1. Something’s Coming [4:20]
Brian Stokes Mitchell; Orchestra/Brian
Stokes Mitchell
rec. June 2000
2. Maria [3:48]
Johnny Mathis; Orchestra/Glenn Osser
rec. 1960
3. Cool [3:37]*
Eldar (piano & Fender Rhodes)
rec. 2007
4. I Have a Love / One Hand, One Heart
[4:44]
Barbara Streisand / Johnny Mathis; Orchestra/Bill
Ross
rec. 1993
5. Tonight [2:36]
Andy Williams; Orchestra/Robert Mersey
rec. 1962
6. I Feel Pretty [1:58]
Julie Andrews; Henri René and
His Orchestra
rec. 1961
7. America [3:13]
The Canadian Brass
rec. 1996
8. Somewhere [4:16]
The Dave Brubeck Quartet (Dave Brubeck
(piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene
Wright (bass), Joe Morello (drums)
rec. 1960
9. Maria (excerpt from West Side Story
Suite, arr. William David Brohn) [3:45]
Joshua Bell (violin), Philharmonia Orchestra/David
Zinman
rec. 2000
10. Gee, Officer Krupke [6:45]*
André Previn (piano), Red Mitchell
(bass), Shelly Manne (drums)
rec. 1963 live at the Philharmonic (Avery
Fisher Hall, New York)
11. One Hand, One Heart [2:50]
Tuck & Patti
rec. 1991
12. Tonight [4:14]*
Kristin Chenoweth / Hugh Panaro
rec. 2007
* denotes first release
After the premiere
of West Side Story on 26 September
1957 at Winter Garden Theatre on 1634
Broadway, a reviewer wrote something
along the lines "This musical has
everything – except memorable melodies".
I bet that critic has had reason to
regret that comment more than once.
Few melodies have become so firmly rooted
in the public mind as the ones that
these throng these songs. They have
appeared – and still do – in sundry
versions and arrangements ever since
the musical was first performed. For
true aficionados the original cast album
with Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert will
never be outdone, nor the soundtrack
album from the film with Natalie Wood
and Richard Beymer. For a more symphonic
treatment Bernstein’s revised version
from 1983, conducted by himself and
with Kiri Te Kanawa and José
Carreras as a somewhat over-aged teenage
couple, will always have its attraction.
A few years ago Naxos released a disc
conducted by former Bernstein protégé
Kenneth Schermerhorn that is also worth
attention.
For the present tribute
album Sony/BMG have delved in their
archives but also come up with some
brand new recordings. In the vaults
they also found an André Previn
Trio recording that had never been published
before. Stylistically the scope is wide,
from the crooning of Johnny Mathis and
Andy Williams – both of them a bit too
sentimental – via the jolly and fresh
Julie Andrews to the ever-engaging Barbara
Streisand. But there’s more: a bouncy
America by The Canadian Brass
and then Joshua Bell and the Philharmonia
in a symphonically conceived Maria.
At the other end – and in a way the
most enticing of them all are those
rooted in jazz: Eldar’s cool Cool,
recorded this year, Previn’s live Gee,
Officer Krupke – he was a great
jazz pianist!. The Dave Brubeck Quartet
is there with the ever tasteful Paul
Desmond’s alto sax centre-stage. This
Somewhere emanates from an old
LP where the quartet play songs from
West Side Story on one side and
on the reverse join the New York Philharmonic
conducted by Bernstein in a composition
by Dave’s older brother Howard, Dialogues
for Jazz Combo and Symphony Orchestra
– cross-over in more than one
sense.
This is a disc that
provides agreeable easy listening and
some highly inspired improvisational
music-making. Even though I prefer Bernstein’s
original thoughts in the Broadway Cast
Album or any of the aforementioned sets,
I believe that many people will find
much to admire here. It’s a pity that
Sony/BMG didn’t find more material in
their archives – the playing time is
a bit parsimonious.
Göran Forsling
SONY/BMG MASTERWORKS BROADWAY 88697 12161
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