South Pacific (1986 London Studio Cast) [CAST RECORDING]

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (Artist), Jose Carreras (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000026F0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,552 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mis-cast and misconceived!, October 17, 2000

By	Mark Andrew Lawrence "Theatre Reviewer" (Toronto) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very worthwhile album, December 15, 1999

By	Rod Tierman (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

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.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars SOUTH PACIFIC in a hit-and-miss curate's egg, January 16, 2004

By	Yi-Peng (Singapore) - See all my reviews

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.