A Stephen Sondheim Evening (1983 Concert Cast) [Cast Recording, Live]

Stephen Sondheim (Artist), Liz Callaway (Artist), Angela Lansbury (Artist), Steve Orich (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 18, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording, Live
• Label: RCA Victor Broadway
• ASIN: B000003F96
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,619 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buyer Beware!!, May 28, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: A Stephen Sondheim Evening (1983 Concert Cast) (Audio CD)

This is one of the better Sondheim tributes, but because RCA cut out 2 numbers from the original 2 lp set to fit on one disc, I can only give this 3 stars. I owned the original lp set, and wasnt aware of this omission until after I bought the cd. One of the best songs on the original, You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through with Liz Callaway (among others) from Follies was cut. Inexcusable! There were several other lesser songs they could've cut instead if time was a problem. (Poems and There's Something About a War being two of them) In small print in the booklet it says the 2 cut songs are available on Collected Sondheim. Yeah, like I want to shell out 50 bucks to get those 2 songs when I have everything else on that compilation? If you havent heard the original set, you'll probably love this recording and there is a lot to love, including Angela Lansbury singing Send In the Clowns with Sondheim on the piano. But if you have heard the original LPs, Buyer Beware! Shame on you, RCA!!!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I just wish I'd been there!, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Stephen Sondheim Evening (1983 Concert Cast) (Audio CD)

Live performances are tricky to record, and the result is often not nearly as satisfying as attendance at the event itself. This album, though, is different. "Brilliant" about sums it up. Besides including numbers that had been part of recorded scores before, it includes some that were cut from various musicals, or were never produced at all. Not only is Bob Gunton's performance of "Pretty Little Picture" far better than that on the original "Forum" cast album, it is, I think, done more in the fashion Sondheim intended. And two of the "cut" "Forum" numbers are delicious: "In the House of Marcus Lycus" is delightfully sly and filled with double-entendre, and George Hearn revels in the witty lyrics; and "There's Something About A War" is screamingly funny, especially at the point the soldiers lose control gloating about "houses to destroy --Hey! women to enjoy-- hey! statues to deface - hey! - mothers to debase - hey!...". Even the wonderful scoring for small ensemble works perfectly. (In "Something about a war" the fanfare, in the original cast album scored for brass, is performed by a synthesizer, and sounds wonderfully satirical, reminding one of Marvin Martian from the Warner Brothers cartoons.) The numbers from the (at the time) unproduced "Saturday Night" are great, especially Victoria Mallory's ecstatic "What More Do I Need?". The rendition of the moving "Someone In A Tree" is indeed, as others have pointed out, far better than on the "Pacific Overtures" album. And as a final pair of jewels we are treated to Angela Lansbury singing "Send In the Clowns", accompied by Sondheim himself, and then Sondheim and company singing "Old Friends" I could go on and on, but you get the picture. NOW, get the CD!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful recording of some great Sondheim, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Stephen Sondheim Evening (1983 Concert Cast) (Audio CD)

I was at this concert, and this recording captures the excitement that the performers generated that night. A lot of Sondheim's best songs, and a generally strong group of singers. It's unfortunate that the CD release is missing two of the numbers that were performed that evening (and were included on the original LP release). Judy Kaye's "Being Alive" is a particularly glorious highlight of this CD.