Customer Reviews

Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Highlights from the 1979 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An American classic, one of the greats, though I feel that Follies is Sondheims greatest acheivement, this is a close second. Saw a preview performance, then saw it again shortly after the opening. Several changes had been made, all for the better. The Flagellation Song had been removed, mercifully. It's been restored in subsequent productions, and always at the audiences discomfort. ?? Anyway, the original production was huge, in sets, performances and music, and it was grand in every sense of the word. Classic performances by Lansbury (one of maybe 3 of the great broadway actresses of all time) and Cariou.
As the other reviewers have already stated, this CD makes you want the complete recording. However, I enjoy this CD when I don't have the time or concentration to listen to the entire score.

This is an absolutly amazing score. It is a once haunting, lush, lean, beautiful, moving, witty, and generally brilliant. Though some may bemoan the omissions for the highlights CD, this is still 73 minuits of great music, and the underscore music cna be tedious, as can "Green Finch and Linnett Bird" (a song I was not sad to see missing from the highlights CD.) This CD still has Landbury's and Cariu's stellar permormances and the true classics such as "Johanna," "Have a Little Priest," "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," "Pretty Women," and "Not While I'm Around." And to make things better, there is not a bad song on this CD. It may be missing some dialogue and the Judges Flagilation scene (a scene that I believe to missing from the video, though I could be wrong), but it is still amazing complete- to the point where one can easily follow the plot.

Angela Lansbury is clearly the best Mrs. Lovett, her interpretation is on the dot. She is absolutely bone chilling. Len Cariou's strong baritone is thrilling and his portrayal of Todd is right on the dot. The only downer of this recording is the fact there is no Green Finch and Linnet Bird, a great modern aria sung by Johanna. This, in my oppinion, is Stephen Sondheim's best musical. The orchestration is one of Sondheim's most complex, his counterpoint is awe-inspiring. If you plan on getting this CD, don't. Get the complete original cast! You simply must hear it in its intirety.

It's difficult to know where to begin when talking about a musical such as this one. Considered by many (admittedly, myself included) to be Stephen Sondheim's greatest masterpiece, the complexity and incredible depth, both musical and lyrical, of SWEENEY TODD is remarkable.

This 1979 Original Broadway Cast recording stars the incredible Angela Lansbury (cf. MAME) as Ms. Nellie Lovett, an off-kilter, darkly humorous, and downright goofy (at times) peddler of meat pies in her own shop in London. For those unfamiliar with Lansbury's singing voice, do yourself a favor and get acquainted with it here. Ms. Lovett's character calls for a certain quirkiness (she bakes people into meat pies, for goodness sake!), and Lansbury's vocals seem a perfect match for the role.

Len Cariou stars as Sweeney Todd (aka Benjamin Barker), a man pushed and pulled in every way by a life that has been anything but fair to him. A puppet to the whimsy of those around him, Todd's mental instability rears its ugly head in the form of murder when he elects to dispose of those who take a seat in his chair for a shave and haircut. Mr. Todd and Ms. Lovett soon team up, both having a somewhat obvious yet sad need for affection. A strong supporting cast rounds off this marvelous milestone recording.

In the end, SWEENEY TODD is nothing short of a musical theater gem. The vocals, particularly from Cariou and Lansbury, are top-notch and the lyrics and music from Sondheim are, in my opinion, some of the best ever written and composed. After all, creating a musical thriller that is creepy, quirkily humorous, suspenseful, and moving -- all at the same time -- is no easy task.

The only problem I find myself having is that I wish that George Hearn, who replaced Cariou in the role of Sweeney, had also recorded a copy of the cast album. Cariou's vocals, while strong, are still comparably weaker than Hearn's. Cariou's voice thins in his upper register, while it seems to me that Hearn's only becomes stronger at the extremes of his pitch range. This is not to criticize Cariou's performance at all, but just to point out that there are differences. Thankfully, though, Hearn's performance as Sweeney has also been released by Warner Bros. on DVD, recorded in 1982, co-starring Angela Lansbury as Ms. Lovett.

If you like what you hear from available samples, then I would suggest getting acquainted with SWEENEY, then move on to some of Sondheim's other outstanding musicals, such as ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (also featuring Angela Lansbury), INTO THE WOODS, PASSION, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, and many others. Very highly recommended.

If you really want to know with one musical how Sondheim really works, get this CD. The music is so wonderfully and minutely constructed that you know it must have been Sondheim's baby. The music and the performances of the actors are stretched beyond conventional musical theatre limits, so the talents of all shine through and you get the effect of being in the audience. Try listening to the somber opening number without getting goosebumps. Best of all, each musical number furthers the storyline and the plot, something modern musical theatre often forgets to do. Favorite numbers: "A Little Priest" (twistedly funny), "Pretty Women", "Worst Pies in London", "God, That's Good" and Toby's touching "Not While I'm Around." This will be a good starter if you are new to Sondheim's work. If you like what you hear, the entire score will give you the full intended effect. After 'Sweeney', I would recommend 'Sunday in the Park with George' for the other spectrum of Sondheim's abilities.

This isn't music you listen to, it's music you experience!

As a Sondheim admirer, I believe that Sweeney Todd is his best work. This recording of highlights gives you a taste of the dark and seedy world that is Sweeney Todd. The music is haunting and bone-chilling. The voices of Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury are second to none. A very young Victor Garber plays the role of the sailor Anthony and does so brilliantly. This highlights does not give you the chance to hear the most frightening song of all: Judge Turpin's self-beating at the sight of his ward Joanna. If you want to hear the entire recording, please get the full recording.

One of the darkest musicals of all time! My favorite piece Sondheim has ever written. A story of bloody revenge.

The story goes like this: A barber (Benjamin Barker) comes back from exile to find the man who sentenced him (Judge Turpin) raped his wife, supposedly pushed her into suicide and raised his daughter as his own, with the sick twist that now that his daughter is grown, he now wishes to covet as his wife. So he will not be found out, Barker assumes the name of SWEENEY TODD and sets up shop in his old profession as a barber above a meat pie shop run by Mrs. Lovitt (Angela Lansbery at her best). Lovitt has been obsessed in love with Todd ever sinse before he was exiled. Upon Lovitt telling him what happened to his lovely wife Lucy & his daughter Joanna, Todd swears vengance upon Judge Turpin and The Beattle (the men responsible for his exile and her demise). With an unquenchible thurst for blood, Todd slits the throats of his customers only to give their bodies for Mrs. Lovitt to make into meat pies and feed to her customers. Pretty sick, right? I thought so.

Brilliant and colorful characters like Tobias and Pirelli fill out the bizzar world in which the young sailor Anthony and Sweeney's daughter Joanna try to have a simple love story among all this madness.

The score is filled with dark and brilliant lyrical twists and motif's that haunt you into chills. I won't tell you how it ends, but this is one musical that you'll either love or hate. I think my opinion is obvious. This ominous score is definitely worth buying. The rich barritone voices, the lyrical role of Joanna and a spine tingling score is a must.

Like the reviewer before me, I agree with seeing the video with George Hern as Sweeney Todd across from Angela Lansbery. Hern's voice reverberates with a strength Cariou could not reach, but unfortunately they never made an audio recording with Hern.

Sondheim's other musicals include (rated from 1-10): Passion (4 - yes, I disagree with the Tony's), Assassins (! 8), A Little Night Music (7 - but it has the classic "Send in the Clowns"), Company (8), Side By Side By Sondheim (5), Sunday In the Park With George (9 - filled with melodical genius starring Mandy Patinkin & Bernadette Peters), Into The Woods (8 with Bernadette Peters), Merry Me A Little (5), Follies (4 - but I may not be old enough to appreciate this story about older, ex-vaudvillian couples), Merrily We Roll Along (7 - good songs, cool in the fact that it's told from end to beginning), Anyone Can Whistle (6) and wrote lyrics to such classics as Gypsy (7.5) and West Side Story (8). The again, that's just my opinions. Anything 8 and up is a musical theatre buff's must buy (plus Gypsy because everyone else seems to love it). Sunday In the Park is an aquired taste!

To give you an idea of other favorites of mine: Les Miserables, Children of Eden (my most recent fav.) and the music from The Secret Garden with Mandy Patinkin is a distant fourth. By the way, Sweeney is tied for first with Les Miserables.

No dout about it, this is Sondheim's greatest work. Personaly I say spend the exstra money to get the complete work though. It is with that recording where you go deeper into the the mind of Sweeney and everyone else including the touching ballad "Green Finch and Linet Bird" sung by Johanna. Trust me on this you will not regret it.

I would only recommend this highlights recording if you don't want to shell out the...[money] to buy the whole recording. It is only the highlights, so it only has 14 tracks. As for the recording itself, Angela Lansbury is amazing as the crazed Ms. Lovett and Len Cariou is very good as Sweeeney. Tracks that stand out to me are "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", "By the Sea", "Not While I'm Around", and the fabulous ballad, "Johanna". I truely recommend you buy the whole recording if you want to get the real Sweeney "experience".

The original Sweeney Todd cast can't be bettered. The sound transfer is pretty good, and the only problem is that some of the tracks from the show aren't on the CD.