Leonard BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Wonderful Town (1953)
Ruth Sherwood - Kim Criswell (mezzo)
Eileen Sherwood - Audra McDonald (soprano)
Bob Baker - Thomas Hampson (baritone)
Guide/Editor/Frank - Rodney Gilfry (baritone)
Lonigan - Timothy Robinson (tenor)
London Voices; Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Sir Simon Rattle
rec. No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London, June 1998
EMI CLASSICS AMERICAN CLASSICS 9671362 [66:44]
This splendid musical is here reissued as part of EMI’s American Classics series.
In its latest incarnation it is even less expensive than it was before, which
makes this famous performance all the more appealing.
The story concerns a pair of sisters who leave Ohio to escape the Depression
of the 1930s and try to make their way in New York City. After lots of knock-backs
they find both success and love. It’s classic musical territory, but
what really distinguished it is Bernstein’s score, written in lightning-quick
time in four weeks in 1953 when another team had failed to deliver the goods.
Bernstein’s melodic gift is apparent everywhere, from the quirky opening
song which accompanies the tourists visiting Greenwich Village to the charming It’s
love which seals the relationship between the two lead characters. He also
shows his characteristic affinity with all sorts of genres outside the regular
classical fold, such as a highly engaging Conga and the jazzy slurs of Ruth’s
anti-love song One hundred easy ways to lose a man. The culmination
is a very stylish swing number which drums up business for the local night
club, and it isn’t hard to see why in the story it is so successful in
its aim. It’s all tremendous fun and even if the cod Irish number is
rather bizarre it is saved by quite lovely tenor singing from Timothy Robinson.
Here as elsewhere the key to this recording’s success is the enthusiasm
of the performers. The two sisters, sung by Criswell and McDonald, are well
contrasted, their voices blending effectively in their homesick duet, Ohio.
The reckless Eileen lives it up brilliantly while the poignancy of Ruth’s
self-awareness is well caught by Criswell. Thomas Hampson hams it up brilliantly
as the dislikeable newspaper editor, Bob Baker, but he melts away in the love
song numbers, especially A Quiet Girl, which is a proper aria and he
sings it with fitting intensity. There are no texts or translations provided
but enunciation is so good from everyone that this is never an issue.
The small forces of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group live inside this
music as if it were made for them, and their size means that you can pick out
every single texture, not least in the razzamatazz of the overture. The excellent
recording quality helps, but the finest element of the set is undoubtedly Rattle
himself who clearly loves this music and does it the great honour of taking
it seriously. The rewards will be obvious to any listener, though there is
no dialogue to connect the numbers and the documentation isn’t really
adequate to follow the story in detail. Still, if you give it a chance then
I’m sure you’ll want to come back to it.
Simon Thompson