Bernstein - Wonderful Town / Simon Rattle (1999 Studio Cast) [Cast Recording]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Leonard Bernstein's collaboration with Betty Comden and Adolph Green on Wonderful Town is one of his great Broadway triumphs, filled with memorable music and great lyrics. And the screwball tale of two fish-out-of-water small-town sisters in NYC (based on the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov) still sounds comical and fresh, despite the fact that it was written in the '50s and set in the '30s. Up until now, the 1958 television cast recording was the disc to have: a slightly embellished version of the original cast recording starring Rosalind Russell. The strong cast on this 1999 studio recording is every bit as impressive. Audra McDonald shines as Eileen during "A Little Bit in Love," Kim Criswell is a fine Ruth (though less memorable than Russell), and Thomas Hampson--a baritone best known for his work on the opera stage--is great as Ruth's gruff editor, Bob Baker. Simon Rattle's orchestrations are grand, yet quirky, a perfect match for Bernstein's score. It's easy to recommend a disc that has so many great vocal moments: "Conga!," "My Darlin' Eileen," "Conversation Piece," and "Pass the Football" (sung by Brent Barrett), to name a few. --Jason Verlinde

Tracks:

Overture - Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sir Simon Rattle
Christopher Street - Rodney Gilfrey/London Voices/Simon Halsey
Ohio - Audra McDonald/Kim Criswell
Conquering New York - Kim Criswell/London Voices
One Hundred Easy Ways - Kim Criswell
What A Waste - Thomas Hampson/Kim Criswell/Rodney Gilfrey/Karl Daymond
A Little Bit In Love - Audra McDonald
Pass The Football - Brent Barrett
Conversation Piece - Audra McDonald/Rodney Gilfry/Thomas Hampson/Karl Daymond
A Quiet Girl - Thomas Hampson
Conga! - Michael Dore/Kim Criswell/London Vocies/Simon Halsey
Entr'acte - Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sir Simon Rattle
My Darlin' Eileen - Timothy Robinson/Robert Fardell/Lynton Atkinson/Michael Dore
Swing! - Kim Criswell/Michael Dore/London Voices/Simon Halsey/Lunton Atkinson/Simone Marshall...
Quiet Incidental - Audra McDonald/Kim Criswell
Reprise: Ohio - Kim Criswell/Audra McDonald
It's Love - Audra McDonald/Thomas Hampson/London Voices/Simon Halsey
Ballet At The Village Vortex - Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sir Simon Rattle
Wrong Note Rag - Kim Criswell/Audra McDonald/London Voices/Simon Halsey
Reprise: It's Love - Audra McDonald/Thomas Hampson/Kim Criswell/Brent Barret/Rodney Gilfry/Karl Daymond...

Amazon.com essential recording

Leonard Bernstein's collaboration with Betty Comden and Adolph Green on Wonderful Town is one of his great Broadway triumphs, filled with memorable music and great lyrics. And the screwball tale of two fish-out-of-water small-town sisters in NYC (based on the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov) still sounds comical and fresh, despite the fact that it was written in the '50s and set in the '30s. Up until now, the 1958 television cast recording was the disc to have: a slightly embellished version of the original cast recording starring Rosalind Russell. The strong cast on this 1999 studio recording is every bit as impressive. Audra McDonald shines as Eileen during "A Little Bit in Love," Kim Criswell is a fine Ruth (though less memorable than Russell), and Thomas Hampson--a baritone best known for his work on the opera stage--is great as Ruth's gruff editor, Bob Baker. Simon Rattle's orchestrations are grand, yet quirky, a perfect match for Bernstein's score. It's easy to recommend a disc that has so many great vocal moments: "Conga!," "My Darlin' Eileen," "Conversation Piece," and "Pass the Football" (sung by Brent Barrett), to name a few. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

A crossover Wonderful Town far from Broadway.......2005-10-07

Maybe we need some background checks here: Have any of these other reviewers actually been to a musical? On Broadway? Or anywhere in America?

Simon Rattle startled Berlin by taking this same Wonderful Town to the Philharmonie as a gala performance. HOw in the world did they react? This performance is not much like real Broadway. Listen to just a few moments of the original cast recording with Rosalind Russell or the current NY revival with Donna Murphy, and you'll sense how many fish are out of water here.

Rattle does the best, conducting with real verve and an almost-good-enough grasp of the Boradway-swing idiom Bernstein was writing in. Eveyrone else is too obviously trying to sound like something they're not. Audra McDonald is a too-throaty Eileen, Kim Criswell an edgy, noisy Ruth, Thomas Hampson a stiffly operatic editor, Robert Baker. Altogether, this CD is an energetic but ersatz attempt to take Broadway where Broadway don't want to go.

Kim Criswell and Audra McDonald as the Sherwood sisters!.......2004-07-08

This is one of the better cast albums of WONDERFUL TOWN, though nothing tops the original '53 recording with Rosalind Russell. Still, time marches on and there have been several superb Ruth's in recent years, including the fabulous Kim Criswell.

Criswell has the perfect brassy voice to sing the scores of Broadway's golden classics (she's also luminous on the '91 studio album of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), and she fits the material of TOWN to a tee. Her spin on Ruth is well worth your time and money, especially her fetching "100 Easy Ways" and showstopping "Conga!". And, as with the ANNIE GET YOUR GUN album, she's once again paired with Thomas Hampson, who plays Ruth's love interest Bob Baker (he played Frank opposite her Annie Oakley).

Audra McDonald is likewise the perfect Eileen, perhaps offering up the definitive "A Little Bit in Love", and proves she's a comical cutup with "My Darlin' Eileen" as well as "Wrong-Note Rag". Brent Barrett is sadly under-used in the role of football-mad Wreck.

Conductor Simon Rattle gives the album a cracking pace which never slackens or drags. A top studio album which is enlivened no end by its perfectly-realised cast.

TOPS!.......2001-06-09

If you need one reason to buy this super cd, let it be for Leonard Bernstein's brilliant music---his only score to win a Tony Award. (That's right: neither "Candide" nor "West Side Story" won a Tony.)

The lyrics of Betty Comden and Adolph Green are some of their best. The witty duo came back to Broadway for this show, their first reunion with Bernstein since the success of "On The Town" almost 10 years before. They had very recently written the wildly successful "Singin' In The Rain" in Hollywood and with "Wonderful Town" they (& the entire creative team) conquered New York City.

This CD, to my mind, is a heck of alot better in almost every way than the original cast recording which starred Rosalind Russell. Russell, of course, could not sing and although her role is heavy on comedy and light on music, Kim Criswell comes off better: she is funny & touching as well as caustic and light-handed as well as tough. Russell sounds angry and almost sullen throughout...also quite mature. Add to this, the fact that Criswell has a sensational singing voice. As her love interest,Thomas Hampson, one of our finest operatic baritones, knows exactly how to lighten his voice to sing musical comedy and does it beautifully. On the Russell CD, George Gaines merely sounds old and terribly fancy, like a serious singer who is slumming. Although Edith Adams is fine as "Eileen," Audra McDonald (a 3-time Tony winner, herself) is even better in the role of the girl that all New York City wants to woo. Brent Barrett brings his gorgeous voice, as well as comic skills to his one song as the football-playing dunce, "Wreck."

The sound on this 1999 recording is superb. The conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, throws himself into Bernstein's score with verve and shows exactly how much he loves American jazz and Broadway.

There are many comic numbers, all of which hit the mark, but I must mention that "A Little Bit In Love" and "A Quiet Girl" and "It's Love" have got to be three of the sweetest, cleverest, most charming "love" songs in any musical. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

An addicting recording.......2001-02-22

I was browsing through the cd selection at my library when I came across this one. I have always liked Leonard Bernstein but for some reason had never connected him with this musical. His name and Thomas Hampson's caught my eye and I decided to try it out. I'm so glad I did! The songs are marvelous, really bringing out the whole comical aspect of the story. I had never heard of any of the performers (with the exception of Thomas Hampson, whose voice I just love) but was so impressed with their renditions of their characters. Kim Criswell's throaty voice sounds just like you would think Ruth would feel about life in general; Audra McDonald has a sweet optimistic view in her songs; Brent Barrett is hilarious in "Pass the Football" (I laugh every time I hear it--he is so expressive); and Thomas Hampson's beautiful baritone is perfect in "What a Waste" and "A Quiet Girl". The supporting singers are great, too. I have listened to this cd over and over. I just can't seem to get enough of it! The recording itself is very good, clear and detailed, and I was delighted with the booklet with the full lyrics. Altogether very good; I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys musical theatre.

Absolute perfection.......2000-05-31

I had the awesome good fortune to see this program performed in London last summer with all these stars and under the baton of Simon Rattle. It was a magical evening, all of which is captured on this fantastic recording. The cast does a marvelous job of passing the terrific energy of Berstein's music along to the listener. And the lyrics are a delight. Although this particular show is not as well-known as other classics by Bernstein et al, it well deserves a place among the standards. 'What a Waste' is a delightful surprise, and 'A Quiet Girl' is quite moving. Audra McDonald sings like an angel, and her rendition of 'Little Bit in Love' is simply lovely. Despite the perfection of the voices and the lyrics, one of the highlights of the recording is Bernstein's jazzy and sensual 'Ballet at the Village Vortex.' Wow! Overall, this is just a terrific recording that brings back memories of a magical night -- imagine 200 people doing a 'Conga' line through the Royal Albert Hall -- that energy comes through on this recording.