West Side Story - Reviews

[lebkuecher]

Thanks Roger

I agree with you of course, HWI needs to be objective and open to all views to maintain credibility.

Still, I can’t help but feel a little put-off by some of the media reviews. It is almost as if the media doesn’t know that Hayley is the greatest performer who ever lived or will ever. Hmmm, I hope I’m not showing my biased now. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I do look forward to buying WSS so I can post my on review.

Steve

[roger]

Hi Steve,

I agree it is disappointing to read negative reviews in the press but I would never be put off by them. Those reviews are useful though. Well, you need something to start a bonfire!

Roger

[martindn]

I had a look at the Amazon reviews. There are only three, and one is absolutely glowing! The other two are more critical.
Having listened to the CD a few more times, I find I tend to skip the first 8 tracks. Track 9 is Vittorio's Maria, and track 10 is the first time you hear Hayley. From then on things improve rapidly, and the rest of the CD is excellent. I find all those instrumental tracks at the start rather boring though. When you hear then on the film, at least there is the dancing to keep you interested. BTW there is nothing wrong with Will Martin's "Jet Song", or Vittorio's "Somethings Coming". Just that if you don't skip a few tracks, it takes too long to get to Hayley's contribution.

Martin

[Stephany]

Another review of 'West Side Story' from Rainbow Network. With a comment not quite flattering for Hayley.

West Side Story
27 August 2007
3 stars out of 5

I’m not sure when it happened, but studio recordings and original cast albums are now big business – and musical theatre queens everywhere are very grateful. Where once you’d have to wait months or even years for that hit show to be released, now it’s used as a marketing tool that would have us whistling the tunes before the jazz hands even hit the stage.

But it’s not just new musicals that are being issued, oh no. The back catalogue is being endlessly plundered, re-mastered and given a modern twist for a whole new generation and it doesn’t take much of an excuse for a new recording to be whipped out with a host of contemporary celebrities.

This time it’s the 50th anniversary of one of the most lauded musicals ever written, West Side Story and this score is always a pleasure to hear (though the ‘opera’ recording a few years back with Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras failing to spectacularly to deliver an American accent still sticks in the throat).

Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece is one of the few musicals that never age, and is still as relevant and well-loved today as it ever was. So, in this 50th anniversary year of the musical, UCJ has assembled some of the biggest classical crossover stars to record a brand new glitzy version of the musical.

This is one of the only major recordings of this masterpiece to have been made since the 1984 version with Bernstein himself conducting, and has been made with the authorisation of the Bernstein foundation in New York.

In this version the part of Maria is passed over to Hayley Westenra who pairs up with Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo. Other stars include Melanie Marshall and the lovely Connie Fisher (why wasn’t she cast as Maria? She did so well as the other one in The Sound of Music).

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With a bright young cast (the singers’ ages on this new recording also more closely resemble the youth of both Romeo and Juliet and Maria and Tony) and timeless tunes, this is set to become an important milestone in the recording history of the musical classic and a must for all musical collections.

Find out more at www.westsidestory2007.co.uk.

[/size][/quote]
Stephany

[graemek]

stephany said:

In this version the part of Maria is passed over to Hayley Westenra who pairs up with Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo. Other stars include Melanie Marshall and the lovely Connie Fisher (why wasn’t she cast as Maria? She did so well as the other one in The Sound of Music).

[/color]

Stephany [/quote]
And Stephany, may I add a heartfelt GRRRRRRRR.
I'm still thoroughly thrilled by Hayley & Vittorio's WSS....love it.
Graeme

[Stephany]

Connie Fisher was okay I guess - but when I heard Hayley's 'Somewhere' at Woburn I was totally blown away. Now I simply can't listen to Fisher's version again

Stephany
PS : Graeme, congratulations on your 900th post by the way! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

[graemek]

Thanks Stephany,

I hadn't noticed it until your congrats.

Here's one more.

Graeme
PS Since I made up my car players WSS CD, I merely substituted Hayley's Woburn Abbey "Somewhere" in its proper order.

Connie's is so bland by comparison that I'd miss Hayley's not being there.

[grant]

stephany said:

Connie Fisher was okay I guess - but when I heard Hayley's 'Somewhere' at Woburn I was totally blown away. Now I simply can't listen to Fisher's version again

Stephany
PS : Graeme, congratulations on your 900th post by the way! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I agree Stephany.

I actually think Connie Fisher's "Somewhere" was the low spot on the album. How she got to win the 'Sound of Music' thing, I'll never know!!

To quote Dave - Grrrrrr!!

Best wishes
Grant

[Martin]

stephany said:

In this version the part of Maria is passed over to Hayley Westenra who pairs up with Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo. Other stars include Melanie Marshall and the lovely Connie Fisher (why wasn’t she cast as Maria? She did so well as the other one in The Sound of Music).

[/color]

[/quote]

I wouldn't say that the review from Rainbow is particularly negative towards Hayley just that the reviewer prefers Connie Fisher (whom I bet he/she had never heard of before the BBC show).

Anyway, I still think Hayley is terrific as Maria. Her performance on " I have a love" is top notch.

And without doubt Hayley's live performance of the WSS songs is even better.

Martin

[Stephany]

Another review of West Side Story - very positive! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Various - "West Side Story"

We rate this: 7 out of 10
Die Shellsuit, Die!
By Barbara Davison.

Believe it or not it was in 1984 that Leonard Bernstein conducted the well loved version of West Side Story with Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras and now we have a 50th Anniversary recording with among others Hayley Westenra and Vittorio Grigolo wanting to make this the recording of choice for the 21st Century.

We all know and love the original version so to try and step into its shoes is a very hard act to follow however overall this CD does not disappoint. The arrangements are upbeat and enjoyable and of course the lyrics by Stephen Sondheim are very familiar. Having seen Connie Fishers name on the front of the CD you could have expected to hear more from her, she leads in “Somewhere” and makes and excellent job of this solo. The voices of Hayley Westenra and Vittorio Grigolo make listening to classics like “Something’s Coming” a joy, Hayley sings “I Feel Pretty” with skill and a great group of backing girls.

[/color] We must make mention of Will Martin who sings the part of Riff as the first track is “Jet Song” his is the first voice you hear and an excellent voice it is too. Riffs voice is heard on many of the tracks, as is that of Anita sung by Melanie Marshall. Why Connie Fisher is mentioned on the front of the CD and not these two names is a mystery. On the track “A Boy Like That / I Have a Love” the two female voices make this track well worth a second listen.[/color]

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Nick Ingman play very well and provide excellent support for the singers. It is hard to hear these tracks with out comparing them to the older original version overall my opinion is if you don’t own the original this CD would be worth purchasing if you have the original this one might be worth owning as well but you may stray back to your old familiar friend.[/size][/quote]
Stephany

[comet]

Hi Folks.
Not exactly a review but:
RTE lyric fm top 10 monthly chart In association with HMV

at No. 3 WESTENRA & GRIGOLO. Bernstein: WEST SIDE STORY

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......................................

RTE = The National Broadcaster in Ireland

[martindn]

grant said:

I agree Stephany.

I actually think Connie Fisher's "Somewhere" was the low spot on the album. How she got to win the 'Sound of Music' thing, I'll never know!!

To quote Dave - Grrrrrr!!

Best wishes
Grant

Well, you had to watch the show. Connie was not the best singer by any means, but did have the right personality and acting ability.
Hayley on the other hand IS primarily a singer. So we have an actor who sings a bit, against a singer who acts a bit. It is not surprising that the singer sounds best on CD, especially when it is Hayley.

[Stephany]

Another review of 'West Side Story' from Playbill.com.

ON THE RECORD: A Crossover West Side Story
By Steven Suskin
30 Sep 2007
West Side Story [Decca Universal B0009818

West Side Story turned 50 this week, on Sept. 26 to be exact, and Decca has turned out a new recording for the occasion. "The Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins and Stephen Sondheim Musical" they call it — I wonder what agent worked out that billing? — and they deck it with what they term "classical crossover stars."

Vittorio Grigolo — also known as simply Vittorio — is a 30-year-old tenor from Arezzo, who apparently has quite a pop career moonlighting from the opera. He just appeared a couple of weeks ago at the Kennedy Center in the Washington National Opera production of La Boheme, and earlier this year sang La Traviata in Rome; he has also starred in the PBS special "Vittorio: Dreams of Rome" and guested on "Dancing with the Stars" and the Miss Universe Pageant. Back in 2003, he played Tony in a production of West Side Story that played La Scala prior to a tour of Japan. Which, I suppose, was the genesis of this new recording.

Hayley Westenra is a 20-year-old singer from New Zealand whose CDs have sold over a gazillion copies. Her website boasts that she has sung for the Queen "three times in one week" — imagine singing for the Queen three times in one week! — plus President Bush, Tony Blair and Condi Rice as well

[/color]. I suppose that the team of Vittorio and Hayley will sell countless West Side Story discs, and that's okay by me; one expects that some people will buy it who have never heard of Leonard Bernstein before, let alone Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins and that other guy. I can't help but think that some of these listeners might even like the songs.

The CD, in actuality, is pretty good. There is a caveat; Mr. Grigolo has never been to Hell's Kitchen, and it sounds like he doesn't speak no English at all. This normally wouldn't matter too much, but here we have a Tony who sounds far more Latin than Maria, Anita or anybody on the recording. ("It's un-lee jus' outta reeech, downa block, onna beeech.") He sings the role like an opera singer, but hey — he is an opera singer. I suppose that Italian listeners feel much the same when some Yankee tackles Tosca.

Ms. Westenra does all right, mostly, although she seems to be lost in "A Boy Like That." There's a strong Anita, in the person of Melanie Marshall, but Westenra can't keep up with Bernstein[/color]. Will Martin, as Riff, is probably the most likely of the group to turn up on stage playing a non-crossover West Side Story. When they all get together to sing the Quintet, he's the only one who sounds like he's ever been west of Tenth Avenue, or in the western hemisphere.

The music is extremely well played. If you use a magnifying glass, you will find hidden away — not on the cover, or the tray, or the disc itself, but in the middle of page ten of the booklet — that we are hearing The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, conducted by Nick Ingham. Mr. Ingham seems to have a pretty good understanding of the score, which makes a world of difference. They give us the entire "Dance at the Gym," which is nice for a change. (I always marvel at the last part of the sequence; "Jump" it's called. It's not so much dance but an incidental played under dialogue as the scene breaks up. A throwaway that is barely noticeable in the theatre — and listen to the marvelous music Bernstein provided!) If they give us the entire gymnasium dance, which is a plus, we get neither the "Rumble" nor the big second act ballet. The "Somewhere" sequence, alone, is included, sung by Connie Fisher. Jamie Bernstein provides a thoughtful and intelligent liner note, too.

Lest anybody be interested, let me add that the orchestrations — which sound wonderful under Mr. Ingham's baton — are by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal. I mention this only because their names are nowhere to be seen. For those who think that orchestrators are merely interchangeable craftsman, I encourage you to muse what West Side Story would have sounded like if it had been orchestrated by Bernstein's regular orchestrator, Hershy Kay. (Or, for that matter, if Candide had been Ramin and Kostal rather than Kay.)[/size][/quote]
Stephany

[Richard]

Here's a short review from Monsters and Critics.

Album Review: Cast Recording - ‘West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Recording’

By Jeff Swindoll
Oct 3, 2007, 20:55 GMT

This year is the 50th Anniversary of the original Broadway production of the musical West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics). To celebrate that event the album has been re-recorded with Hayley Westenra (Maria), Vittorio Gingolo (Tony), and Connie Fisher (A Girl on “Somewhere”).

The story is one of Romeo (Tony) and Juliet (Maria) set in an urban landscape with two rival gangs filling in for the Capulets and Montagues. So if you know Shakespeare’s story then you know that things will not end happily for our young couple. The centuries old tale was updated for the time by Bernstein and Sondheim and is scheduled for another update (thematically not lyrically) for a potential 2008 revival.

I was a little confused when I got this album since I thought it was an original cast recording and couldn’t remember a revival to have taken place. This album was just produced to celebrate the anniversary and is not from any new stage version of the play.

The album also features an insert introduction by Jamie Bernstein, Leonard’s son. Until that revival fans can listen to this re-recording and watch the classic film.

I thought the album swerved more towards the operatic (ala Andrew Lloyd Weber) than I recall the movie doing, but it was a good listen nonetheless.

Richard

[Stephany]

This is another review of 'West Side Story' from The Sunday Herald Sun:

West Side Story
Hayley Westenra, Vittorio Grigolo, Connie Fisher
(UCJ/Universal)
* * * *
By Bob Crimeen
7 October 2007
Sunday Herald Sun

Stirring celebration of a classic musical's birth.

It was a glorious night -- September 26, 1957, at New York's Winter Garden Theatre -- when the collective creative genius of composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, book author Arthur Laurents and choreographer-director Jerome Robbins bestowed upon musical theatre a seminal creation that would immeasurably influence the evolving genre.

A gritty modernisation of Shakespeare's timeless tragedy of star-crossed love, Romeo and Juliet (the feuding families of Capulets and Montagues become warring New York street gangs, the Jets and Sharks), West Side Story celebrates its half century with more than 250 professional and amateur stage productions, and this new recording.

The definitive West Side Story is yet to be recorded, but this one, propelled by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's pulsating accompaniment, is confidently commended.

Stephany