Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enduring Masterpiece, June 6, 2009
I've yet to see this revival of "West Side Story," but if this beautifully produced, powerfully performed album is any indication, the show is as marvelous as everyone says it is. I have to admit that I'm one of those who's taken this landmark musical for granted over the years. "Oh yes, it's 'West Side Story,' been there done that." But listening to this CD, one is reminded WHY it's become a part of all of our lives since it's debut some 40 years ago. Perhaps there have been better sung versions, but I can't recall one that's made such a strong case for this work's continued validity. Chalk it up, certainly, to the combined genius of Sondheim and Bernstein, but also, this time around, to a young, vibrant cast that seems to have been born to play these roles. Simply put, Matt Cavenaugh and Josefina Scaglione ARE Tony and Maria. Regardless of what one may think of their voices (Cavenaugh's is a tad nasal, Scaglione's a bit thin at the top), the honesty, passion and intensity of the performances cannot be denied. Some here have found their spoken dialogue unconvincing, but I find it highly effective and touching, due in great part to the authenticity of Scaglione's accent. To hear her say how she'll never joke about love again is to relive one's memories of youthful longing and the ways in which one's first love defines all others. As for the supporting cast, it's uniformly terrific. Karen Olivo, as Anita, miraculously makes as strong an impression as have her predecessors, which is saying a lot.
Of course, the new Spanish lyrics are the big news here, and while I never found them a distraction, I'm not sure they serve as great a purpose as they were meant to. (Particularly when the Sharks, in the "Tonight" quintet, still sing the word "tonight" in English.) Perhaps it has more of an impact in live performance. That said, Lin-Manuel Miranda seems to have done a terrific, if not literal, translation. (Sondheim's only demand was that Miranda retain his rhyme schemes.) When Anita sings "cabron...Americano," it actually has more impact that simply "a boy like that..." Personally, I did find Tony's singing in Spanish during the finale a trifle politically correct; it's doubtful he would know enough of the language to do a spontaneous translation as he's dying. On the other hand, the decision to have a boy soprano sing "Somewhere" is an inspired one. Like so much else on this remarkably successful recording, it demands of us that we listen with new ears. For those willing to do so, the rewards will be immense; a very moving reminder of why "West Side Story" is going to be with us for as long as its source material.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must to see and listen, August 8, 2009
I bought this the next day after I watched the broadway show. The studio-quality recording is much better than live. There is no discount tickets of WSS as of July 2009. I bought them from ticketmaster two weeks before. WSS is full of dancing, even the gang fight was performed in a dance which added the uniqueness of the masterpiece. Bernstein is the genius behind the scene by mixing classical, jazz and latin music. Almost all kind of percussions such as timpani, xylophone, wood blocks, conga, etc were used. I don't understand Spanish, but the Spanish songs could be the main attraction for me to buy the music. I stopped buying CD-format anymore, but for this I need the print-out libretto (lyrics). Anyway it's only $3 more than the MP3 download.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
If it ain't broke - - - I agree, October 6, 2009
West Side Story came out the year I graduated prep school. I saw it on Broadway at the Winter Garden in August 1960, which was an experience that still resonates within me. I love the show and I love the music, and it struck me as a bit unusual that there is such a diversity of opinion in the reviews here at Amazon.
Not wanting the whole CD particularly, I downloaded two songs, Tonight and One Hand, One Heart, in an attempt to evaluate the leads, and I have to concur with the critics that find fault. Scaglione's voice does not have the quality I would expect in a lead of a show of this magnitude. Not only does it thin as the pitch goes higher, she seems to have trouble hitting notes right, and her vibrato comes when it detracts from the song. I assume she must be miked for the production as I can't see that voice filling a theater. When I saw the show, Lawrence and Rivera had departed, but the woman doing Maria had a fine voice, and once I accepted that she wasn't Carol Lawrence, I was totally engrossed in the show.
Cavenaugh comes across better, but his voice is nasal and he sings tentatively as if he was not comfortable with the part. There is a sense of urgency, a tension, in many of the WSS songs and this was particularly lacking in Tonight.
It seemed to me, particularly in Tonight, that there was much more orchestra than was needed. The OCR sounds as if they used the pit band and this track sounds like they have the whole symphony and it dominates when the singers should be front and center. Perhaps this is just poor engineering and mixing. I wonder also about the tempi. It seems to me they are slow.
A reviewer mentioned that instead of using the cast to snap their fingers, an electronic device is used. That probably says more about current performers than needs to be said and the use of Spanish is a bad idea. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but it seems to me, in trying to make it better, they broke it. There apparently isn't a Jerome Robbins to get it done right.
One question: I would love to see the original production, if only to see the dances, even if it wasn't the whole show. Is any of it available on DVD?
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