SOUND OFF: Sondheim Palooza Part 6

Today, we are continuing where we left off last week in our complete overview of Stephen Sondheim's career in honor of his 80th birthday, as well as the opening of his new musical SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, by taking a listen to all the Sondheim-related soundtracks available on CD and MP3. These wonderful selections include an Oscar-winning song from DICK TRACY, some Oscar-winning arrangements for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and one of the most haunting songs in the Master's trajectory, the REDS love theme "Goodbye For Now". He says goodbye, we say hello...

Here Comes Love

Stephen Sondheim may be best known for his legendary work as a composer/lyricist on Broadway due to his many masterstrokes in the scores for his stage ventures, but he is the first to admit that movies have always been his true passion and when we consider the quite considerable amount of material he has contributed to motion pictures and television over the years, it is first startling to realize the sheer amount, and then to realize the very adventurous nature of much of this material. Looking at Sondheim's scores for motion pictures and television, it is imperative to make the initial distinction between original works and those adapted for film. EVENING PRIMROSE, THE SEVEN-PER-CENT-SOLUTION, STAVISKY, REDS and DICK TRACY, as well as the tunes written for but ultimately not used in THE BIRDCAGE and the altogether abandoned SINGING OUT LOUD, are each startling works of originality, each perfectly suited to their sources. Truly, the original material is some of Sondheim's best, most easily listenable and likable work and the perfect sorbet to whet the appetite for his truly great stage scores. The soundtracks for the adapted works do not fare as well, WEST SIDE STORY having been previously reviewed here acting largely as the exception, along with the recent SWEENEY TODD film soundtrack. Without a doubt, no one is ever going to choose to listen to the largely atrocious soundtracks for GYPSY or A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM over the original cast albums, nor the ravishingly orchestrated but otherwise pallid, dull and uninspired film soundtrack for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. With the exception of a few of the soundtrack recordings discussed herein, I will eschew scoring the albums containing only certain material - in some cases single songs - that we are listening to today if only because we are not truly considering the entire albums altogether. The material, yes, the entire albums, no, which is a slight change in format: so be forewarned. There is a lot to truly adore and cherish here, and some of these songs are the very best introduction to Sondheim for the less-acclimated among us, and its certainly easier to pop in a CD or DVD and enjoy these works as they were intended to be seen, on a screen, as opposed to traveling back in time to the original productions and imagining the production based on photographs and the cast albums. Film and television are visual mediums, yet no other composer or lyricist can paint such vivid mental pictures with a pen quite like Sondheim.

If You Can Find Me, I'm Still Here

EVENING PRIMROSE
EVENING PRIMROSE - Original Soundtrack Album
SCORE: 8/10

Bruce Kimmel's lovingly restored and painstakingly re-assembled remastering of the Original Soundtrack Album for EVENING PRIMROSE is an essential entry in any serious Sondheim fan's collection. The original performances of Anthony Perkins and Charmain Carr are earthy, empathetic and overall quite astutely played. Yes, these songs have been sung better since, particularly on the lovely albums highlighted below, yet, this original recording of these early Sondheim songs stand among his best work to this very day. Most of all, the luminescent and alluring "I Remember" - which he has also rewritten as a song for Barbra Streisand's recent holiday album CHRISTMAS MEM'RIES - surely lingers in the heart and mind long after a listening, or five. The recording also generously includes the underscore music mostly performed by an alluring string quartet.

THE FROGS/EVENING PRIMROSE - Studio Cast Recording
SCORE: 8.5/10

We covered THE FROGS portion of this album last week, and the second half of this album proves to be better than even that lively performance, with the energetic and effusive performances of Neil Patrick Harris - his best recording thus far on a cast album - and a resplendent Theresa McCarthy. This may very well be my favorite recording of "Take Me To The World" if only for the sheer wonderment and enchantment imbued in these performances making this perhaps the best recording of the material to date. Nonesuch's sterling record of recordings continues with this exceptional entry, the aural elements striking the perfect balance between live theatricality and studio seamlessness. Highly recommended, particularly for Harris who seems to possess all the requisite character traits able to make this character and his material truly come alive. No inanimate mannequins here.

DRESS CASUAL - Mandy Patinkin featuring Bernadette Peters
SCORE: 5/10

Mandy Patinkin's albums have featured perhaps more Sondheim material than any other musical theatre performer's solo albums, many all-Sondheim affairs among them, but the true collector's item for fans for many years was this emotional, sentimental and slightly overdone rendition of the songs from EVENING PRIMROSE. The songs are sung by a histrionic Patinkin and a winsome, making-the-best-of-it Bernadette Peters, to less-than-satisfying effect. The poor recording quality of the album and its CD version does not help matters. While Peters is quite committed and strong, Patinkin oversells his songs and comes off as cloying and a bit annoying. I feel the same way about this version of the score as I do the Gary Beach/Liz Callaway recording: love the lady, could leave the gent. Given their tantalizingly tangible chemistry in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, recreated as recently as a few weeks ago at the Sondheim 80th Birthday Celebration at Avery Fisher Hall, I wish this was far better than it is given the leads' credentials.

I Remember

EVENING PRIMROSE was Sondheim's only collaboration with James Goldman that came to fruition besides FOLLIES, but that show's amazing score alone should justify taking a listen, and a look, at this interesting obscurity in the Sondheim canon, containing some truly effective and surprisingly sentimental material such as "I Remember", as well as some sprightly and somewhat more upbeat material although there is an admitted slightly sour, off-kilter sensibility that pervades much of it, undoubtedly owing to the decidedly downbeat ending of the film. If you have not seen it yet, it is available on YouTube but for the uninitiated it may be worth waiting for the cleaned-up and remastered DVD. Speaking of which, the forthcoming first-time DVD release of this glorious television musical is highly anticipated and it shall be reviewed in this column when that time comes, though it should be noted that the release has been delayed multiple times over the years. Also of interest to some may be that the program was originally filmed in color, but no color copies seemed to survive since it was broadcast in black & white back in 1967. This is a lovely score to an intriguing musical concept, and it would be wonderful if more projects such as this were done today. Only Sondheim could make mannequins sing with such humanity, emotionality and pathos.

Love Is Just Sand

SINGING OUT LOUD & THE BIRDCAGE
SONDHEIM AT THE MOVIES & UNSUNG SONDHEIM
SCORES: 9/10

Bruce Kimmel has previously recorded the material from EVENING PRIMROSE for his wonderful collection of rare and obscure Sondheim songs from the Maestro's film and television work, SONDHEIM AT THE MOVIES. Performed by Gary Beach and Liz Callaway, with the latter far more effective than the former, this EVENING PRIMROSE is a less satisfying recording of the material than the other releases, though it sounds technically superb - as does the entire album - and Callaway is finds a wonder and naïveté in her character that is particularly effective. The rest of the album fares much better, with some absolutely fantastic obscurities polished to near-perfection thanks to these memorable performances of some marvelous material. I am particularly fond of the material written for SINGING OUT LOUD, a musical-movie that work was begun on in the early 1990s from a screenplay by William Goldman and to be directed by Rob Reiner, but the film fell apart and no further developments have been reported since. That is a dire shame for no other reason than it contains some of Sondheim's most melodic and innovative material to date, much of it with a contemporary edge, that would surely spell success for a crossover bid to a wider audience, much like his songs for DICK TRACY introduced his significant talents to a new audience thanks to Madonna with Sondheim winning an Oscar for his efforts. While there are some scant sections of "Can That Boy Fox Trot!", "Love Is In The Air" and the newly-composed "Little Dream" performed by Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski and others in Mike Nichol's film version of THE BIRDCAGE, we are presented with a particularly enticing curiosity to enjoy in the form of the cut finale for the film, a "We Are Family"-esque disco anthem - surely an uncharacteristic genre for Sondheim to be writing in. Bryan Batt and company perform "It Takes All Kinds" with brassy sassiness and with a bit of a wink to the intentionally cheesy material, which nonetheless displays Sondheim's dexterous wit when writing in any style. Christiane Noll does wonderfully well with "Sand" and it brings to mind slow-burners like the PUTTING IT TOGETHER version of "More" and "Sooner or Later" from DICK TRACY, highlighted below. "Dawn" is a fascinating character song sextet with some quite urbane and erudite lyrics, even for Sondheim. THE BIRDCAGE and SINGING OUT LOUD songs alone justifies purchasing these excellent albums.

Besides the title song for the abandoned movie-musical project, which has never been recorded, the stand-out song written for the SINGING OUT LOUD project is without a doubt the exquisite and evocative "Water Under The Bridge". There are two recordings of this absolutely fabulous Paul Simon-esque pastiche song: the slightly superior, albeit more contemporary and pop-sounding version, sung by Debbie Shapiro Gravitte on the quite masterful UNSUNG SONDHEIM album, as well as Liza Minelli's premiere performance of the song recorded at the SONDHEIM AT Carnegie Hall concert available in its entirety thanks to RCA Victor/Sony, as well as a highlights DVD (this is not one of the songs included, sadly). "Water Under The Bridge" is perhaps the only outright pop song in a very late twentieth-century style and the result is a curiosity that rewards the listener with many more joys beyond the catchy hook - musical and lyrical - and ingratiating riff at its base. Sondheim has never sounded quite this cool before, particularly Gravitte's radio-ready version.

Singing Out Loud

I cannot recommend SONDHEIM AT THE MOVIES and UNSUNG SONDHEIM enough, for these rare gems as well as other excellent efforts from virtually unknown enterprises from the last forty years. Both albums are true treasure-troves and highly recommended, for the SINGING OUT LOUD material as well as the material from REDS (a stunning "Goodbye For Now" thanks to Liz Callaway), DICK TRACY, EVENING PRIMROSE and more. Both THE BIRDCAGE songs as well as the material presented here from SINGING OUT LOUD makes a strong case that Sondheim was able to tap into the zeitgist on contemporary music with as much wit, charm and insight as any other genre of music and, though he often has stated he cannot write in the contemporary idiom successfully enough to satisfy himself, that he may have a great rock/pop score in him should he choose to bring it to fruition. SINGING OUT LOUD, surely, strongly attests to that observation.

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REDS

"Goodbye For Now" is a ghostly bittersweet ballad of the finest order, a chilling love theme for the respectable Warren Beatty film REDS. This theme is repeated throughout the film to eerie effect, sometimes seeming hopeful and sometimes seeming completely dissipated and forsaken. The theme is so strong as to evoke many of the emotions we learn are eventually reveled in the lyrics, as the Liz Callaway version of the song on the SONDHEIM AT THE MOVIES album so lustrously illustrates. It's a truly poetic set of lyrics, evoking elements of "I Remember" from EVENING PRIMROSE - discussed above - and matching the clipped, staccato nature of the phrases that stand out above the languid, liquid music below, particularly in these exquisite orchestrations on the original soundtrack or Sony Masterworks' essential THE STORY SO FAR box-set. This box-set also contains our next song up for discussion, in a total 360 from the sleepy, romantic sound of this song...

Once For A Lark

THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION

The Madam's Song from Herbert Ross's film THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION is a ribald and risqué cabaret number - "I Never Do Anything Twice" being its true accredited title - performed on the soundtrack with gritty conviction by Regine, though this is more an interesting curiosity than a definitive recording for the ages given the songs more lofty ambitions that this rendition does not afford it. The hilarious comedic torch song has also been recorded by Patti LuPone, and that version contains lyrics not found on the original soundtrack making it an even more essential entry for completists among us, as is the entirety of LuPone's MATTERS OF THE HEART album. Furthermore, a very anomalous re-working of the song can be found on the SONDHEIM: CELEBRATION AT Carnegie Hall 2-disc recording, as performed by the electronic-rap-acapella group BETTY with intriguing, if ultimately slightly unsatisfying results. LuPone's version is the best, but the original soundtrack recording has a charm and style that cannot be discounted. Whichever the rendering, Sondheim is at his bawdy best with this infectious and rousing character showpiece.

Lover, I'll hover, I'll Plan

DICK TRACY

Also contained on the magnificent THE STORY SO FAR boxset are Sondheim's songs for the 1990 Warren Beatty film DICK TRACY, performed by Madonna and, in one case, Mandy Patinkin. The songs for DICK TRACY are Sondheim at his most commercial and fun, and the tunes are all instantly likeable and hummable - with "More" being a particularly catchy little number that works its way into your subconscious and stays there. Forever. "Sooner Or Later" won the Oscar for Best Song, and while it has perhaps been recorded better since - I am particularly partial to Jane Krakowski's sizzling rendition on THE SONDHEIM COLLECTION, an album which will be highlighted alongside all the other Sondheim concerts and collections in the coming weeks - Madonna's performance is surely respectable and appropriately hot, if not boiling or sizzling. That song is sublime no matter who sings it, and in the case of "What Can You Lose?" the back-up by a laid-back and appealing Mandy Patinkin adds to the enjoyment of this more mainstream, pop-infused material. Mel Torme does a sparkling and very period-specific-sounding rendition of "Live Alone and Like It" to expectedly warm-hearted results thanks to the Velvet Fog vocalizations. Too bad he never recorded any other Sondheim material, he would have done a bang-up job on "Live, Laugh, Love" - or even "Losing My Mind" from FOLLIES. "More" leaves you wanting just that, and proves with that and "Back In Business" that he can write a catchy ditty on the order of Jerry Herman any time he pleases. Yes, this soundtrack is truly delightful and proves that with erstwhile ASSASSINS and DICK TRACY Sondheim was "back in business" with a more razzmatazz, contemporary songwriting style - this seemingly newfound style ultimately reaching its zenith with his almost pure pop confections for SINGING OUT LOUD. In stark contrast to that sound, or the jazzy blues of DICK TRACY, is the almost baroque - without question more classical and old-fashioned sound - of the score for a French film in 1974...

Operetta By Night

STAVISKY
STAVISKY - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SCORE: 7.5/10

Alain Resnais's film STAVISKY is a bit of a slow-going affair, but it is of the utmost interest to Sondheim fans if for only the fact that it contains his only complete original motion picture musical score to date, SWEENEY TODD and the other stage-initiated musicals excluded. The complete score for the film is available as a bonus on the FOLLIES IN CONCERT complete recording, which is itself a must-have entry in your collection, as we discussed last week. There are snippets of melodies and chord progressions that will instantly clue the die-hard fans among us in to the music percolating in the mind of the master during this fascinating and fruitful period in which he also composed FOLLIES, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, THE FROGS and PACIFIC OVERTURES. The main theme contains many similarities to the Ballad used to such diametrically opposed effect in SWEENEY TODD five years later. This is a lovely score for a lovely, if laborious, film. The music perfectly matches the glorious photography and if you are in the right mood, it is a truly soothing and sensory joy to experience Sondheim's score on the soundtrack by itself without the accommodating film, though either is an enjoyable experience. This score goes a long way to argue that Sondheim was capable of far more than his early songs would have indicated and it explicitly show that the Master was experimenting with any number of styles, to uniformly miraculous results.

Love As A Lecture
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SCORE: 4/10

Dim. Such is sadly the case with the soundtrack for Hal Prince's own film version of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC which happens to boast gloriously rich and elegant Oscar-winning arrangements and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick in his adaptation of the stage score. The singing, in general, is not nearly up to the level of the orchestral sound and the muddled, scratchy sounds on the vocals component of the soundtrack certainly don't help matters. Even Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold and other original cast members sound forced and not-quite charming here. I suppose Elizabeth Taylor's "Send In the Clowns" has some appeal on film, but that is a surefire song and, even then, it is not the moment it could have been and sounds quite ineffectual on the soundtrack. The rest of the misguided movie is so muddily filmed - using the appreciatively out-of-practice day-for-night shooting technique which is exactly what it sounds like and the results are exactly what you would expect them to be - that it is impossible to recommend. Diana Rigg is the only one to escape the botched and mildly embarrassing incident relatively unscathed, with even Sondheim himself contributing some questionable lyrical alterations and additions for Ms. Taylor in a newly lyricized sequence based on the "Night Waltz II" theme from the stage show. After all, the worst lyric of Sondheim's career is quite possibly this new lyric: "Love is a lecture / On how to correct your / Mistakes". The film is available on DVD, but the soundtrack fares better, believe it or not, so if that so entices you perhaps seek out the film, but I'd suggest doing so with a glass of wine or two. This is the nadir, and it is far better than many maestros' biggest movie misfires.

Come Home To London, Someday
SWEENEY TODD - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SCORE: 8.5/10

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are not anywhere near their stage counterparts in vocal ability, yet they mine these characters for new emotions and undertones not yet explored before, with Depp in particular turning in a ferocious, feral and striking performance, making the album a must-have and the film a must-see. True, Depp acts it better than he sings it which leaves the soundtrack lacking a bit of the power he displays on film in the role, but it is certainly a hit - and no notes are missed, which is something that cannot be said for the next soundtracks under analysis. Jamie Campbell Bower is fine, as are the others, but, really, Sasha Baron Cohen is the only one of them who truly owns their material and that is largely because he is such a lively performer and his section is so unlike the rest of the score in so many ways. Speaking of the score, it has never sounded better and this is a credit to Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations which go even beyond his originals in their intensity, fright and fire. Sonic perfection, at least to these ears. It says a lot about Tunick's work that the lyrics of the Ballad itself have been removed, yet the sinister sarcasm and dejected, dispassionate disposition of the town of London still sings through, in the strings and in the shrieks of the unforgettable factory whistle: the crowing jewel of these wondrous orchestral sounds courtesy of Tunick and, of course, Sondheim himself. The sound is particularly full and enveloping on this recording of the score, precisely what one would want from a soundtrack to a major motion picture as directed by Tim Burton. A marvelous soundtrack to a moody, macabre and successful film version of a Sondheim show, the only one of its kind.

Love, What I've Been Dreading
GYPSY - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SCORE: 4/10

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SCORE: 2/10

Sondheim film soundtracks are a particularly dicey issue, particularly because many of the film versions were less-than-well-sung, especially in the case of the soundtrack recordings of GYPSY and A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, which are beyond bad and not recommendable in any way. Yes, Natalie Wood does her own singing and Lisa Kirk does most of Rosalind Russell's vocals, but to what effect? Zero Mostel seems tired and bored, as does everyone else. These are the nadir of Sondheim on film, the worst of the worst with some terrible off-key singing in both cases. Admittedly SWEENEY TODD is no great shakes when it comes to vocals, and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC fares far worse, but neither is even close to as unlikable as these recordings . Indeed, WEST SIDE STORY seems to be the only soundtrack album based on a Sondheim stage score (and even then, lyrics only) that manages to preserve the essence and total breadth of the score as it played on stage (and that is a credit to the involvement of Bernstein and Jerome Robbins on the film), although the delicately reworked and refined score for SWEENEY TODD is certainly enjoyable and entertaining in its own unique way, albeit far less grand than the chorus-heavy show onstage (there is no chorus in the film version). Sondheim's scores are so specific, and his songs so reliant upon the atmosphere created with the director, bookwriter and designers, that it is only in his original film music that his mastery reveals itself in full, and the less involved Sondheim is with the film, the less successful the results ultimately turn out to be, across the board. This is most of all evident on these misguided, musty soundtracks.

Love, What A Pretty Sound

Looking at these original scores and songs for television and film collectively, it is clear to see and hear Sondheim's remarkable range and versatility in attuning himself, chameleon-like, to whatever the subject demands he musically dramatize. Music does not get much more aching romantic than the Love Theme from REDS. The score for EVENING PRIMOSE displays Sondheim's adeptness at musicalzing the seemingly unmusical and making those (literally plastic, in one case) characters positively burst with emotion and color, even in black & white. DICK TRACY is Sondheim at his most tuneful and fun, as is his material for THE BIRDCAGE. Perhaps the great lost score, the one that got away, is SINGING OUT LOUD. The richness and complexity of all of the melodies composed for that movie-musical - and, in the liner notes of UNSUNG SONDHEIM Kimmel points out that these are considerably simplified versions, some of them having counterpoint sections omitted from these recordings - with an authentically rock and pop edge, yet complete with the dissonances and witty wordplay we have grown to love in Sondheim's stage work make it a true marvel. Hopefully, we will see SINGING OUT LOUD come to fruition someday soon, especially given the rebirth of the musical film in recent years, SWEENEY TODD standing among the very best in recent years. Until then - and until the next new Sondheim score, whether for stage or screen - we have these exceptional songs and scores that uniquely showcase the Master stretching himself beyond what even his most ardent fans assumed him capable of, the results singing out loud and proud for themselves. Fin.

 

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