BaL 8.03.14 - Bernstein: West Side Story

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Saturday 8th March 2014 at 9.30 a.m.
Edward Seckerson with a personal recommendation from recordings of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.

Available versions:-

Kiri Te Kanawa, Joes Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne, Bernstein

Marnie Nixon, Rita Moreno/Betty Wand, Jimmy Bryant, Johnny Green (Original soundtrack recording)

Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence, Mickey Calin, Ken Le Roy, Chita Rivers, Marilyn Cooper, Reri Grist, Eddie Roll, Carmen Gutierrez, Elizabeth Taylor, Grover Dale, Max Goberman (Original Broadway Cast recording)

Josefina Scaglione, Matt Cavenaugh, Karen Olivo, Cody Green, Jennifer Sanchez, Nicholas Barasch, Curtis Holbrook, Patrick Vaccanello (New Broadway Cast Recording)

Hayley Westernra, Vittorio Grigolo, Connie Fisher

London Theatre Orchestra and Cast

Marianne Cooke, Robert Dean, Mike Eldred, Betsi Morrison, Michael San Giovanni, Nashville SO, Kenneth Schermerhorn

Paul Manuel, Caoline O-Connor, Tinuke Olafimihann, Nicholas Warnford, Sally Burgess, National SO, John Owen Edwards

Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Julie Andrews, Neil Diamond, Andy Williams (compilation)



Jazz versions:

Stan Kenton Jazz Orchestra

Oscar Peterson Trio

[Nick Armstrong]

This task must have been a relief after the rigours of e.g. Beethoven 7, Alpie

Sadly though this will be rather a missable BAL for me

[Black Swan]

Yes a very short list it will be interesting. What the choice will be. I have:

Kiri Te Kanawa, Joes Carreras, Tatiana Troyanos, Kurt Ollmann, Marilyn Horne, Bernstein, which I feel is a bit to Operatic.

Marnie Nixon, Rita Moreno/Betty Wand, Jimmy Bryant, Johnny Green (Original soundtrack recording), which is probably my favorite.

Jazz Version:

Oscar Peterson Trio

[BBMmk2]

I will be missing this one.

[verismissimo]

This for me is the best musical ever written! It's such a pity that the singers on the Bernstein recording (which I have) are so terrible. Totally missing the mark stylistically.

It doesn't look a strong field, not only in its brevity.

[Serial_Apologist]

This for me is the best musical ever written! It's such a pity that the singers on the Bernstein recording (which I have) are so terrible. Totally missing the mark stylistically.

It doesn't look a strong field, not only in its brevity.

I agree. Strange there's no mention of the Buddy Rich Big Band's recording. Or Ruddy Bitch, as some spoonerist once called him.

[cloughie]

This for me is the best musical ever written! It's such a pity that the singers on the Bernstein recording (which I have) are so terrible. Totally missing the mark stylistically.

It doesn't look a strong field, not only in its brevity.

I agree with you to some extent - not Careeras best project but Kiri OK and Tatiana Troyanos in 'America' was super! As far as the compilation goes - Streisand's Something's Coming is a brilliant arrangement.

[Black Swan]

[QUOTE=verismissimo;381266]This for me is the best musical ever written! It's such a pity that the singers on the Bernstein recording (which I have) are so terrible. Totally missing the mark stylistically.

I totally agree. This is why for me the original cast recording is my favorite.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

This for me is the best musical ever written! It's such a pity that the singers on the Bernstein recording (which I have) are so terrible. Totally missing the mark stylistically.

With the possible exception of Guys & Dolls, I share your enthusiasm - and disappointment in Bernstein's own recording ('tho' the less stellar names - and Marilyn Horne - sing and act the big names off the floor; and the "making of" documentary is worth seeing). The "aging, weary maestro" betrayed the urgency of his younger self's masterpiece, seeking to persuade others that the work is really an opera. Given this operatic treatment, it's clear that the creators' original idea of a work for (unknown) young actors who could sing is the only way the piece works.

It doesn't look a strong field, not only in its brevity.

There is/was also a version conducted by Barry Wordsworth with Michael Ball and Barbara Bonney, which IIRC doesn't really widen the field - and a double CD set from "Stage and Screen" which included every note written by Bernstein and was very well sung throughout. This seems to be NLA - a pity, it would be a real contender.

(And isn't André Previn's Jazz version not worthy of inclusion with Brubeck's and Kenton's?)

[Flosshilde]

Sadly though this will be rather a missable BAL for me

At least we might learn how to pronounce the composer's name

[Black Swan]

Flosshilde,

Ha, ha, this is always a big thing, especially in the US. Is the pronunciation, Berntstine or Bernsteen? The same with James Levine who pronounces his name LeVine not Leveen.

J

[Flosshilde]

See here -

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?10607-Pronunciation-of-musicians-names

[amateur51]

Goodo, this not only looks like an inexpensive BaL but an opportunity for a lie-in too

[Flosshilde]

You mean you don't usually listen in bed, with Jeeves bringing your morning tea and toast?

[doversoul1]

I don’t understand the thinking behind this BaL. You could compare and discuss different effects between the original stage production and the screen version, as a number of songs are set in different scenes but what is there to ‘compare’ between the 'original' screen soundtrack and a jazz version, or the studio recording of the operatic version beyond a personal taste? We could compare various singers’ recordings of Tonight, for instance but that’s hardly a job for Building a Library.

To most of us, if not all of us, West Side Story is a musical with Jerome Robbins’s choreograph. Without the memory of the dance, I am not sure if the entire work as one piece can stand up to serious listening. Some years ago, Joshua Bell played a violin version at a Prom. I found it quite boring (I know this is not the quite the same thing but I think it tells something about the music). I don’t think musical and opera are the same thing when it comes to discussing the music. Pity, I like BaL even of a work I don’t know but I'll miss this one.

[ed.] Unless the comparison is between various stage versions but are there enough recordings?