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Music : Bernstein: West Side Story
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Bernstein: West Side Story from: DG List Price: £15.99 CD-Charts Price: £12.69 You Save: £3.30 (21%)Prices subject to change. |
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0028945719924 Label: DG Manufacturer: DG Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: DG Release Date: August 10, 1998 Running Time: 76 minutes Studio: DG Sales Rank: 5837 MPN: 457199 Disc 1:
Related Items: ![Bernstein - the Making of Westside Story (Te Kanawa) [1985]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009DBXXG.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)  ![West Side Story (Special Edition) [1961]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000BZNDA.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg) ![West Side Story [1961]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004CZEW.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)  see moreBrowse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review: Amazon.co.uk Review: The world becomes a better place as Leonard Bernstein conducts his first West Side Story with the abandon, genius, and intimate knowledge of every detail he, as composer, imagined. The crisp orchestra and slower tempos maximize the colours of the orchestral landscape and create magic. This recording falls just one tenor's diction short of perfection. Te Kanawa's scrumptious soprano deliciously graces Maria's music, realizing the virtuosity often unattainable in theatre singers' renditions. Troyanos combines a ferocious chestiness with classically trained savvy. The only weakness is Carreras's diction, which he so obviously works hard to Americanise, but falls distractingly short. Still, the overall recording is brilliant. --Barbara Eisner Bayer Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Outstanding.This recording is simply superb. What some of the reviews seem to forget is that this is a recording of the *music*, not the musical. And in this sense, to my mind at least, the performers' accents are irrelevant. What matters is the fact that this recording brings together a group of some of the most talented singers of the time, and boy does it show. The luscious soprano voice of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is, as always, simply superb, as is the rich tenor sound of José Carreras; these are complemented nicely by Troyanos' mezzo and Ollmann's baritone voices. The orchestra, featuring Miles Davis on trumpet, is similarly exceptional - their prowess and cohesion is demonstrated particularly in tracks such as "Jump". Finding ... Read More: Rating:  - freediverI agree with aspects of all the reviewers here. There is much that is perfect but Carreras is badly miscast ... both for his accent and the fact that his range does not really work .... yes - he is too operatic. Other songs are remarkable.... One Hand One Heart brings tears to my eyes every time, and America is superb and joyful and fun.... There is a magic from Bernstein recording his own music. Rating:  - Too OperaticI thought this was a disappointing recording, with none of the verve of the original. Jose Carreras and Kiri te Kanawa are too operatic and too middle aged sounding to play the parts of Tony and Maria convincingly. This was Bernstein's vanity project and not really a success. West Side Story is a musical - a brilliant musical - and best performed as one, not as an opera. The tunes are still great though and the programme about the recording interesting. Rating: - The perfect version of West Side StoryI bought this album after having being introduced to it through the dvd - the making of West Side Story. Both the cd and the dvd are wonderful and I recommend that you buy them both. I think it's a real treat to hear the songs performed by classically trained singers and not - like Bernstein himself says on the dvd - performed by dancers who also can sing somewhat. In my opinion the songs benefit greatly from being sung by singers like José Carreras and Kiri Te Kanawa. What I don't like about this recording is Bernsteins decision about not letting the singers perform the spoken dialogue as well as the singing. And why, oh why did Bernstein have to choose his own children for the task? To me they sound uninvolved in the play and I ... Read More: Rating: - Look no further, this is perfectionImagine Mozart recording his Requiem, Beethoven his Choral Symphony or Vivaldi and the Seasons - This is the sort of result you would get. The only thing that would make it better is for DG to release the DVD version of the documentary of the sessions. |
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