Proms Chamber Music 5: A Sondheim Cabaret (17.08.15)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

13:00
Cadogan Hall


Kitty Whately, Siân Phillips, Jamie Parker and Richard Sisson perform a cabaret-style celebration to mark Stephen Sondheim's 85th birthday

Good Thing Going (from 'Merrily We Roll Along')
Everybody Says Don't (from 'Anyone Can Whistle')
I'm Calm (from 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum')
Hello Little Girl (from 'Into the Woods')
Send in the Clowns (from 'A Little Night Music')
Fear No More (from 'The Frogs')
Too Many Mornings(from 'Follies')
Barcelona (from 'Company')
Sunday in the Park with George (from 'Sunday in the Park with George')
Liaisons (from 'A Little Night Music')
By the Sea (from 'Sweeney Todd')
Take Me to the World (from 'Evening Primrose')
Rain on the Roof (from 'Follies'')
Happiness (from 'Passion')
Losing My Mind (from 'Follies')
Sunday (from 'Sunday in the Park with George')
Goodbye for Now (from 'Reds')

Kitty Whately, mezzo-soprano
Siân Philips, vocalist
Jamie Parker, vocalist
Richard Sisson, piano

Stephen Sondheim is one of the greats of musical theatre - legendary for the sharp wit of his lyrics and his darkly distinctive scores for musicals including Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods and Company. We celebrate his 85th birthday with a musical trawl through the very best of Sondheim's back catalogue. Formerly the piano-playing half of cabaret duo Kit and the Widow, Richard Sisson joins Kitty Whately, Siân Phillips and Jamie Parker to bring a touch of Broadway to Cadogan Hall.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Possibly I might have added a smidgen of Bernstein to celebrate Sondheim's diversity.

[Serial_Apologist]

Wouldn't this have once just been considered a pop concert, unsuitable for Proms programming?

- Just setting the cat among the pigeons!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Wouldn't this have once just been considered a pop concert, unsuitable for Proms programming?

- Just setting the cat among the pigeons!

Cooo Cooo Cooo

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Wouldn't this have once just been considered a pop concert, unsuitable for Proms programming?

- Just setting the cat among the pigeons!

Actually, whilst some might have so "considered", others would have pointed out that - just as Sullivan, the Leipzig Conservatoire student of Moscheles and Reinecke, used to get his regular shindigs at the Proms, so Sondheim, Williams College student of Robert Barrow and Milton Babbitt, deserves his.

Purrr Purrr Purrr

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is there any reason why it should not be broadcast on Radio 2? There was a time when the "lighter" concerts were allocated to that station.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Is there any reason why it should not be broadcast on Radio 2? There was a time when the "lighter" concerts were allocated to that station.

Were the G&S and "Viennese Evenings" ever so programmed? Was there any reason why not?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

(When I say "ever so programmed" I mean "ever so-programmed", not "ever-so programmed"!)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Were the G&S and "Viennese Evenings" ever so programmed? Was there any reason why not?

Yes, I think that was the case. The second half of the Last Night was also on Radio 2/Light Programme.

[VodkaDilc]

This was a wonderfully civilised way to spend an hour or so. I had not realised what a pleasant venue Cadogan Hall is - this was my first visit. The programme was cleverly devised and the two main singers were both on excellent form, though it was a pity that the technical people were so slow in rectifying Kitty Whately's amplification problems. Jamie Parker in particular came over as a very versatile performer. I felt that Sian Philips's contribution was fairly minor and that her modest vocal ability put her in a poor light alongside the others, but then I heard someone saying that 'she stole the show', so it's all a matter of opinion.

I wonder how it came over on the radio. So much of the appeal relied on the visual aspect; if ever there was a Prom which deserved to be televised, it was this one.

[Dphillipson]

Broadcast Monday at noonish, this concert has not (yet) been available to hear on demand. Should we suppose this is for some copyright reason? (The web page http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065x436 carries the usual slugline: "Available shortly after broadcast.")

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Broadcast Monday at noonish, this concert has not (yet) been available to hear on demand. Should we suppose this is for some copyright reason? (The web page http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065x436 carries the usual slugline: "Available shortly after broadcast.")

Not copyright - underneath the slugline there is (now) a comment:

Due to technical difficulties with the sound at this concert, the full audio is temporarily unavailable. It will be made available as soon as possible.

[Stanley Stewart]

Proms Chamber Music 5: A Sondheim Cabaret (17.08.15)

Heard today's repeat of last Monday's 85th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim which I switched- off on its first broadcast during a botched recording, starting with Good Thing Going - where the mics picked up the piano accompaniment but left soloist Kitty Whately vocally recessed on the south side of Sloane Square! We were told that today's broadcast was an 'edited' repeat, albeit no apology, - and it was an improvement - but left me wondering why an OB in a regular setting-could be so technically inept after the promises and cost of Media City!

However, I was glad to record today's 'edited' replacement as I particularly wanted to hear some fresh talent tackle the testing ground of Sondheim's output as my conversion became instant at Side By Side By Sondheim at the Mermaid Theatre, in 1976, before the miscellany transferred to Wyndham's Th, hence Broadway, with the original cast of Millicent Martin, David Kernan and, particularly, Julia McKenzie. My shelves well stocked with various recordings and DVDs.

Jamie Parker, vocalist, is a real find for the musical theatre and it was touching to hear Sian Phillips repeat her solo Liaisons, (A Little Night Music), with instant reminders of the NT production, circa 1995, and Judi Dench's heart-rending, Send in the Clowns. I was also charmed by the musical arrangement of this number with saxophonist, Anthony Brown - apologies if I've misspelt his name - leading the ensemble.

Happy 85th birthday to Stephen Sondheim and a relevant emoticon from me, too, as I can only repeat Hamlet's, "I follow thee" in approx five months time.

[bluestateprommer]

Heard today's repeat of last Monday's 85th birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim which I switched- off on its first broadcast during a botched recording, starting with Good Thing Going - where the mics picked up the piano accompaniment but left soloist Kitty Whately vocally recessed on the south side of Sloane Square! We were told that today's broadcast was an 'edited' repeat, albeit no apology, - and it was an improvement - but left me wondering why an OB in a regular setting-could be so technically inept after the promises and cost of Media City!

However, I was glad to record today's 'edited' replacement as I particularly wanted to hear some fresh talent tackle the testing ground of Sondheim's output as my conversion became instant at Side By Side By Sondheim at the Mermaid Theatre, in 1976, before the miscellany transferred to Wyndham's Th, hence Broadway, with the original cast of Millicent Martin, David Kernan and, particularly, Julia McKenzie. My shelves well stocked with various recordings and DVDs.

Jamie Parker, vocalist, is a real find for the musical theatre and it was touching to hear Sian Phillips repeat her solo Liaisons, (A Little Night Music), with instant reminders of the NT production, circa 1995, and Judi Dench's heart-rending, Send in the Clowns. I was also charmed by the musical arrangement of this number with saxophonist, Anthony Brown - apologies if I've misspelt his name - leading the ensemble.

Happy 85th birthday to Stephen Sondheim and a relevant emoticon from me, too, as I can only repeat Hamlet's, "I follow thee" in approx five months time.

It was a shame about the botched relay of "Good Thing Going" at the start, for the radio audience, but hopefully those in the hall were well satisfied. Even if Petroc showed more than absolutely necessary (if genuinely sincere) over-enthusiasm in his intros, pianist Richard Sisson wasn't that far behind at times in that regard. But he did preside over the musical proceedings quite well, with nice contributions from Anthony Brown on solo sax. Agreed that both Jamie Parker and Kitty Whately did quite well, with judicious deployment of American accents where suitable, e.g. the numbers from Follies and Company. It was particularly interesting to hear the extended 'scena' version of "Too Many Mornings" from the former show. However, the use of their normal accents in the title track to Sunday in the Park with George was quite appropriate. I would agree that Sian Phillips sounded a bit recessed in her solo number "Liaisons", and kind of got vocally drowned in the ensemble numbers, but never mind (also curious that the key for "Sunday" was transposed, presumably to accommodate SP).

I also have to correct myself in the earlier thread on the Sinatra Prom, where I'd commented that I'd never heard Jamie Parker before. I was quite wrong, as JP was Hal in the Globe Theatre's production of Henry IV, both parts, which I saw back in 2010 (in one day, my last day in London that year).