Originally posted by Beef Oven!
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Yep obviously I was aware it was a live relay . Thing is over the years I've seen dozens of live musicals where the pit band have really swung and the performers have mastered the Broadway and West End musical idiom e.g Follies at the Olivier last year, Merrily We Roll along and Sunday at the Park With George at the Menier and last year's American in Paris at the Dominion where they found a world class ballet dancer who could also sing ( and act ) He was in last years John Wilson Oklahoma prom which was so much more strongly cast than last night . Ditto JW's Kiss Me Kate . There are so many unbelievably talented triple threats around at the moment I just think they could have done better last night. Though I still enjoyed it all and Maria was absolutely excellent ... -
I am currently listening to Act 2 of the John Owen Edwards recording. What a breath of fresh air after the stilted orchestral presentation last night. O.k., some of the voices are a tad too English, but it jerks a tear far more readily than did WIlson and co.
Is anyone here familiar with the Schermerhorn on Naxos? If so, comment would be welcome.Comment
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Hysterical Dialogue and Singing
I love this musical so much and i'm always very keen to hear a new performance but as I listen to last night's version on iPlayer, I cannot help but be struck how hysterically the dialogue is shouted out, as if we cannot understand the emotions portrayed. In fact, even some of the numbers i've listened to so far all have that accentuated style that I first noticed in "Les Miserables", where nothing is sung subtly and everything has to be forced beyond any reasonable measure. Because of this, I would really have liked to see this broadcast on TV, so I could make up my mind even further. However, as I listen now, i'm almost deafened and battered into submission by the incessant shouting.Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostComment
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Well, I (for one) enjoyed it, though I do agree with some of the criticisms here. Seek out the R3 'Building a Library' feature, still available for download. So many dissapointing recordings, including Bernstein's own.Comment
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Just listened to the Owen Edwards. Good performance with plenty of life, overall good if not outstanding soloists. Then I follwed up with the RPO Wordsworth with Michael Ball and Barbara Bonney. All very good, with the exception that I cannot really take to Michael Ball’s voice - his habit of sliding for notes instead of hitting them and that Elvis-like vibrato, and his ‘Something’s Coming’ reall falls short - but then few versions match the clipped perfection of Streisand on the Broadway Album. Barbara Bonney on the other hand - lovely voice, and catches the Maria style perfectly. Then we had a nice lively America and a good Officer Krupke. Next on to Schermerhorn, and if time a bit of Stan Kenton and possibly Oscar Peterson.Originally posted by Bryn View PostComment
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Hm. Agree entirely with the comments about Wilson's staid conducting of the whole thing. WSS was originally in the hands of a conductor (Max Goberman) who was a Haydn and Vivaldi specialist, but he was also a musician (as were his players) who knew exactly how to give the score the rhythmic energy that was so depressingly lacking from most of last night. Some terrific solo singing from Maria, so it wasn't all sub-par. On the other hand, the treatment of the dialogue - and the delivery of what wasn't cut already - left a lot to be desired. I've seen so many wonderful performances of this show over the years - best of all Jerome Robbins's only new production of it, at the Minskoff on Broadway in 1980 with a staggeringly good pit band conducted by John DeMain - and another memorable performance at of all places the Théâtre du Châtelet - and last night's didn't approach that kind of experience. Also, though I didn't see it, the orchestra sounded far too big - and in the excellent interval discussion David Benedict said there were 12 cellos playing. So the whole thing was unduly bloated as well as rhythmically stodgy. Disappointing.Comment
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Therein lies the dirty little secret about JW's conducting. In everything that I've heard him conduct on R3, it pretty much always hovers in the range of straightforwardly unidiosyncratic to staid. This Proms "West Side Story Cantata" (which this Prom effectively was, in its presentation) started well, with the orchestra allowed to shine without JW getting in the music's way. But JW didn't really add much, which he really doesn't as a general rule either.Originally posted by makropulos View Post
I comment on this very belatedly to note that the first of the Christmas-time Proms repeats will be, no surprise, the West Side Story Prom, on Christmas night:
OTOH, the next night, Boxing Day night, the ENO production of Porgy and Bess is scheduled, where JW got quite a bit of praise:
Here, I can imagine that his general approach would work well, to allow the singers to shine.Last edited by bluestateprommer; 10-12-18, 00:36.Comment
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Not really the Proms but I sought a link:
Jonny Mac would say the equivalent of you’ve got to be joking:
Lenny’s grave will be rocking!
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Not sure whether it's been mentioned earlier on this thread, but Georgia Mann mentioned that Steven Spielberg is 'remaking' 'West Side Story'. I think she added 'good luck with that'..... I'm not sure what Mr S and colleagues can add to the original movie.
(Talking of pointless remakes: do we REALLY need the new 'War Of the Worlds' that started on BBC 1 last night?)Comment
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Very rarely do remakes improve on the originals. I dread to think what singers they will get and how they will pull the tunes around!Originally posted by LMcD View PostComment
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Sorry to dissent but I think he could improve on the movie considerably. Even though it’s overall a good film I do think Natalie Wood as Maria is miscast (she had her role sung by Marni Nixon) and the Tony has a bit of a charisma bypass. Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn are unlikely to be surpassed though . Given Steven Spielberg's Track record I would be surprised if he doesn’t produce a very cinematic version as opposed to the sixties movie , which despite the fantastic music, choreography and some performances feels a bit stagey. For copyright reasons (see another thread ) I don’t think they’ll be able to muck around with the music much and I think I’m right in saying that the Robbins estate is very fussy about changes to the choreography but of course in Hollywood money is the real arbiter. Spielberg doesn’t make many duds . Just hope it’s not as long as War Horse...Comment
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