Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)
|
Our Price: $12.98 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.50 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Company - A Musical Comedy (1970 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: One of the Greatest Musicals
Hit: 5 Stars
"Company" -- along with "Follies", "A Little Night Music", and "Sweeney Todd", represents the pinnacle of Sondheim's achievement and a bastion of the greatest music Broadway has ever sponsored -- both from a musical and literary perspective. "Company" itself is by turns warm, acerbic, amusing, frantic, and is a magnificent expression of the convoluted emotional lives of modern urbanites. (Indeed, it has one of the most perceptive songs ever written about New York City--"Another Hundred People".) The ambiguity of the human spirit is a major theme running through Sondheim's ouvre of lyrics. (Which are, in my opinion, arguably the greatest body of lyrics composed for the stage, Gerschwin, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein & Hart AND the rest notwithstanding.) Such brilliant songs as "Sorry-Grateful", "Someone Is Waiting", and "Being Alive" attest to that. The words reach down into the gut, and even when cynical they ring true (as in the wonderful "The Ladies Who Lunch"). Although there have been alternative casts and revivals and numerous concert performances of the score, in whole or part, this original cast recording still towers above them all: Dean Jones' magnificent performance, fraught with all the pain and bemusement and alienation (the role nearly caused him to have a nervous breakdown, it affected him so much); that national treasure, Elaine Strich, in "The Little Things You Do Together" and the incomparable "The Ladies Who Lunch"; Beth Howland's tour-de-force panic attack while "Getting Married Today"; the wonderful cast (including Charles Kimbrough of "Murphy Brown" fame and Barbara Barrie, and alumnus of "Barney Miller"). Even the ostensibly "Big" crowd-pleaser numbers, like "Side by Side by Side", for all their conscious nods to popular tastes, have an edge-- how Bobby, at the end, finds himself alone when his married friends pair off with their spouses-- beside the wonderfully witty and insightful lyrics; in "Barcelona" -- one of the most realistic "post-coitus" numbers even written -- where Bobby, after insincere and fulsome praise of his recent bedmate, at a climax calls her "June" -- and she quietly corrects him-- "April" -- there's nothing quite like it, or many of the numbers, elsewhere in Musical Theater. ALL IN ALL -- this album is a classic, probably not for people with bubblegum tastes whose preferences run to the simpy or bathetic-- but for people of intelligence and introspection. It cannot be recommended too highly.Free Music Review: Haunting, melancholy, life-affirming -- a work of art
Hit: 5 Stars
Sometimes it's great not to have heard something in your youth - it makes it that much more enjoyable when you finally encounter it further down the line. I had already enjoyed Sondheim's genius work in the musicals "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Woods" but only just heard "Company" for the first time this year. All I can say is I'll never hear the word "Barcelona" without thinking of Sondheim's gorgeous song of that name from this musical about the ups and downs of marriage and loneliness and how these states of being both mirror-reflect and contradict each other (sometimes at the same time, as Sondheim observes in the song "Sorry-Grateful").
I can't stop thinking about the song "Barcelona" - it's so beautiful that I find myself listening to it over and over again. Existentially, I feel like the whole world is nothing more or less than one person asking another "Where you going?" and hearing back "Barcelona" - in this equation, "Barcelona" is quite simply and symbolically someplace else. The wiseness of Sondheim's lyric and somber timbres of the music convince you once and for all that each one of us is going to his/her own private Barcelona - and, ultimately, we're all going there alone (even if someone is along for the ride, as it were).
As a recording, the music as performed by the orchestra on this 1970 recording of COMPANY is fresh and vibrant and shot through with dynamics - why don't the Broadway orchestra pits sound like this anymore? You can't beat real musicians playing real instruments - synths just don't cut it.
All vocal performances are top-notch - Elaine Stritch brings a delicious madness to "The Ladies Who Lunch," and I can't believe that the same Dean Jones who starred in Disney's LOVE BUG movie is the incredibly emotional voice of Bobby singing "Being Alive" on this album. I don't see why so many seem to have knocked his voice or his performance over the years - I thought Dean Jones captures the sweet desperation of "Being Alive" much better than the Larry Kert version.
There's a line in "Being Alive" along the lines of "Blow out the candles, Robert, and make a wish . . . Want something . . . want SOME-thing." I get a lump in my throat every time. This music is incredible - Sondheim really got it all down here and it's a blessing to the human race to be able to hear our lives played back to us in this way.
Buy this CD performance of the musical - it should be in everyone's music library . . .
Have a good trip to Barcelona, everyone.
Free Music Review: Sondheim's Most Syncopated Score
Hit: 5 Stars
Despite my clumsy attempt at alliteration in my title, Sondheim's breakthrough score set the tone for his musicals in the 70's; they were all clever, witty, and sometimes heartbreaking. Though 'Cabaret' was the first concept musical, this brought the musical a whole step forward. The book didn't have a standard plot, but rather was an emotional inventory of the leading characters' and their feelings. The musical numbers (as it says in the liner notes) are the musical. Unlike his later scores (particularly Follies), you can gain practically everything you need to know about the characters through the cast recording. As you probably know by now, this musical is about marriage, and how we're "Sorry-Grateful" about it.Sondheim's lyrics display such incredible dynamism that it seems bizarre that people dislike Sondheim (several reviewers criticized Passion, calling the lyrics banal). Listen to "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", and one can't help respect his brilliance. For example, her rhymes "personable" with "coercin' a bull".
I have to mention four other songs as the show's highpoints. "Another Hundred People" is one of the most perceptive songs about urban alienation ever written. "Getting Married Today" is Sondheim's neurotic tour-de-force, brilliantly performaned by Beth Howland. Despite wonderful renditions by Madeline Kahn and Veanne Cox (amongst others), her's remains the definitive. People who are inclined to short-thrift Sondheim ignore these two songs, both which are difficult to do well, and Pamela Myers and Howland knock them out the ballpark. Elaine Stritch's gin soaked rendition of "The Ladies Who Lunch" is a marvel. Piquant, sharp and brutally vicious, this is probably the most well known song on the album.
"Being Alive" has always been a bit of a sore spot for some Sondheim fans. Many felt that it betrays Robert, and that he wouldn't be in that mood by the end (he commits to commit, whereas originally he decides that he's better off alone. After all, his friends aren't the best examples of happily married couples). Nevertheless, the anguish that Dean Jones movingly conveys on this recording is palpable, and as a result, it's completely heartwrenching.
This is a must-have recording. Brilliant, clever, moving, it's one of Sondheim's finest scores (though, none of his scores are bad).
Free Music Review: Great songs about an unusual subject
Hit: 5 Stars
THE SHOW:Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, and George Furth all achieved considerable fame in 1970 for COMPANY, the musical about being single in a world of married people. As one of the earliest "concept" musicals, the plot is subject to some interpretation. While the main character, Robert, is confused and wishy-washy, his world is filled with thirteen of the greatest comedic characters ever created for the Broadway stage. Robert's best friends are five Manhattanite couples: Sarah, the unsuccessful dieter studying martial arts, married to Harry, the refusing-to-reform alcoholic; Jenny, the prim and proper housewife, married to David, more willing to rebel; Susan, the displaced Texan, divorced from but still living with Peter, who apparently has other fish to fry; Amy, comfortable living with Paul for years, but scared about getting married to him; Joanne, bitter, cosmopolitan, and welcome to a relationship on the side while her latest husband, Larry, is away on business. Then there are Robert's three girlfriends: April, the ditzy airline attendant; Kathy, who looks alluring with an engagement ring; and Marta, the ultimate atypical New Yorker. What bothers me about the show are details borne of the gritty "tell-it-like-it-is" era of the early 1970's, which condone unsavory behaviors (smoking marijuana, multiple sexual partners, etc.) which perhaps could have been left out without damaging the show's integrity.
This is probably Sondheim's most melodic score; every song is hummable after a few listens. Most of the songs are very upbeat, including "The Little Things You Do Together," "You Can Drive a Person Crazy," "Side By Side (By Side)," and the title number. Most of the ballads in the score are set in funny contexts. The lyrics are clever, but they haven't been worked over to the point that they sound contrived.
THE RECORDING:
In 1995, a contributor to rec.arts.theatre.musicals declared that this recording of COMPANY was the best all-around cast recording of a Broadway musical, and no one posted a disagreement. It's not that the voices are the greatest - the best two tracks, "The Ladies Who Lunch" and "The Little Things You Do Together," feature Elaine Stritch, one of Broadway's worst singers. It's just that you can sense the energy that this cast of singing actors brought to the studio, most notably in Beth Howland's juggernaut rapid-fire recitation, "Getting Married Today."
Free Music Review: Bachelor # 1........
Hit: 5 Stars
This disc was originally given to me by a friend who thought I might not only enjoy the music...but perhaps see some parallels with my own life.Never being big on musicals I begrudgingly accepted her gift. Hindsight being what it is I suspect she was telling me more than I cared to see at the time. Entering my 45th B'day I now see those parallels in full bloom. As a "not-so young" bachelor I have,over the years,been constantly "fixed-up" on dates (as our protagonist Robert is,wonderfully played by Dean Jones) by well-intentioned friends thinking that they had found Ms. Right for me "Have I Got A Girl For You". Best intentions being what they are I generally go along,all the while watching my friends marriages either last a happy lifetime"The Little Things You Do Together" limp steadily along "Sorry-Grateful" or sadly crumble.Or worse yet, living a facade of happiness "Ladies Who Lunch"
With "Company" S. Sondheim manages to convey more about relationships, marriage "Side By Side By Side", being alone "Tick-Tock" and commitment "Barcelona" than most complete books that I've read.Each song truly has something to say,not only about who we are but about who we wish we could be. And with the inclusion of songs like "Being Alive", "Another Hundred People" and "Someone Is Waitng" I think we all can find a little of ourselves in these strong and telling lyrics.
"Company" was never a big success for Sondheim and since forced to make a "happy-ending" to appease Harold Prince I'm not sure it even stands as one of his favorites. Nevertheless, it is certainly one of mine! Might I suggest doing yourself a favor and picking up your own copy? Whether your married,single or "somewhere in between" I think you may find a little of yourself in here .