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Sondheim on Sondheim |  | Artists: Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat, Original Broadway Cast
Creators: Stephen Sondheim, N/a
Label: P.S. Classics
Category: Music
List Price: $22.98
Buy New: $15.50
as of 9/10/2010 03:40 PDT details
You Save: $7.48 (33%)
New (4) from $15.50
Seller: stoozrecords
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 88
Format: Cast Recording, Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 803607109325
EAN: 0803607109325
ASIN: B003SPJ4C4
Release Date: August 31, 2010 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | My name is Stephen Joshua Sondheim… | | • | Invocation/Forget War | | • | Love Is In The Air | | • | Comedy Tonight | | • | Take Me To The World | | • | Ten years after I was born… | | • | Talent/When I Get Famous | | • | Something’s Coming | | • | My first professional show… | | • | So Many People | | • | For many years, Hal Prince… | | • | You Could Drive A Person Crazy | | • | The Wedding Is Off | | • | Now You Know | | • | Hal Prince and I did six shows together… | | • | Franklin Shepard, Inc. | | • | Good Thing Going | | • | Sometimes a song changes its shape… | | • | Waiting For The Girls Upstairs | | • | The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened | | • | My first serious relationship… | | • | Happiness | | • | Fosca’s Entrance (I Read) | | • | Is This What You Call Love? | | • | Loving You |
Disc 2
| • | God | | • | If you ask me to write a love song… | | • | Losing My Mind/Not A Day Goes By | | • | A lot of people think… | | • | Opening Doors | | • | We had three endings to Company… | | • | Multitudes of Amy | | • | Happily Ever After | | • | Being Alive | | • | Something Just Broke | | • | The Gun Song | | • | Jule Styne and I realized with Gypsy… | | • | Smile, Girls | | • | I suppose if there is one that’s closest… | | • | Finishing The Hat | | • | Beautiful | | • | I had a lot of trouble with my mother… | | • | Children Will Listen | | • | To me, teaching is a sacred profession… | | • | Send In The Clowns | | • | “I’ve often been asked why I don’t write…” | | • | Company/Old Friends | | • | Anyone Can Whistle |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Has any post-Tin Pan Alley composer been the subject of more revues than Stephen Sondheim? Perhaps not, but Sondheim on Sondheim is not your typical revue. Yes, it collects a wide variety of songs from the many Broadway shows he composed or for which hewrote lyrics over a career spanning from the 1950s to the present, performed by a talented cast including name headliners Barbara Cook, Tom Wopat, and Vanessa Williams. But when Sondheim on Sondheim played at the Roundabout Theatre's Studio 54 in April 2010, it included video segments of the composer talking about himself and his life, represented on this recording by audio segments. As he talks about his shows, his collaborators, or his personal experiences, the cast of singers acts like a Greek chorus, embellishing the thoughts with excerpts from Sondheim's songs, but also performing some in full, and many in versions different from the original shows. After he talks about working on Company, the singers perform the multiple variations on the ending. Mention of his personal relationship is followed by songs from Passion. And there's one newly composed song, "God," in which he pokes fun at his own lofty reputation. The headliners are excellent. Cook has lost some range and control over the years, but proves she's still one of the great Sondheim voices of any generation with her "Send in the Clowns." Wopat, best known as a TV actor before embarking on a Broadway career, is up to the subtle intricacies of "Finishing the Hat," and Williams, who played the Witch in the 2002 Into the Woods revival, shines on ballads such as "Losing My Mind" (which Cook memorably recorded in the 1980s) and ""Good Thing Going." The unsung stars are the lesser-known singers, Leslie Kritzer, Norm Lewis, Euan Morton, Erin Mackey, and Matthew Scott, who cover the tight harmonies and elaborate counterpoint of the ensemble numbers and also sing strong solos and duets. One almost wishes there had been no headliners with distractingly distinctive voices, thereby giving the sole spotlight to the songs and to Sondheim, who talks about himself in ways that he probably abhors, including deeply personal moments about his mother and his relationship with Oscar Hammerstein II. The stories have probably been told before, but here, in context with the songs he's written, they become even more moving. For a composer often criticized as being cold and unemotional, there can be no better response. --David Horiuchi
Product Description
Hailed by the Associated Press as a: revelatory revue full of wonderful moments, and by USA Today as a: funny, affectionate and revealing tribute to musical theater's greatest living composer and lyricist, SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM is an intimate portrait of the famed songwriter in his own words...and music. An all-star cast headed by Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat takes on new arrangements of over two-dozen Sondheim tunes, ranging from the beloved to the obscure, interspersed with audio commentary by the composer himself, who reveals fascinating details about his life and his art. Stephen Sondheim's final word on his unparalleled body of work has been preserved by PS Classics in this lavish release.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 Sondheim Captured! September 6, 2010
Garrett Stack (Connecticut)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This amazing theatrical event appeared on Broadway for one brief moment, actually a limited run of 76 performances, and was the major buzz among musical aficionados in the spring of 2010. Seeing and hearing Sondheim on Sondheim was one of those rare experiences that made your heart, mind and soul react so spontaneously that you had to check in with yourself after the fact to realize what you just gone through. Being in the company of Stephen Sondheim himself, then 80, talking about his work via video interview, punctuated with performances by some of the Broadway greats of all time was truly a singular gift to be cherished - knowing full well that you would never be able to experience it again.
But! When this recording was released, it was another gift. This 2-CD set captures every performance and provides the same emotional high that being there did. What is astounding about this recording, beside the indelible performances, is the audio quality painstakingly reproduced for the listener. Nothing is lost. The balance between the vocals and the rich textures of the orchestra are perfect. That in itself is a rare and sorely missed commodity in today's Broadway Cast albums.
If you never got a chance to experience this once in a lifetime historic event "live," this CD will take you there. From the very entertaining evolution of "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum," to the heartbreaking contextually-based "Children Will Listen," to the mature reading of Barbara Cook's "Send In The Clowns," I can't say enough about this show. PS Classics did it perfectly: Sondheim Captured!
Gotta Love Sondheim September 4, 2010
Jason S. Wrench (Kingston, NY)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
First, I'm a huge Sondheim fan, so please realize that when you read further.
While the singing on these two disks may not be the best Broadway has to offer, I found this collection both interesting and delightful. If you're wanting a straight Broadway musical, then don't bother buying this CD collection. These two CDs really provide the listener with interesting insight into how Steven Sondheim (or as one song refers to him "God") creates modern musical master pieces. From gigantic hits to Broadway flops, this album is a wonderful collection of notable Sondheim favorites and many new songs that never appeared in other collections. Of course, the songs themselves are interwoven with actual narrative from Sondheim himself where he discusses every thing from the only autobiographical song he ever wrote to the type of legal paper he prefers when writing.
Superb Sondheim September 8, 2010
HP Cohen
Of all the Broadway musical composers in the last fifty years, no one comes close to the superb Mr. Sondheim in my minds' eye. He has captivated audiences for years with unique shows that were both hits and misses. His music has always been amongst the very best.
Unfortuantely I did not get to see this glorious evening of Sondheim theater. But as I listen I almost feel as though I was in a Broadway theater. The cast is tops and Sondheim himself tells snippets of important happenings in his life and a few fun facts as well.
There are so many great talents who come together to make for an extremely enjoyable musical experience. Barbara Cook, as always, is perfection. Her Send in the Clowns is amongst the best interpretations of this masterpiece. Vanessa Williams does magic with her work which includes a song written for Merman, but cut from Gypsy, entitled Smile Girls. And Tom Wopat once more proves that he is a fine Broadway leading man. His Finishing the Hat is terrific. The three perform well on all that they do on this CD. The other five young people who round out the cast are all very good.
There are songs from many Sondheim shows including Follies, Merrily We Roll Along, Company, Assassins, Passion, Bounce, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sunday in the Park with George and much more. The arrangements are good. Although there are 48 cuts on this 2-CD set, another CD and another 12 or more cuts would have been fine with me. I thoroughly enjoyed this Sondheim experience.
The CD set is nicely packaged including a booklet with all of the lyrics and photos of the cast and the composer.
An Instant Classic September 2, 2010
fshepinc
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Does the world need another Stephen Sondheim revue? With this new recording of Sondheim On Sondheim the answer is most emphatically YES! Not only is the material well arranged and beautifully sung, it comes with introductions, background, and trivia from the composer himself -offering insights and points of view even long-time fans may have missed. Barbara Cook is glorious, as always, and the entire cast is a delight. Those who saw the show in the theatre may quibble over changes to the playlist or the running order, but this is a truly historical document nonetheless. It is also an engrossing and very moving listening experience. The sound and packaging are first rate, with lyrics and photos that help bring the theatrical experience to life. This one is a must-have for theatre lovers!
 Smart! The Lyrics are So Smart! And The Music Has Such Heart! September 1, 2010
Rudy Palma (NJ)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
"Sondheim on Sondheim" is a highly sophisticated, well-executed showcase. Delving into the creative genius that has come so naturally to Mr. Stephen Sondheim, Shakespeare's musical theater equivalent, for more than half a century, the James Lapine-helmed production both informs and massively delights in generous doses.
Nothing can substitute for seeing a production done live, but the sparkly-clean, intrepid cast performs just as vigorously, professionally and with vested intent to please on record as on stage.
Sondheim's insights lose nothing from the live production - to hear rather than see him speak (he was recorded earlier and projected onscreen) does not dilute the effect his offerings have as they add context for the material performed. Even facts long known by musical theater buffs (such as the saga that involved finding the right song to open "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and the dear truck songs that resulted) are worth hearing again directly from Mr. Sondheim, who is self-effacing if not particularly sentimental.
It is no surprise that the astounding Barbara Cook comes across best. Her warm, inviting, compassionate, angelic way of phrase makes her featured spots - "Take Me to the World" and "Send in the Clowns" among them - reason enough to listen. Finding a more remarkable singer would be like walking up to a stranger on the street and correctly guessing his name is Irving.
Tom Wopat, who has rightly garnered great acclaim from musical theater audiences in the past two decades, shines especially on the achingly beautiful "Finishing the Hat" from "Sunday in the Park with George," as does the ever-photogenic and neatly poised Vanessa Williams on the likes of the contemplative "Good Thing Going" from "Merrily We Roll Along," even though she oversells the subtle, less-is-more ballad "The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened" from "Road Show."
The young upstarts who complement the big-name stars possess remarkable vocal ranges, yet (except in the case of Euan Morton) their collective young age shows - these are musical theater actors who were trained to sing with technical precision that is professionally and sharply executed but lacking for warmth, nuance and sincerity - a common problem in the newer crop of performers. This mattered less on stage - the production was elaborate and pleasing to the eyes - than it does on disc. "Something's Coming" best exemplifies this. No fingerprints are made. They sing like glittering automatons.
Norm Lewis' "Being Alive" (from "Company"), for example, glides and soars with his marvelous vocal range. Sometime after listening, however, one is left with a sensation not unlike having consumed a large ice cream float. It was highly impressive, but did it ring true and sincere? Was it healthy? No.
It should be conceded, of course, that when young performers are sharing the stage with Cook it makes it all the more arduous a task to come through with equal warmth, emotional availability and unstudied-ness.
In such a well-wrought, crisply envisioned context such as "Sondheim on Sondheim," however, these points only mildly dilute the quality. Anyone who admires or wants to know more about the musical theater marvel is sure to be satisfied by this engaging, generous revue that informs nearly as much as it entertains.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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