| Review by petermwilson July 15, 2003 (0 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Hi,
Unfortuneatly Jose Carreres et all trying to speak with New York accents just ruins everything exept the musics fidelity.
Peter m.
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| Review by peteyspambucket July 21, 2003 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
My goodness, the sound on this SACD is so good! I love the way the jazz orchestra was captured here. You will hear a lot of detail everywhere.
For fans of this piece, you will be annoyed with the spoken dialog (sounds like they were on prozac), and maybe you'll be annoyed with the operatic vocals.
The numbers on this album that really shine are the Tony & Maria duets. Tonight is also very nice, in both the duet and ensemble versions. The other highlights are the big jazz numbers for orchestra only.
For those who don't like operatic treatment of bway music, be careful, but to those who know this recording already, buy without fear. It sounds great and much improved.
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| Review by Dr. O August 3, 2005 (4 of 5 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
Many often wonder why Bernstein would have chosen a Spaniard (Jose Carreras) to sing the role of "the anglo" (Tony) in this "concert-version remake" of West Side Story. The answer is simple: he wanted to find the best possible voices in order to cast this as a concert performance, where the focus is on the music itself and not primarily on the story.
If one can overlook this seeming incongruity, then this West Side Story is indeed a stunning recording which will delight the ears and fire the imagination! Much is included here which is not to be found on the original CD. I am grateful that this historic production was recorded in such a way that we can today enjoy in it's Super Audio version.
Two Thumbs Up! Add it to your collection if you are a fan of Bernstein and this, his much-loved American classic!
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| Review by 2-channel February 6, 2006 (3 of 8 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
If you've been brought up on the original soundtrack version of this, then you'll immediately be ill-at-ease with this one. It's far too operatic an approach for the earthy subject matter and I can't imagine why Bernstein thought he could improve on things.
For entertainment value, you can do no better than watch the video of rehearsals, in which Jose Carreras is given music lessons by Bernstein (in front of the whole crew), amongst many other fascinating insights.
The sound quality is excellent, only tending to sharpen the ludicrousness of the venture, but SACD adds nothing.
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