WGBH Radio WGBH Radio theclassicalstation.org

Bernstein: Wonderful Town / Rattle, Criswell, Mcdonald, Etc


Release Date: 09/14/1999 
Label:  Emi Classics   Catalog #: 56753   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Leonard Bernstein
Performer:  Audra McDonald,  Thomas Hampson,  Brent Barrett,  Rodney Gilfry,   ... 
Conductor:  Simon Rattle
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Voices,  Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 7 Mins. 

CD not available: This title is currently only available as an MP3 download.  
CD not available
MP3 Available
BUY 
MP3:  $7.99 Add to Cart




Be the first to review this title

Notes and Editorial Reviews

Most musicals today are subjected to endless rewrites, tryouts, and more rewrites. When Leonard Bernstein and his lyricist cohorts Betty Comden and Adolph Green were called in to create from scratch a new score for Wonderful Town, they had one month before previews. And deliver the goods they did! It's a bright score, packed to the rafters with jazzy numbers that haven't lost one iota of their jazzy punch. Opera singers usually oversing Broadway roles, like Rodney Gilfry does as the Guide, First Editor, and Frank. Thomas Hampson, though, admirably scales down his instrument for "Quiet Girl", and Audra McDonald's Eileen is ravishing, secure, and involving. Imagine Rosalind Russell's spunky Ruth channeled through someone who can Read more really sing, and you've got Kim Criswell. She has a whacking good time growling her way through "One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man". The ensemble numbers have been studiously rehearsed, perhaps to a fault. Simon Rattle's Birmingham forces swing well enough (their swaggering "Conga" is a case in point), but lack the rough and tumble edginess of the 1953 original cast recording. Broadway aficionados, though, will certainly want this release for its extra music, excellent notes, full texts, and vivid engineering.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Wonderful Town by Leonard Bernstein
Performer:  Audra McDonald (Soprano), Thomas Hampson (Baritone), Brent Barrett (Voice),
Rodney Gilfry (Baritone), Kim Criswell (Soprano), Robert Fardell (Voice),
Karl Daymond (Baritone), Timothy Robinson (Tenor), Lynton Atkinson (Tenor),
Michael Dore (Voice), Simone Sauphanor (Voice), Melanie Marshall (Mezzo Soprano),
Kimberly Cobb (Voice)
Conductor:  Simon Rattle
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Voices,  Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1952; USA 
 Date of Recording: 06/1998 
Venue:  EMI Abbey Road Studio No. 1, London 
Length: 66 Minutes 46 Secs. 
Language: English 
Notes: Orchestrated: Don Walker
Arranged: Lehman Engel 

Sound Samples

Wonderful Town: Overture
Wonderful Town: Christopher Street (Guide/Tourists/Villagers/Violet)
Wonderful Town: Ohio (Ruth/Eileen)
Wonderful Town: Conquering New York (Ruth/Chorus)
Wonderful Town: One Hundred Easy Ways To Lose a Man (Ruth)
Wonderful Town: What a waste (Baker/ Ruth/First Editor/Second Editor)
Wonderful Town: A Little Bit in Love (Eileen)
Wonderful Town: Pass the Football (Wreck)
Wonderful Town: Conversation Piece (Eileen/Franck/Ruth/Chick)
Wonderful Town: A Quiet Girl (Baker/men's chorus)
Wonderful Town: Conga! (Cadet/Ruth/Cadets)
Wonderful Town: Entr'acte
Wonderful Town: My Darlin' Eileen (Solo cop [Lonigan]/Men's chorus/First Cop/Second Cop/Third Cop/Eileen)
Wonderful Town: Swing! (Villager/Ruth/Chorus/First Man/Second Man/First Girl/Second Girl)
Wonderful Town: Quiet Incidental (Eileen/Ruth)
Wonderful Town: Ohio Reprise (Eileen/Ruth)
Wonderful Town: It's Love (Eileen/Baker/Chorus)
Wonderful Town: Ballet at the Village Vortex
Wonderful Town: The Wrong Note Rag (Ruth/Eileen/Chorus)
Wonderful Town: It's Love Reprise - Finale Act Two (Eileen/Baker/Ruth/Chorus)

Customer Reviews

Be the first to review this title
Review This Title
Review This Title Share on Facebook