Bad Studio Recordings

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 12:27pm

I wanted to know if anyone knew the reason why in the 1980's, 1990's we were given studio recordings of musicals with opera stars, which (in my opinion) are horrible to listen to. The ones that come to mind are the 3 Kiri Te Kanawa recordings that my public library had "My Fair Lady", "South Pacific", and "West Side Story".

 
Or, any other "bad" studio recordings that you don't like listening to. 

Updated On: 12/14/17 at 12:27 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 1:16pm

If I remember, West Side Story was the first during that time.  It was a really big deal, being conducted by Bernstein and the recording received a Grammy, which led to a flood of studio/concert recordings featuring either opera singers or celebrities.  They were quite popular.  McGlinn also utilized opera singers for some of his concerts and recordings that preserved original scores and orchestrations (Show Boat and Anything Goes spring to mind).  I love the McGlinn recordings and the Cincinnati Pops recordings of Sound of Music and Music Man.

Both West Side Story and South Pacfic also had documentary features of the recording sessions.

Updated On: 12/14/17 at 01:16 PM

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 2:24pm

And the West Side Story 80's/Bernstein/opera edition is the only recording that uses the same orchestrations as the licensed version.  I found that out the hard way when I gave my choreographer the original Broadway cast recording and the movie soundtrack and when the accompanist started playing at the first choreography rehearsal, we had to keep stopping til we figured out that the OBCR is different from the licensed version.  We finally figured out that the opera one is exactly the same.  Who knew?

[newintown]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 2:48pm

Except for a handful of isolated tracks, I find them all to be somewhat unlistenable. On that West Side Story, Carreras, Te Kanawa, and Troyanos all have voices that are far too mature and heavy for their roles, and Bernstein conducts everything at a funereal tempo. Ditto for Te Kanawa and Carreras on South Pacific (although listening to Sarah Vaughan do Bloody Mary' numbers as pure Sassy is hilarious, like Sedaris' Billie Holiday version of "Away In A Manger"*). The Andrews/Kingsley King & I is best left unmentioned. The Nonesuch Gershwin shows are interesting as a quasi-historical hint as to how these shows might have sounded, but the vocals are always far too contemporary. The 2011 version of Sweet Bye and Bye isn't even a real thing, as no score or orchestrations exist of the work, so they just sort of made something up. Everyone on the Sherry! recording sounds really aged and terrified that their voices will shatter like thin glass if they were to actually let loose.

I do enjoy most of Faith Prince's tracks on Breakfast At Tiffany's, and a few tracks on Drat! The Cat! (The Overture and Ballet, and "Wild and Reckless"*). But other than that, original cast recordings of original productions (or even mediocre quality bootlegs) are always my go to.

Updated On: 12/14/17 at 02:48 PM

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 3:22pm

I fell in love with the Julie Andrews/Ben Kingsley "King and I". Julie Andrews as Mrs. Anna is wonderful!

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 4:19pm

Don't forget the recording of OLIVER! featuring the hilariously miscast opera sopranoJosephine Barstow as Nancy

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 7:10pm

One of the worst is the Placido Domingo Man Of La Mancha with an atrocious performance by Mandy Patinkin doing his impression of the Frito Bandito (remember him?) as Sancho Panza.

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 12/14/17 at 7:14pm

Also, Samuel Ramey is pretty wooden and in heavy operatic mode as Billy Bigelow on that recording of Carousel. Sarah Brightmsn is quite good as Carrie, though.

[brox22]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 11:55am

Ever listened to the 1990 studio recording of
A Little Night Music?
It has a sweet place in my heart. At least to my ears it's one from the heart but ineffectively managed.
A couple of times I find myself skipping a couple of tracks. That's not to say that there are not any standout performances though.
I'm very taken by Maria Friedman as Petra in "I Will Marry the Miller's Son"

[EvanstonDad]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 12:48pm

I mentioned this once in a different thread as well, but there's a two-disc studio recording of Sweet Charity that's pretty terrible. The tempos are glacial and there's far too much incidental music on it that kills the momentum.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 7:19pm

StageStruckLad said: "One of the worst is the Placido Domingo Man Of La Mancha with an atrocious performance by Mandy Patinkin doing his impression of the Frito Bandito (remember him?) as Sancho Panza. "

 

Jerry Hadley was part of this project and he told me Patinkin was a last minute replacement for Buddy Hackett, who fell ill at recording time. Patinkin had been part of the KISMET recording that had just wrapped up in that same studio.

 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/15/17 at 7:31pm

It seems to me we are mixing apples and oranges
on this thread. The OP asked about reconcieving
musicals with opera singers, which was a thing
for a while. I agree it mostly showed why opera
voices aren't right for musical comedy or musical
play roles.

But some are discussing a different trend, which
was to rerecord classic scores that had been cut
severely for release on 78s or LPs. With the
greater space on CDs, they could release
something like SOUTH PACIFIC (the Paige
O'Hara version) or OF THEE I SING and record
the entire score, scene change music and all.

I find the opera casts silly and sometimes the "full
score" recordings wear me out after the seventh
orchestral reprise of "Bali Hai", but they really two
different kind of animals.

Updated On: 12/15/17 at 07:31 PM