|
|
Post by solangelafitte on Apr 26, 2024 12:40:29 GMT
Just had a listen on Apple Music. This sounds ridiculous I know, but having heard nothing of the score so far I was pleasantly surprised by how Sondheim-y it sounded. Looking forward to hearing the whole thing.
|
|
|
|
Post by fluxcapacitor on Apr 28, 2024 21:12:35 GMT
Just had a listen on Apple Music. This sounds ridiculous I know, but having heard nothing of the score so far I was pleasantly surprised by how Sondheim-y it sounded. Looking forward to hearing the whole thing. Oh if there’s one thing that’s undeniable about the piece, it’s how “Sondheim-y” it is. Seeing it live, at times it almost felt like a parody because of how perfectly stereotypically Sondheim it sounds, both musically and lyrically! |
|
|
|
Post by blamerobots on May 17, 2024 14:04:43 GMT
Cast recording is out!
|
|
1,970 posts
|
Post by sf on May 17, 2024 14:49:22 GMT
...and it's wonderful. BUT - The material is what it is - even for Sondheim, it's niche - and the recording isn't going to appeal to everybody. If you're looking for big, sweeping melodies, you won't find them here. This music is spiky, dissonant, sometimes very beautiful, and tied to the surrounding dialogue to the point where this score is (mostly) a set of scenes combining sung and spoken lines rather than a collection of songs. If you aren't a fan of that sort of thing you may well find it unbearably pretentious. If you're on the fence, it probably works best if you treat it as a radio play rather than as a traditional theatre score. Like Passion, only even more so, it makes more sense if you listen to it all the way through rather than dipping in and out. But still, it's worth a go. It's been recorded beautifully, the orchestrations sparkle, the performances are flawless, and it's sometimes very funny. And it's not going to appeal to as many people as a new recording of, say, Company or Follies or Night Music, and it doesn't work as background listening, and that's OK. |
|
4,983 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on May 17, 2024 15:30:23 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by blamerobots on May 17, 2024 15:46:15 GMT
I love it!
Fingers crossed for a UK production.
|
|
1,970 posts
|
Post by sf on May 17, 2024 18:42:09 GMT
David Hyde Pierce singing the Bishop's Song. VERY funny:
|
|
641 posts
|
Post by AddisonMizner on May 18, 2024 20:14:05 GMT
I listened to HERE WE ARE this morning.
It is true that it is not Sondheim’s best. It does sound very similar to some of his other work (such as MERRILY, PASSION, SUNDAY and SWEENEY TODD). However, it is an eclectic score, encompassing many different styles in keeping with the films the show is based on and it is very fun. There are also some real standout numbers in this, (such as THE BISHOP’S SONG above). Sondheim at less than his best is still ten times better than most of the original musicals that make it to the stage these days. It also has its own original voice.
I will be listening again tomorrow to consolidate my thoughts. I really hope this is staged ASAP in the UK!
|
|
|
|
Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on May 18, 2024 20:38:08 GMT
Not to say that I think this is Sondheim's best work or anything, but I do find it funny how many different Sondheim shows people say this is similar to. I've seen Road Show, Assassins and The Frogs in addition to those you've just listed. Maybe it just sounds like Sondheim?
|
|
641 posts
|
Post by AddisonMizner on May 19, 2024 11:09:34 GMT
Sondheim does have a very distinctive voice, but all of his shows have their own unique sound world. It is hard to believe that the composer of the semi-operatic SWEENEY TODD is the same one who wrote COMPANY as the two pieces are completely different. That is just one example. Who would have thought that Sondheim could write a song like Unworthy of Your Love from ASSASSINS?
Listening to HERE WE ARE for a second time now, and completely loving it. It certainly a show that gives more on repeated listens (as could be argued with all Sondheim's shows).
|
|
|
|
Post by blamerobots on May 19, 2024 14:29:23 GMT
I don't know if I could say what Sondheim's best work is for me, let alone start ranking them, they all mean as much to me.
But this score definitely feels aligned with his state of mind in Company I think. With a dash of Sunday.
|
|
|
|
Post by fluxcapacitor on May 20, 2024 11:03:03 GMT
I don't know if I could say what Sondheim's best work is for me, let alone start ranking them, they all mean as much to me. But this score definitely feels aligned with his state of mind in Company I think. With a dash of Sunday. Lyrically, maybe? But musically I think it’s way more erratic. In the theatre it felt less disjointed somehow, probably because it does flow so effortlessly between speech and song… but listening to the recording I’m reminded how abstract the show was. That certainly comes across in the recording. Overall it’s a good listen, but I’m still a little disappointed - as I was after seeing it - that there are no big, melodic, standalone new numbers which could become standards. No Being Alive, no Send in the Clowns, no Sunday. That’s fine in the context of the show, it just would have been nice to have ONE final new classic in there. |
|
4,983 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on May 24, 2024 5:48:16 GMT
One week on of the cast album release, cue the endless repeats and I’m loving it.
. The spikey orchestrations of Road. The woodwinds really do shine.
· The blatant and overly romantic notion of Raffi's serenades
· The word play in Waiters song and It is what is.
· Shine – I can see this becoming a bit of a classic, the lyrics just feel so current and topical.
. The general musing on life and death.
. I am genuinely laughing out loud.
Right at the end of the show Marianne laments about remembering what it was she was supposed to do, and it’s a shame that little snippet is not recorded, but hey hum
When I saw it, I found the final third to drag a little but “things are what they are” and so I am delighted we get an edited highights of the three interludes. A part of me wonders what Snow would be like if had become a song or arioso but as it is so well written, why bother and of course “Course content dictates form”
Here we are is no Follies or Sweeney and it's all the better for it. Right up until the end, Sondheim was trying to push the form of music theatre and for that I am eternally grateful.
|
|
