Glad I spotted a review of this 3CD set, 3hrs 17mins, in the Feb issue of Gramophone,(pages 65/66), on the enterprising,ECM New Series label, neatly packed in an attractively designed cardboard box with a useful 48 page set of liner notes, English only.
Jed Distler's favourable review covers the launching of the Liaisons Project in 2007 and the commissioning by new music champion, pianist, Anthony de Mare, of contemporary composers to 're-imagine' Sondheim's songs:
"The resultant works largely consist of fantasias on Sondheim's melodic lines, harmonies and accompaniments..."
I've been a Sondheim aficionado since I made a beeline to Our Price records, New Bond Street, for an import LP of 'Company' in the early 70s - a golden age for me as I had lots of bread and butter TV roles at the time and accrued a substantial collection
of Sondheim original cast recordings.
Took me a bit of time to figure out the best way of listening to re-imagined interpretations and decided to listen to what was being played instead of struggling to identify the source or even remember the lyrics by tackling each CD as a separate entity. Each of the new composers; Bernadette Speach, Eve Beglarian, Duncan Sheik, Eric Rockwell,William Bolcom, Jake Heggie,Winton Marsalis, Fred Hersch, Thos Newman, Phil Kline, Derek Bermel, Kenji Bunch, Ricardo Lorenz, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Paul Moravec, Gabriel Cahane, Mason Bates, David Shire, Rodney Sharman, John Musto, Ricky Ian Gordon, Peter Golub, and Michael Daugherty; they somehow provided many surprises and a most refreshing spirit of delight en route!
A quick reference to the listing on the liner notes soon got me back on track if I began to lose direction. Producer and pianist, Anthony de Mare - a treat in his exquisite playing - adds on the back sleeve: "Each of the composers is having a conversation withMr Sondheim - with his material but also his influence, his musical wit and his craft." Sondheim's response? "To hear composers take my work and take it seriously...it's a thrill."
Fortuitously, I'm also reading the Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler (1981 but scandalously O/P) as I compile a main feature DVD: The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Big Sleep,
(1946). Got the giggles when I realised how Sondheim would have scored if he'd adapted the droll wit of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe for musical theatre
! Great films, too.
Jed Distler's favourable review covers the launching of the Liaisons Project in 2007 and the commissioning by new music champion, pianist, Anthony de Mare, of contemporary composers to 're-imagine' Sondheim's songs:
"The resultant works largely consist of fantasias on Sondheim's melodic lines, harmonies and accompaniments..."
I've been a Sondheim aficionado since I made a beeline to Our Price records, New Bond Street, for an import LP of 'Company' in the early 70s - a golden age for me as I had lots of bread and butter TV roles at the time and accrued a substantial collection
of Sondheim original cast recordings.
Took me a bit of time to figure out the best way of listening to re-imagined interpretations and decided to listen to what was being played instead of struggling to identify the source or even remember the lyrics by tackling each CD as a separate entity. Each of the new composers; Bernadette Speach, Eve Beglarian, Duncan Sheik, Eric Rockwell,William Bolcom, Jake Heggie,Winton Marsalis, Fred Hersch, Thos Newman, Phil Kline, Derek Bermel, Kenji Bunch, Ricardo Lorenz, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Paul Moravec, Gabriel Cahane, Mason Bates, David Shire, Rodney Sharman, John Musto, Ricky Ian Gordon, Peter Golub, and Michael Daugherty; they somehow provided many surprises and a most refreshing spirit of delight en route!
A quick reference to the listing on the liner notes soon got me back on track if I began to lose direction. Producer and pianist, Anthony de Mare - a treat in his exquisite playing - adds on the back sleeve: "Each of the composers is having a conversation withMr Sondheim - with his material but also his influence, his musical wit and his craft." Sondheim's response? "To hear composers take my work and take it seriously...it's a thrill."
Fortuitously, I'm also reading the Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler (1981 but scandalously O/P) as I compile a main feature DVD: The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Big Sleep,
(1946). Got the giggles when I realised how Sondheim would have scored if he'd adapted the droll wit of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe for musical theatre
! Great films, too.
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