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Leonard Bernstein's 1953 musical Wonderful Town, with song texts by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, hasn't had frequent performances and recordings. It has lots of things going for it: one of Bernstein's memorable tunes in "Ohio" ("Oh, why-o, why-o, why ..."), a conga scene that is inadequately motivated but certainly anticipates West Side Story, and an ensemble cast conception that was certainly known to the writers of A Chorus Line 20 years later. It also has some things going against it: the number "One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man" is retrograde even by the dismal standards of musical theater gender relations, and the storyline is a bit random. Bernstein seems to have acknowledged this with his concert version of the score, which showcases his tunes and his up-to-the-minute familiarity with jazz and Latin rhythms while not weighing itself down with the tale. Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra are fine, relaxed performers in this repertory, and they deliver a performance that goes beyond usual symphony-orchestra correctness. One wonders how the topical references to American football, Kiwanis clubs, and the like, go down with overseas performers, but Duncan Rock as Wreck seems comfortable with the latter (sample "Pass the Football") and the lead female vocal duo of Australia's Danielle de Niese and the American Alysha Umphress are fine in the more universal theme of small town girls in the big city. The cast's American accents are impressively consistent, probably more so than they would be in a U.S. production, and the sound from this 2017 live recording at the Barbican keeps everything clear.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Wonderful Town (Leonard Bernstein)
London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Ashley Riches, Bass-Baritone (Guide) - Flora Dawson, Actor/Singer (Violet) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Nathan Gunn, Baritone (Bob Baker) - Ashley Riches, Bass-Baritone (First Editor) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - Duncan Rock, Baritone (Second Associate Editor) - David Butt Philip, Tenor (Lonigan) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Duncan Rock, Baritone (Wreck) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - Nathan Gunn, Baritone (Bob Baker) - Ashley Riches, Bass-Baritone (Frank) - Stephen John Davies, Singer/Actor (Chick Clark) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Nathan Gunn, Baritone (Bob Baker) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - Kevin Brewis, Singer/Actor (Cadet) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - David Butt Philip, Tenor (Lonigan) - Stephen John Davies, Actor/Singer (First Cop) - Kevin Brewis, Actor/Singer (Third Cop) - Michael Baxter, Actor/Singer (Fourth Cop) - Andrew Keelan, Actor/Singer (Second Cop) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - Jane Quinn, Actress/Singer (First Woman) - Kevin Brewis, Actor/Singer (First Man) - Andrew Keelan, Actor/Singer (Second Man) - Sophia Foroughi, Actress/Singer (Second Woman) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Nathan Gunn, Baritone (Bob Baker) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Danielle de Niese, Soprano (Eileen) - Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - Nathan Gunn, Baritone (Bob Baker) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Alysha Umphress, Mezzo-Soprano (Ruth) - London Symphony Chorus - London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor - Leonard Bernstein, Composer - Boosey & Hawkes, MusicPublisher
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
Album review
Leonard Bernstein's 1953 musical Wonderful Town, with song texts by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, hasn't had frequent performances and recordings. It has lots of things going for it: one of Bernstein's memorable tunes in "Ohio" ("Oh, why-o, why-o, why ..."), a conga scene that is inadequately motivated but certainly anticipates West Side Story, and an ensemble cast conception that was certainly known to the writers of A Chorus Line 20 years later. It also has some things going against it: the number "One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man" is retrograde even by the dismal standards of musical theater gender relations, and the storyline is a bit random. Bernstein seems to have acknowledged this with his concert version of the score, which showcases his tunes and his up-to-the-minute familiarity with jazz and Latin rhythms while not weighing itself down with the tale. Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra are fine, relaxed performers in this repertory, and they deliver a performance that goes beyond usual symphony-orchestra correctness. One wonders how the topical references to American football, Kiwanis clubs, and the like, go down with overseas performers, but Duncan Rock as Wreck seems comfortable with the latter (sample "Pass the Football") and the lead female vocal duo of Australia's Danielle de Niese and the American Alysha Umphress are fine in the more universal theme of small town girls in the big city. The cast's American accents are impressively consistent, probably more so than they would be in a U.S. production, and the sound from this 2017 live recording at the Barbican keeps everything clear.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Details of original recording : Recorded live in DSD, 16 & 21 December 2017 in the Barbican Hall, London
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 21 track(s)
- Total length: 01:13:57
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: London Symphony Orchestra, Nathan Gunn, Danielle de Niese, London Symphony Chorus, Sir Simon Rattle, Alysha Umphress, David Butt Philip and Duncan Roc
- Composer: Leonard Bernstein
- Label: LSO Live
- Area: Etats-Unis d'Amérique
- Genre: Soundtracks Musical Theatre
- Period: Contemporary music
London Symphony Orchestra Ltd London Symphony Orchestra Ltd
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