Sweeney Todd: Highlights From The Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

Stephen Sondheim | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 18, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000WEDAEM
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,784 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. No Place Like London

2. The Worst Pies in London

3. Poor Thing

4. My Friends

5. Green Finch & Linnett Bird

6. Johanna

7. Pirelli's Miracle Elixir

8. The Contest

9. Wait

10. Pretty Women

11. Epiphany

12. A Little Priest

13. Johanna

14. God, That's Good!

15. By the Sea

16. Not While I m Around

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Stephen Sondheim's Grand-Guignol blend of opera and musical theater is a perfect match for director Tim Burton's gothic sensibility. The result of their encounter is a superb screen musical that, despite early fears from the show's fans, preserves most of the score ("The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" being the most egregious loss) and, perhaps even more importantly, its spirit (regular Sondheim orchestrator Jonathan Tunick did the new arrangements). And yes, Johnny Depp can sing. Granted, singing in a movie is easier than it is onstage, but still, Depp is at ease with the material, if a little thin-voiced. Helena Bonham Carter is a bit more problematic as Mrs. Lovett (there's a reason this character has been played by the likes of Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone on stage) and her take on "The Worst Pies in London" tries hard but lacks gleeful gusto (she fares better on "By the Sea"). More convincing are Sacha Baron Cohen, appropriately outlandish as Pirelli ("The Contest"), Jayne Wisener as Johanna ("Green Finch and Linnet Bird"), and Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin (a good duet with Depp on "Pretty Women"). Sondheim fans won't be disappointed, and the film should also bring new converts into his world. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Product Description

Original motion picture soundtrack to the 2007 film starring Johnny Depp. Director Tim Burton unveils the first major realization of a Stephen Sondheim work for the screen and it is a darkly masterful cinematic tour de force. The songs and score boldly propel the action with Depp making his singing debut as the falsely imprisoned barber transformed into a murderer by his thirst for revenge. Helena Bonham Carter serves as his pie-baking accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who finds a wickedly savory means to dispose of Todd's victims, and British star Alan Rickman is the scheming Judge Turpin. As with every actor in the film, including Sacha Baron Cohen as rival barber Pirelli, they perform all their own vocals to impressive effect, complemented by Jonathan Tunick's rich orchestrations.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A pointless release..get the "Deluxe" edition. January 5, 2008

By Mark Andrew Lawrence

Format:Audio CD

WHY would Nonesuch issue the film soundtrack of SWEENEY TODD in two single CD editions, this one containing most -but not all of the score in cheap generic packaging, and a deluxe edition that has all of it along with an 80-page booklet of lyrics.

Why would anyone waste his or her money on this shorter version?? This CD is missing the entire final sequence, the resolution to the story!

Get the deluxe edition, and if you can afford it, the complete original Broadway cast album to see how much was cut in the transition from stage to screen.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It is more acting than singing, but that works with the tale of Sweeney Todd December 26, 2007

By Lawrance M. Bernabo HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

As near as I can remember I never saw the "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street Deluxe - Complete Edition" CD when I ordered this "Highlights" CD, because I would have wanted the whole thing. The differences between the two are not that much: the complete version has the Beggar Woman's "Alms Alms" linking Johanna's "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" and Anthony's "Johanna"; the Beadle and the Judge cover "Ladies and Their Sensitivities" before "Pretty Woman"; and the biggest addition is the 10-minute plus "Final Scene." Several of the tracks are a bit longer on the full version as well, so there are those minor differences as well, but the difference is not as significant as what exists between the 2-disc original Broadway cast album and its single disc of highlights. The irony is that I do not get to see the movie version any time soon because the company that manages the local theaters decided Paramount wanted too big of a slice of the ticket price, which is why the one movie I most wanted to see during the holiday break is not showing within 100 miles of where I live. So I have to content myself with the highlights soundtrack (at least until I track down a way of downloading the other tracks).

All things considered "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is my favorite musical, although it is really more of an opera. I read one review of the film that said nobody was going to think that Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter would be the finest singers ever to essay the roles, but that their performances were perfectly suited for the big screen (in contrast to the Broadway stage). When I first saw "Sweeney Todd" performed on stage by a touring company the role of Mrs. Lovett was played by June Havok as in "Baby June," the big sister of Gypsy Rose Lee (see "Gypsy"). Havok's coming timing was honed in Vaudeville before Stephen Sondheim was even born, but she sang the role at least a whole octave lower than Angela Landesbury. Consequently, I am open to the idea that Depp is more of a tenor than a baritone. I also had occasion to direct a one-act version of the musical, without the music (change away a few of the rhymes here and there and the songs work as dialogue quite well). So when you listen to the opening track and do not hear anybody singing "Attend the tail of Sweeney Todd," it is a bit disconcerting, but it does set the tone for the drama to follow, even if much of what is being said is being sung.

For me the strength of the show comes at the end of the first act, which concludes with "Pretty Women," "Epiphany," and "A Little Priest," and those are the strongest part of this highlight album as well. Of course, hearing Depp growl his invitations to gentlemen to take a seat in his barber's chair only makes me what to see the movie even more, and I feel that the album will work much better as a reminder of what you see on screen rather than standing on its own merit as a soundtrack album. The same thing applies to Bonham Carter, whose "Worst Pies in London," "Poor Thing," "Wait," and "By the Sea" only reinforce the idea that these performances must be seen and not just heard (I really anticipate this being one of those musicals where you would rather listen to the DVD rather than the CD when you want to hear the songs again). There is little choice to judge Jamie Campbell Bower's Anthony Hope or Jayne Wisener's Johanna, because the primary focus here is clearly on Depp and Bonham Carter, with young Ed Sanders shinning as Toby on the album's concluding track, "Not While I'm Around" (putting him at the younger end of the adolescent spectrum was a good move). We only get a taste of Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin and Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli, but it is enough to know that Rickman is matching Depp in emphasizing the drama over the vocals and that Cohen knows full well he is stealing his scene as Pirelli. Did I mention that I really want to see this movie?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty well done. December 30, 2007

By Yoiko

Format:Audio CD

Most people who listen to this are very surprised by how good the singing was. I like this album, but if you're going to get it, spring for the full soundtrack. This one is just the highlights.