x close

Peter Pan

Peter Pan is Leonard Bernstein's least-known musical--or at least chunk of a musical. Featuring four Bernstein songs, the show opened on Broadway in 1950; it starred Jean Arthur (then nearly 50!) as Peter Pan and Boris Karloff as Captain Hook. The show used Alec Wilder's underscore, but Bernstein had composed one as well, and his finally sees the light of day on this CD after years of research and restoration by conductor Alexander Frey. Was it worth the effort? Absolutely. Bernstein fans will of course crave the CD, but it should delight newcomers as well. The instrumental tracks display a wide stylistic palette, and the songs are simply wonderful. Just check out "Who Am I" (sung by Linda Eder) and you will hear a ballad as lovely as any‹cabaret singers in search of rare material would be well advised to look into it. Baritone Daniel Nardiccio does warm justice to Bernstein's near-operatic passages in "Pirate Song" and "Captain Hook's Soliloquy" (reminiscent of Candide). As if this weren't enough, the CD concludes with the wistful "Spring Will Come Again," which Bernstein had written for a possible musical adaptation of The Skin of Our Teeth. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

---

Customer Review:

Pirates' Treasure

Lovely songs, and for those of you who are skeptical that there'snot enough to make a whole LP out of, I'm here to reassure you that you are definitely getting your money's worth. Thirty tracks (all right, some of them less than a minute long) and some of them go on and on in fully realized and orchestrated.

"Who Am I?" is almost a success, there's some wonderful writing on it, and the ideas Wendy is trying to express are grand ones, almost like the questions OUR TOWN raises. Is there a plan for us? Is it just chance I was born in July? Wendy muses about how likely it is that she has been reincarnated and next she could come back as anything-even a fly. It's just a little repetitive, and lacks that little something that would have pushed it over the edge into pure pleasure. Linda Eder seems more at home in the tumult and resounding chords of the anthemic "Build My House," which boast the best instrumentals on the whole LP. It's a great tune, and one that will stay with you. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a standard high school graduation number a la YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.

The liner notes tell the whole story, but I would have liked more on the ways in which Boris Karloff and Jean Arthur did or didn't intersect with this music. There are some hints that one or the other Hollywood diva deep-sixed some of the hitherto unknown tunes. What about the gorgeous "Dream With Me"? It seems to me that if you could sing "Build My House," then "Dream With Me" would be a walk in the park. So I don't understand the implication that the music was too difficult.

Another great number is the mermaid's chorale, "Neverland." It is rather like the Jule Styne/Comden & Green number ("It might be miles beyond the moon") from the Mary Martin Peter Pan, lush and melting chords, but this one has more of a sense of humor.

Throughout the score, the wit is sharp. I love Captain Hook's soliloquy in which, after boasting of his fame, he turns depressed as he realizes that when children play Peter Pan at home, they'll do anything rather than have to be Captain Hook. Even dim Smee has more fans.

I didn't much care for "Spring Will Come Again." (This "bonus track" was intended for a Bernstein version of Wilder's SKIN OF OUR TEETH.) It has some nice passages for voice, but it is an example of a lyric which tries hard to be deep but ultimately doesn't have much to say.

All of my hats are off to Alexander Frey, who played detective and discovered all the PETER PAN music during a series of visits to New York, then corralled in some magnificent musicians and actors to perform it for us. It's like opening a pirate chest of gold!

Beautiful recording!!!!!

What a treat to hear Bernstein music that hasn't been recorded before. Who knew that such a thing existed? Performances are first rate, and Linda Eder and Daniel Narducci are perfectly cast in their roles. The Wendy songs are both touching and funny, and the Captain Hook songs are hysterical. Don't miss this recording!

not yet recieved???????

No review yet, as I am still waiting for this product to arrive!
Bad service of Amazon and something I do not expect from them at all.

---

Keywords: 20th/21st Century Incidental Music for Orchestra; Christmas; Classical Composers; Classical Crossover; Composer; Conductor; Modern Composition; Music Theater; Musicals; Pop; Showtunes / B'way; United States of America;

---

---

x close

The Dukes of Hazzard - Music From The Motion Picture

The Dukes of Hazzard soundtrack will probably prove to be much like the film: Mixing Jessica Simpson and Willie Nelson together in a Southern rock milieu will either seem genius or it'll have you cowering under Grandma's homemade country quilt. This musical journey to the land of moonshine and short shorts kicks off with Simpson (channeling Britney Spears), who purrs her way through a countrified version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin." From there, the disc settles into straightforward Southern rockville by way of Lynyrd Skynrd, Molly Hatchet, and other bands from the 1970s and '80s, the era of the Dukes of Hazzard television show. (Two notable exceptions are "Burn It Off" by the band formerly known as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and "Soul City" by Southern Culture on the Skids.)

There's little inventiveness and few surprises in this compilation. Songs like "Black Betty," "Call Me the Breeze," and "Pride and Joy" should be so well known to fans that only the desire to have them in one place--perhaps as a sonic backdrop to your next stock-car race--would make this album worth owning. Possibly the best track in the collection is Willie Nelson's rendition of "Good Ol' Boys." It reminds one of the Waylon Jennings original, and should give serious Dukes fans a hankerin' for the TV soundtrack, which is being re-released to coincide with the film's debut. --Leah Weathersby

---

Futures

Soundtrack;

---

Customer Review:

To MovedbyMusic "lishaz3"

I disagree with everything this reviewer has stated. The video is basically a softcore porn with her grinding herself against some guys gentials in the bar, teasing every male in the bar by her walk and rump shaking, showing off her breasts to every male in the bar, kissing Willie Nelson and showing off her butt to him. So much is wrong with this video, that I cannot think of all of it. Even people I know think its so great. I think its horrible, why I bet some young teenage male is jacking off to it right now. Paris Hilton might have offended people with her commericals, but this video is worse. If you had a young daughter, would you let her grind up against some random guy like Jessica does in the video? I dont think so. The song is one of the worst songs ever, and one of the worst covers of all time as well. You can barely hear the words and where is Willie? He's credited but you cant even hear one word by him. Jessica is not adorable, she is sleazy as Daisy Duke. I cant wait to see what her next move is; Will a porno of her and Nick accidently hit the internet?

talentless Jessica!!!

Not a bad soundtrack overall. Jessica Simpson attempt at "These Boots are Made For Walkin'" is terrible and doesn't fit in with the rest of the soundtrack. The rest of the tracks are great. But if I want to hear "Boots..." I'll put in Megadeth's Killing is My Business...and Business is good.

Left Off WAY Too Many Songs

First of all, the movie was AWESOME - hands down best movie I've seen this year. Throughout the entire movie, I kept thinking, "I have GOT to get this soundtrack". So I get home and hop on Amazon.com, and look at it, and think, "wow, where are all the songs?" Great songs the soundtrack left out:

AC/DC "If you Want Blood"
Mountain "Mississippi Queen"
ZZ Top "La Grange"
Ram Jam "Black Betty"

And those are just the few that I can think of off the top of my head. I think the soundtrack should've left off Uncle Jesse's jokes, and put those songs in. Needless to say, I did not purchase it.

---

Keywords: Soundtrack;

---

---

x close

Mamma Mia! The Musical Based on the Songs of ABBA (Original 1999 London Cast)

Put together by Abba's own Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, Mamma Mia! manages to cram over 20 of the Swedish supergroup's songs into a threadbare plot. It goes a little like this: Young Sophie is getting married and she's trying to identify which of three men is her father. That's about it. Wisely, the musical doesn't mess around with the songs, save for the insertion of some dialogue or for having some of them performed by a man (it works amazingly well). Abba fans will jump on this import of the London production, but traditional fans of musical theater should consider it as well. After all, Andersson and Ulvaeus's songs have always felt as if they were more than isolated pop gems and actually belonged to a longer narrative. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

---

Futures

Cast Recording;

---

Customer Review:

Catchy Songs, Decent Recording, Mediocre Musical

First, let me start off by saying that if you are an avid ABBA fan, you will enjoy this recording. The cast sings the songs pretty well and the recording/mixing quality is not bad.

I went to see this show on Broadway recently (it was the only show we could get into that night). Having recently seen some very good theater on broadway and/or on tour in Chicago (Wicked most notably and the re-staging of Jesus Christ Superstar), my hopes were high.

This show, however, was nothing like those. The plot was very threadbare, dopey, and reminded me of a bad sitcom. The songs themselves, however, were sung very well (I liked our live cast better than the London one on the soundtrack) and so we bought the CD in the lobby after the show.

Not being a particular ABBA fan (I knew a few songs, but certainly not all 24 from the show), I thought the songs were catchy, but not great. They are, first and foremost, pop songs. They just don't really hold their own in the context of a musical.

In general, I do like a few of the songs on this recording (primarily the ones that I knew before seeing the show), but I don't listen to them often. The cast on this recording does a good job, but I don't like all the voices, and most could be stronger or fuller, as they seem somewhat thin. If you are an ABBA fan, by all means, see the show and buy the recording. If not, don't expect either to convert you. Borrow it, burn it, return it. Listen to it once and then stick it in the back of your collection and wait for a time when you have an insatiable urge to hear "Dancing Queen".

The Mamma Mia Score Is Awesome

Listening to my new Mamma Mia CD while driving makes every trip shorter and gives me the opportunity to sing along to fantastic music. It brings the memory of the show which I saw in January right back!

The Original "Catalog" Musical

Sure the musical merely ties a couple dozen ABBA songs together to form a loose story ...
Sure the concept is a bit cheesey ...
Sure the songs are best performed by ABBA themselves ...
But it works! ... and it's fun!

Broadway's first "catalog" musical (though the cd is actually the London cast despite the misleading cover) is fast, fun & worthy of repeat listenings.

Best tracks:

Mamma Mia
Dancing Queen
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
Voulez-Vous
The Winner Takes It All

Relive the 70s & 80s!

---

Keywords: Cast Recordings; Music Theater; Musical Theater; Musicals; Pop; Pop/Rock; Showtunes / B'way; Soundtracks; Swedish Pop/Rock;

---

---

x close

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Loosely based on the popular Disney theme park audio-animatronic ride, one might expect a modicum of good-natured "Yo-ho-ho-ing"--or maybe a little rousing Korngold/Errol Flynn/Captain Blood orchestral romanticism--here. Instead composer Klaus Badelt initially entices us with some sparing Celtic folk charm, then unleashes a furious broadside of symphonic and choral thunder to rival his ominous score for K-19. The composer's fellow German mentor is an obvious influence throughout (the album is credited with a wink as "Score overproduced by Hans 'Long John' Zimmer") but Badelt brings his own muscular instincts to bear throughout. Perhaps shrewdly realizing that genre cliches are nothing if not for reinventing, Badelt delivers his rhythmically nervous Eurocentric sensibilities--sort of Holst duels Shostakovich on the Spanish Main--with the subtlety of a scorching cannonball. It's seasoned with a little romantic respite in the final act, if a bit gingerly, and could no doubt profit by some of Korngold's sparkling melodic verve. But it's a loud, unabashed Summer Blockbuster score at heart; alert the neighbors. --Jerry McCulley

---

Futures

Soundtrack;

---

Customer Review:

Modern Orchestral music at it's finest

Even movie scores occasionally stand on their own as orchestral music. This is truly the case with the music from Pirates of the Caribbean. The music is moving and exciting. Even if you've never seen the movie, you can appreciate the rhythms, the melodies, the transposition. A fine piece of modern orchestral music.

Medioca

I agree with many that some tracks befit the film down to a T but in some cases I think the wrong titles have been printed next to the wrong tracks. Apart from 'He's a pirate' and other tracks that play on this theme, I don't think some of the titles are appropriate.

I was dissappointed by the overall playing time of the CD- a measly 43 minutes. Some of the repetive themes in the score become irritating. The title of the film surely allows for a wider scope of variety than composed. I feel like I have wasted my pocket money.

For anyone that has listened to good film music this score can come nowhere near the top five. Yes i must admit when listening (to tracks such as He's a pirate), I am taken to a world of jolly pirates but as the pirates are at each others necks for most of the film- inbetween flirting with Elizabeth- I find it hard to identify which part of the film a track is supposed to be representing. The composer has illustrated the adveturous, dramatic and slightly scary quality of the film, but because of the lack of variety and depth in the score i feel it was not an essential element of the blockbuster. i could have watched it in absolute silence where music is concerned and still felt the same- bored.

When listening to the CD, Zimmer's influences can clearly be heard. This isn't bad at all as I do like the Gladiator sound track.

This is a highly disappointing work when Williams' scores are so easily accessible to compare it with. It is not bad or excellent just simply medioca. The CD would be enjoyed more by people that found the film amazing.

Great Soundtrack

This is one of the greatest soundtracks that I have heard in quite some time. They have a good selection of items from the movie, not leaving much out. The only 2 things i have against the soundtrack is that it is disorganized and that it doesnt contain as much music as it could have (Contains about 43 minutes). But it is still worth picking up if you enjoyed the movie.

---

Keywords: Film; Film Music; Original Score; Pop; Soundtrack; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

---

---