BaL 8.03.14 - Bernstein: West Side Story

[Bryn]

Thanks. I had no idea he didn't orchestrate Rhapsody in Blue........very interesting.

Grofé worked from Gerswin's score for two pianos.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

At the first performance, Gershwin hadn't even completed the piano part (which he was playing).

[Bryn]

I think this might through rather more light on the matter.

[waldo]

I think this might through rather more light on the matter.

Thanks, Bryn (and EA for further information). Very interesting. I've listened to Gershwin off and on for years, but for some reason I have never taken the time to think or read too much about it.

[BBMmk2]

I think this might through rather more light on the matter.

thanks for that link Bryn! Amazing where us boarders tread the internet to look up various topics!!

[doversoul1]

It was interesting to listen to but was this a Building a Library? It was after all ‘Who can come closest the original?’ What is the point of BaL when there is the original?

The film version was discarded at the beginning. The composer may not have liked it but can it be a reason for leaving out undoubtedly the best known version completely from the comparison? The recording exists, and at least to me, Cool and I feel Pretty are placed exactly in the right place, and America is the dance on the rooftop both boys and girls singing. It can be argued that the film version is disqualified because the three main characters were not singing but if we are listening to the work as a CD, does that matter?

For the same reasons, I don’t think musical is a suitable subject for BaL. As has been suggested, this should have been a discussion of why/how the original performance made the work so great.

[gradus]

Good to hear from Mr Seckerson again. Such a pity his excellent series on musical theatre (Stage and Screen?) was stopped a few years ago. He really knows his stuff.

[verismissimo]

Good to hear from Mr Seckerson again. Such a pity his excellent series on musical theatre (Stage and Screen?) was stopped a few years ago. He really knows his stuff.

I agree. And I thought he made the best of a difficult job.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... at least to me, Cool and I feel Pretty are placed exactly in the right place

In the film, yes. But in the Theatre, where the interval follows the deaths of Riff and Bernardo, the Lerner and Loewe "banality" of the I Feel Pretty Waltz that opens part two so emphasizes the dramatic irony of Maria's continued unrealistic hopes for the future. Just imagine how the first audiences must have felt, going back into the auditorium wondering what was going to happen next, perhaps expecting a continuation of the sort of Music that appeared in the Rumble, only to get POM_POM_POM Dadadadadda di da Dah_daDah!

(And Cool is sung by Riff before the fight - the tension and edginess, the mixture of bravado and terror is just right for that moment in the score; better, I feel (and I can see why Bernstein was so pissed off when this was ignored in the film) than the mood after the killing of Riff (where, on stage, the gangs are rudderless, trying to sort out and reorganize their pecking order).

[Mary Chambers]

I don't like West Side Story whoever performs it. There, I've said it.

[amateur51]

I enjoyed this BaL principally because Mr Ed kept himself & his knowledge in check - so often he tends to wave his knowledge around like a giant gingham tablecloth lest you should miss it. I'm glad that he overcame his status as a Bernstein groupie to be able to tell the truth about Lennie's motives for recording his operatic version which is truly awful. Credit to Seckerson, he said so too - such unpleasant bullying of Carreras on the DVD of the making of the recording.

[Alison]

Totally agree Ams. I thought Ed was on home territory today and succeeded in making me like the piece more than I thought I did.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The film version was discarded at the beginning. The composer may not have liked it but can it be a reason for leaving out undoubtedly the best known version completely from the comparison? The recording exists, and at least to me, Cool and I feel Pretty are placed exactly in the right place, and America is the dance on the rooftop both boys and girls singing. It can be argued that the film version is disqualified because the three main characters were not singing but if we are listening to the work as a CD, does that matter?

My thoughts exactly, and I think Marnie Nixon was the finest singer ever to sing the part of Maria.

But I thought the dismissal of the truly dreadful Hayley Westenra version was entirely appropriate. I suppose we should be thankful she wasn't teamed up with Russell Watson and Charlotte Church to create the WSS from Hell.

[doversoul1]

In the film, yes. But in the Theatre, where the interval follows the deaths of Riff and Bernardo, the Lerner and Loewe "banality" of the I Feel Pretty Waltz that opens part two so emphasizes the dramatic irony of Maria's continued unrealistic hopes for the future. Just imagine how the first audiences must have felt, going back into the auditorium wondering what was going to happen next, perhaps expecting a continuation of the sort of Music that appeared in the Rumble, only to get POM_POM_POM Dadadadadda di da Dah_daDah!

(And Cool is sung by Riff before the fight - the tension and edginess, the mixture of bravado and terror is just right for that moment in the score; better, I feel (and I can see why Bernstein was so pissed off when this was ignored in the film) than the mood after the killing of Riff (where, on stage, the gangs are rudderless, trying to sort out and reorganize their pecking order).

If my first encounter with the work had been the stage version, I’d be saying exactly the same thing as you are, but mine was the film version and the film West side Story is no convenient substitute in order to reach a wider audience but a great musical film (if not the greatest) in its own right irrespective of the composer’s opinion. More to the point, without the film, the work would not have become one of the best known musicals ever made.

I could go on for pages about the film but my point on this thread is that a musical is not a suitable subject for BaL because a musical has the original production, including a film version, which makes comparison almost redundant. Did we really need to listen for nearly an hour to find out that the first choice was the original production? Mind you, I had rather wicked fun listening to how some people managed to make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse.

[Nick Armstrong]

such unpleasant bullying of Carreras on the DVD of the making of the recording.

... but the beggar never got it right! Listening again to his version of 'Somthing's Coming', it's rhythmically an MFU (as someone taught me today on another thread)... Not his fault, because he's monumentally mis-cast and he just ain't got rhythm - but at the same time I rather understood Lennie's frustration during those filmed sessions, and still do.

I found this BAL a bit of a waste of time, tbh. I listened with a finger on the fast forward button - it seemed to be about illustrating the various 'car crashes' among the paltry recordings list, and selecting the inevitable as first choice.

Next!