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Music : Sweeney Todd Live at the New York Philharmonic
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Sweeney Todd Live at the New York Philharmonic List Price: $38.49 Price: $14.95 You Save: $23.54 (61%)Prices subject to change. |
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Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0619054185528 Format: Soundtrack Number Of Discs: 2 Release Date: October 18, 2000 Sales Rank: 11808 Disc 1:
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Editorial Review: Album Description: The first complete recording of Stephen Sondheim's musical-theatre work since the 1979 original Broadway cast recording, and the first recording of the work by a symphony orchestra, captures the May 2000 New York Philharmonic concert performances in honor of Mr. Sondheim's 70th birthday, starring Patti LuPone, George Hearn and Audra McDonald. Directed by Tony Award winner Lonnie Price, the cast also includes John Aler, Davis Gaines, Neil Patrick Harris, Heidi Grant Murphy, Paul Plishka, Stanford Olsen and the New York Choral Artists. Amazon.com: For many, Sweeney Todd is Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece, a Grand Guignol musical-opera with an epic sweep. The original 1979 cast recording (starring Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, and Victor Garber) remains definitive, but this version, assembled for three performances with the New York Philharmonic in May 2000, gives it a serious run for its money. Indeed, this live recording boasts Patti LuPone, George Hearn, Davis Gaines, Audra McDonald, and Heidi Grant Murphy; has been nominated for the 2002 Best Musical Show Album Grammy; and, last but not least, features that world-class orchestra. LuPone's English accent goes in and out, especially in the spoken passages, but no matter; she sings superbly. Her comic timing is impeccable, and her tendency to go over the top actually works in her favor in a show in which humor is of the gallows kind and blood flows freely. As for the Philharmonic, it'll make you even more bitter next time you're at a Broadway show where they try to cut corners by using a pared-down ensemble: The music's power could flatten trees. --Elisabeth Vincentelli Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - get the Sweeney Todd in Concert DVD insteadI ordered this CD with great anticipation since I so ardently admire George Hearn's performance as Sweeney Todd. Unfortunately, the CD is marred by Patti Lupone's over-acting. Maybe it was too much for her to do Mrs. Lovett after only 3-4 days of frantic rehearsal (according to the included CD booklet). In particular, if you listen to songs like "The Worst Pies in London" and "A Little Priest", her voice jumps from singing to screeching. It's almost like she doesn't have control of her voice. Fortunately, Patti Lupone is much better on the DVD with the San Francisco Symphony (a year after the New York Philharmonic concerts). She sounds more comfortable with the role and tones down the acting. Both the New York Philharmonic and the San ... Read More: Rating:  - Sweeney Todd a musical Thriller!This Sweeney Todd Broadway Cast live from at the New York Philharmonic is excellent! I have the dvd of this at home. I'm a little upset that they replaced three people which are Johanna, Beggar Woman and Judge Turpin. I'm happy they kept George Hearn becuase he's my favorite Sweeney. We'll now I'm confuessed because I just saw this show in New York city with Michael Cerveris. Davis Gains as Anthony Hope is amazing. He played Phantom for sevral years. Patti Lupone is back as Mrs.Lovett in the new one. This is my favorite version of this show. It's amazing I love it. Rating: - a great recordingI am not sure whether I like this recording better or the Original Broadway Cast recording better, to be perfectly honest. They've both got their strong points and their weak points, and they're both more strong than they are weak. I certainly don't like Patti LuPone as much as I like Angela Lansbury, but I actually found LuPone quite tolerable on this recording (which is odd because I didn't like her on the DVD at all). As far as I'm concerned, George Hearn makes this recording worth the price. To me, he *is* Sweeney Todd. No one before or after has captured the role so well. The rest of the cast is very good, as well, and I really can think of nothing of any significance to complain about here, except perhaps the cutting ... Read More: Rating: - The Best Recording of a Modern Musical Masterpiece...While the Original Broadway Cast Album has many advocates, my vote for the definitive Sweeny recording is this amazing concert. Len Cariou's Sweeny on the OBC sounds tired and strained; Hearn's classic performance, preserved here, suffers not from these ailments, sounding nearly as good he did 20 years earlier when he first played the role as Cariou's replacement. While no one will ever match Angela Lansbury in role of Mrs. Lovett, LuPone is a better for a recording given her unbelievable vocal pyrotechnics, which Lansbury could never dream of duplicating. The rest of the cast is wonderful (Audra McDonald! Neil Patrick Harris! Davis Gaines! All superb.) and usually vocally more assured than in any other version. While I find the Judge Turpin a bit ... Read More: Rating: - SWEENEY as SWEENEY Should be heardLet's face it... despite what anyone says, SWEENEY TODD is the most prominate member of the "Broadway Opera". It can be performed so sucessfully by Opera Singers (As Heidi Grant Murphy and Strafford Olsen prove) or By Broadway belters (such as Neil Patrick Harris and Angela Lansbury, on the origonal cast albulm)This recording, starring both opera stars and Broadway's best, is how Sweeney should be heard. First off, it includes most of the dialouge, and what is prunned is not really missed. The entire score is not performed here (as it is on the origonal cast albulm) but all that is missing are the usual cuts: the second Half of Pirelli's shaving/tooth-pulling aria and the majority of the Beadle and Mrs. Lovett's Parlour songs. The NY Phil ... Read More: |
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