AISLE SAY on Record

2004-2005 Season CDs, Part One

The Frogs (2004), Pacific Overtures (2004), Sondheim Sings, Vol. I
(all Stephen Sondheim, PS Classics),
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (David Yazbeck, Ghostlight Records),
Monty Python's Spamalot (Eric Idle & John Du Prez, Decca Records)

Reviewed by David Spencer

When the expanded version of The Frogs opened at Lincoln Center last summer, it didn't fare all that well critically. Though the score for the original Yale Swimming Pool version had finally been recorded (Nonesuch) not long before, with Nathan Lane as Dionysos, this two act enhancement, which also featured Lane -- doubling as librettist, picking up where the late Burt Shevelove left off -- was met with a mixed reaction and, ultimately, industry indifference. (It deserved better, but by the same token, it wasn't a "serious" new musical, but something of a novelty evening.) Sondheim added once again the existing amount of songs, these emphasizing character (the previous score had been a handful of mostly chorus plus instrumental numbers and songs about theatrical conventions) -- and he was in his "take no prisoners" mode for much of it. Your ear followed the intricacies of rhyme and wordplay, shifting melody and rhythmic shape, or it didn't. Many thought he was on a kind of automatic pilot.

     But per usual with a trickier Sondheim score, The Frogs, Lincoln Center version (PS Classics), reveals its riches upon repeated listenings -- and the new elements of the score becomesmore captivating each time. So much so that I wonder if Susan Stroman's staging somehow failed to give them their due. Especially vulnerable onstage were to of the album's most delightful ditties: "I Love to Travel", a sprightly bop as Dionysos heads off toward the Underworld...and "Dress Big" in which his warrior half-brother Herakles (played to growling perfection by Burke Moses) advises him on the best fashion tips for entering Hades. Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations, which likewise suffered in the theatre (Mr. Tunick, innovative and legendary in his day, is having a tough time with the budget-minded constraints of small groups) fare much better on the CD, which brings out their delicacy and playfulness.

     The CD of the recent revival of Pacific Overtures (PS Classics) offers Mr. Tunick no such help, however. The orchestra was absurdly stripped down for Broadway and -- I guess on the premise that the full orchestrations had already been recorded twice (the original Broadway album and the English National Opera production) -- the chamber version was preserved for posterity too. It sounds as if the intent is to emphasize intimacy, but the effect is to hint at a size and scope that are palpably missing. Sondheim's "fault" for having written such a rich score. That said, the cast and the dramatic values are excellent.

     Speaking of excellent, PS Classics has also released Volume One of Sondheim Sings, a compilation of private demos he made of scores in progress. Digitally "cleaned up" from reel-to-reel analog sources, these recordings of early drafts and trunk songs provide a fascinating, close-up glimpse into the heart and passion of the creative process...and also reveal a side of Sondheim he doesn't otherwise often give public exposure: the part of him that is purely emotional: passionate, silly, funny without his formidable intellect as cover or shading, because he throws himself into the performances with abandon. He is not a polished singer (though he might have been had he wanted to be; his is a strong instrument), but that doesn't prevent him communicating nuance, energy, intent, gusto and subtlety, as suits the occasion. And considering his claim that, once he writes his songs, he then has to learn his own accompaniments, the piano technique, especially on richly composed or intricate arrangements, is terribly impressive.

     Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Ghostlight) is about as delightful a cast album as you could desire, David Yazbeck's playful lyrics and irreverent music pushing stars John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz to give the most winning performances I've heard on a Broadway album in a long time. The magic spreads to co-stars Gregory Jbarra, Shree Rene Scott, Sara Gettelfinger and Joanna Gleason. The score gets more interesting upon repeated listenings, and the album has some bonus fun you won't hear onstage.

     Monty Python's Spamalot (Decca) is a very good CD of a very slender, and sometimes just very bad score. The energy of the show is admirably preserved, as are the nuances and characterizations of the performances, in enough comedic context to both suggest the experience of watching the show for a newbie and evoke it dimensionally for any who were there. Unfortunately, nothing can make the Eric Idle/John du Prez ditties better than they are. In fact, I rather suspect that the record only highlights the paucity of musical substance and the absence of a real lyricist's wit.

(More recordings in the next edition of Aisle Say.)

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