CD Charts
Welcome to The CD Charts, here you will find all the latest and top selling Music cds available to buy online. You can search and locate the best selling Music cd's and have them delivered to the door. We have a large selection of Music all with reviews.
Back to Home Page > Go back a page
Music : The Light in the Piazza (2005 Original Broadway Cast)
See Larger Image |
The Light in the Piazza (2005 Original Broadway Cast) from: Nonesuch List Price: $19.98 CD-Charts Price: $14.99 You Save: $4.99 (25%)Prices subject to change. |
|
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0075597982923 Format: Cast Recording Label: Nonesuch Manufacturer: Nonesuch Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Nonesuch Release Date: May 24, 2005 Studio: Nonesuch Sales Rank: 2929 MPN: 79829 Disc 1:
Related Items:      see moreBrowse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review: Album Description: The Light in the Piazza is arguably one of the most highly anticipated theatrical events of the decade for serious Broadway theatergoers. The Los Angeles Times has already declared its creator, Nonesuch artist Adam Guettel, "a composer for the new century," on the strength of his two Off-Broadway productions, the 1996 Obie-Award winning "folk musical" Floyd Collins and the 1998 song cycle, Myths and Hymns, TIME has described him as "a startlingly original songwriter." Few theatrical composers have been watched as closely as Guettel, and few musicals in the course of their development have generated so much substantial press or been praised so highly on the road as The Light in the Piazza. Both the New Yorker and The New York Times magazine devoted in-depth coverage to the evolution of Guettel’s sophisticated, deeply moving score. New Yorker critic John Lahr decided,"Guettel’s kind of talent cannot be denied. He shouldn’t change for Broadway; Broadway, if it is to survive as a creative theatrical force, should change for him." Amazon.com: Like a shimmering pearl, The Light in the Piazza emerged from a sea of revivals, rehashings, and movie adaptations to secure 11 2005 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. Based on an Elizabeth Spencer novella (which was also made into a 1962 film), it follows a mother, Margaret (Victoria Clark), and her daughter, Clara (Kelli O'Hara), as they take a vacation to Italy. There, Clara and a young Italian (Matthew Morrison) fall in love, but Margaret is determined to keep them apart. The Light in the Piazza doesn't fit the model of most Broadway scores, with a splashy opener here, a swing number there, then the big ballad. The score is more of a unified whole, sometimes jarring, sometimes following the patterns of speech, and sometimes unfolding in glorious sheens of sound. (Heck, some of it's even in Italian!) In that sense, it's similar to another unconventional American musical set in Italy, Stephen Sondheim's Passion, which is more chamber opera than musical, and composer-lyricist Adam Guettel (song of Mary Rodgers, grandson of Richard Rodgers) seems the most likely heir apparent to Sondheim in the current generation of musical theater creators. O'Hara's voice soars in the score's most beautiful moments ("Say It Somehow," the title song), but Clark enjoys two exquisitely lyrical moments with "Dividing Day" and "Let's Walk." She was one of the show's six Tony winners (for Leading Actress), along with Guettel's score and the orchestrations, scenice design, lighting, and costumes, while O'Hara (for Featured Actress), Morrison, Craig Lucas's book, and Bartlett Sher's direction were also nominated. --David Horiuchi Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - It Feels Like Travel...... was my reaction to the music, a few numbers into the LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA (when they still were playing the full overture). After performing for some months on a cruise ship - and bearing in mind what is said about how you enjoy your travels even more when you remember them - that's exactly what I said to a companion: it feels like travel. There's not much to add to the favorable words elsewhere in these pages,but a few thoughts: Some like barbecue, some like sushi, some like both. Good thing to remember when voting for President,by the way. I will say that my favorite scores are those that keep growing on me (WEST SIDE STORY as well as THE MUSIC MAN) - and LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA reveals something new at ... Read More: Rating: - UnusualThis is an unusual story to be made into a musical. Many good musicals from similar sources have just not made it--witness "Cry for Us All" in 1970 and "I Remember Mama" in 1979. And those were from a time when Broadway tended more toward the book musical. It is also an unusual approach to music. As several others reviews have noted, it is somewhat operatic in style. While there are wonderful musical moments, there are no songs that stand out and have become popular. Whatever the "unusualities," this is certainly refreshing in the midst of the "Spamalots" and "Spelling Bees." To appreciate the work initially, it is necessary to follow the libretto, which fortunately is included with the cd. Later, it can be heard as good ... Read More: Rating: - Original and awe-inspiring: Guettel and the voice of Victoria ClarkAdam Guettel's "The Light in the Piazza" is a wonderfully refreshing and complex masterpiece that rightly earned the Best Score Nod at the 2005 Tony Awards. Having seen and heard Guettel's earlier "Floyd Collins" I was well acquainted with how innovative his music was.Because "Piazza" is a romantic melodrama with Firenze,Italy as its location, Guettel's music evokes the 1950's Era with grace,elegance and ingenuity.The opening title is a rhapsodic ode to love and the breezes twirling the leaves in the piazza is vividly acute under Guettel's pen.Victoria Clark has the most accomplished and cultured female voice currently on Broadway.Her rendering of 'Dividing Day' is heart-crushingly poignant.Clark's voice is accurate always and true in pitch and ... Read More: Rating: - Will endure long after we are gone...My daughters and I had the good fortune to see this musical shortly before it left Chicago. We love musicals and all agreed that this is one of the best we've seen in many years. Why? First of all, the story is simple, yet basic to everyone. It's about finding love and embracing it to the greatest extent possible. For Margaret, it's about losing a passion for someone that once existed, but recognizing it's not too late to help your daughter find hers. Most of all, it's about the simplicity of pure love in a complicated world and how it can break down all language, cultural, and even physical barriers to conquer all. The composers matched characters and emotions perfectly, from Clara's cries from her heart in "The Light in the Piazza" ... Read More: Rating:  - SnoozevilleThe only thing more sleep inducing than this cast album is sitting through the actual show. The music is very pretty but too similar and will lull you into a deep coma! |
|