martin(from Texas!) or the beautiful movie soundtrack with it's lush orchestrations.

This is a good, though not great performance of South Pacific. Carreras and Te Kanawa are fine as Emil and Nellie and the great Sarah Vaughan (one of the greatest voices of ALL time) is a standout as Bloody Mary. It is worth the price of the CD just to hear Madame Vaughan sing "Bali Hai". The one piece of miscasting in this album, I feel, is Mandy Patinkin as Lt. Joe Cable. I feel that the role should be sung by someone with more of a Mario Lanza type sound. I'm not even remotely suggesting that Jerry Hadley is another Lanza, but he certainly would have delivered more of the appropriate sound for the role. Patinkin is great as Sancho Panza or Che in Evita, but Lt. Cable is, I feel, just a little too much for him. Carreras would have made a fine Cable, except for his accent. Madame Te Kanawa sounds absolutely fantastic as Nellie Frobish. I still prefer the sound of Ezio Pinza as Emil Du Beque, but this is still definitely an album worth having nonetheless.

What horrible casting. I don't have too much to add to what's already been said. Some roles are not written for opera singers. The studio recording of "On the Town," for example, used opera singers for the role of Gaby and the various bass roles (Sam Ramey was wonderful singing "I Understand"), but wisely cast non-operatic singers in the other rolls. Kiri TeKanawa seems like a passable Nellie, if you've never heard Mary Martin. Jose Carreras is a out of his element playing a Frenchman as he was playing a New Yorker in "West Side Story." I liked Mandy Patimkin's "Younger Than Springtime," but "Youv'e Got to be Carefully Taught" is hurried. Rodgers and Hammerstein considered this the most important song in the score, and they wanted the message to get across. This version hardly does that. The worst, however, is Sarah Vaughn's Bloody Mary. She makes no attempt to get into the character--she sings it as if she was in a nightclub. Maybe this would be fine on a solo CD, but in a musical one should try to become part of the story, not impress us with her jazz interpretation. Listening to "Bali Hai," I was reminded of Bill Murray's hilarious send-up of Las Vegas lounge singers on "Saturday Night Live." But he was trying to be funny. I know this is an old recording, but if Amazon still has the nerve to sell it, then buyers should beware. In short, I have heard this show better sung in community theater productions.

I can't believe anyone would give this a decent review. It's awful. All Music Guide calls it "confused and unsuccessful," TheatreMania Guide to Musical Theatre Recordings dubs this "Not Recommended" and says "this recording is an out-and-out failure," and Musicals101 chimes in with "painfully miscast" and adds "pretentious trash." They're right. Hard to believe that this was the only CD of South Pacific available at one time.
At this point you can pick this "gem" up for less than $3!

This 1986 digital recording of South Pacific was made on the wave of the success of the crossover recording of West Side Story. Although it includes a little more music than the original Broadway cast recording, it should perhaps be regarded as a curate's egg because it hit some sour notes in places. The cast is generally decent enough to be top-notch, but is yet let down by a miscast role and the lack of sparkle and polish. But perhaps the sumptuous playing of the London Symphony Orchestra and the atmospheric, clear digital recording are able to make up for any shortcoming.

This South Pacific recording reunites Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras, fresh from Bernstein's DG recording of his own West Side Story. Dame Kiri may not be as sassy and spunky a Nellie as Mary Martin of the original Broadway cast, and her version of "I'm Gonna Wash That Man..." does seem a little staid. But at least she gives us winning renditions of "A Cockeyed Optimist" and "A Wonderful Guy", and an especially campy version of the wholesome comic mumber "Honey Bun," complete with the first recording of the choral refrain. Jose Carreras, on the other hand, is an exceptionally superb Emile, singing his solos with character, feeling and an operatic fervour. After all, the role was created for a full-throated opera singer, Ezio Pinza, and Carreras admirably copes with the demands of the role. His versions of "Some Enchanted Evening" and "This Nearly was Mine" are appropriately ravishing and romantic. The only miscast role is that of Bloody Mary, because of the jazz stylings that Sarah Vaughan brings to her two songs, but at least she understands the mood of the songs when she translates them into her performance. But Mandy Patkin, the only true Broadway singer in this recording, delivers an insightful and confident portrayal of Lietunant Cable, perhaps even more condescending than William Tabbert. Patkin fleshes out the two sides of Cable's character, with a hard-hitting version of "Carefully Taught" and a tender, heartfelt and ravishing "Younger than Springtime" that I consider the best and definitive rendition of the song ever on disc. The other roles are decently and competently played, but somehow the sailors lack humour and come off too straight-laced. This is especially true of their stiff rendition of "There is Nothing like a Dame."

But enough of the characters of the cast, and on to the way this recording is presented. As I have said before, the digital recording is atmospheric, sumptuous and clear. This recording is also more comprehensive than the original Broadway cast version. The Overture is heard complete, save for a minor cut, and you also get to hear a complete version of "This Nearly Was Mine", and a gorgeous version of the rarely-heard Entr'acte. I am fond of the fact that this recording adopts the "Some Enchanted Evening" finale, as it gives a more musically-satisfying end to the story as told by the score. The only quibbles I have revolve around the two cut songs, Loneliness of Evening, and My Girl Back Home. They could have possibly been recorded as appendixes for this recording, and made it feel more comprehensive.

On the whole, while this recording is not necessarily a good recording of SOUTH PACIFIC, at least it gives some credible performances from Kiri and Carreras, and presents the score in well-recorded digital sound. I myself wouldn't want to part with the Mary Martin recording, but at least this recording is not as abominable as some people think it is.

I fell in love with this version when I first saw it on BBC TV circa 1987. I bought it on vinyl and later on CD. If it was available on DVD I would be first in line!

Unlike other reviewers I loved Mandy Patinkin's performance. While being a little "light" his tenor is very expressive and I feel his reading of Younger Than Springtime was beautiful - I get shivers down my spine to this day when I hear it. Careras is also as good as you would expect, though Kiri Te Kanawa is a little ropey at times. Sarah Vaughan, true to form, is just a magical interpreter of good songs, and her jazz roots make her Bloody Mary work in a quirky way. Magical, inspired casting.

To really appreciate their performances you've got to see the video. It shows Careras's certainty when he knew he had just recorded the perfect Enchanted Evening - He says "I can do it again if you want, but I think it will never be better". You also see Te Kanawa's struggle with the interpretation and surprisingly, her problems hitting the right note on "we are not alike..." in Cockeyed Optimist, they had to try and try again. Don't let this put you off though, even at less than 100% she is very good, and you see that they had some fun making this recording (other than Mandy Patinkin who was really uptight until he was sure he had done his best).

I am lucky enough to have recorded the video off air in '87, but as it is only out in NTSC format, I would ask that a PAL version be produced and ideally a sumptuous DVD.

there is some beautiful singing here from te Kanawa, Carreras and Vaughan, but using a tenor in the role of the Frenchman, forces poor Mandy Pantinkin into a near-falsetto to distinguish his character as the star-crossed lover. I found the overall effect of his character lost on me, which wastes some great songs, and I usually think he's one of the greatest entertainers today.

May be a bit prejudice towards the 1958 movie sound track as that is what I grew up on.
The only unnerving part on this recording was Sarah Vaughn's performance (and I like her other recordings.) However she made Bloody Mary sound like she came from South Carolina instead of the South Pacific.
After a while you wonder if the movie should have had Mandy Patinkin in it.
And where is "My Girl Back Home"?
Enough ratting. Now for some useful information.
Charters in order of Appearance:
Ngna.......................................Juliet Midgley
Jerome....................................Sarah King
Ensign Nellie Forbush................Kari Te Kanawa
Emile De Becque......................Jose Carreras
Seabee Morton Wies.................John Parry
Marine CPL. Hamilton Steeves ...Vernon Midgley
Luther Billis.............................Wynford Evans
Seabee Richard West................Michael George
Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey....Alan Byers
Stewpot..................................Michel Pearn
Lt. Buzz Adams........................David Beavan
Yeoman Herbert Quale..............James Lewington
Seaman Tom O'Brien................John Parry
Bloody Marry...........................Sahara Vaughn
Ensign Dinah Murphy................Lynda Richardson
Ensign Janet McGregor..............Meriel Dickinson
Lt. Joseph Cable, U.S.M.C..........Mandy Patinkin
Background is (Ambrosian Singers)

I agree that this effort does not approach the classic original cast recording with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza -- and the chorus numbers on this recording are particularly bad -- but there is still much to commend it. Mandy Patinkin is very good (as usual), and Sarah Vaughn is a great, very original Bloody Mary (and is nearly worth the price of the album alone).