Allegro--Studio Cast Recording

I've had this CD sitting for a while waiting for me to pick it up and listen to it.  It is a bit daunting even to look at--a two-disc set with an hour and forty minutes of music and dialogue and an 80-page booklet of synopsis, libretto, and multiple articles on the history of this challenging show While there are many performers I greatly anticipated hearing in this studio recording, I was a little bit afraid of Allegro. 

Turns out, I was afraid with good reason.  There is a lot to digest in what is billed as the first complete recording of this score and not a lot to hold on to.   I think that is part of the plan of this cradle-to-midlife show, though; life offers us a lot to digest, and just a few things to hold on to during the journey.   But the theme doesn't translate into a listenable score.

Baritone Nathan Gunn has been a favorite singer of mine for several years, since I discovered his debut recital disc on EMI.  While he makes most of his appearances in opera houses, he is increasingly entering the world of the Broadway musical--most notably a semi-staged performance of Camelot with Marin Mazzie and Gabriel Byrne, where Mr. Gunn sang the role of Lancelot.  Here, Gunn has the role of the elder Dr. Joseph Taylor.  He's given little to sing. Audra McDonald, in the role of the elder Taylor's wife is given a bit more. 

The challenge in listening to this score is that much of the action is described by sung and spoken choruses and there are few full songs given to the primary characters.  It almost feels like much of the first act is exposition, rather than action.

There were a couple of songs I had heard before, but didn't know they were from this show. I think  "What a Lovely Day for a Wedding" was in the Richard Rodgers concert I listened to several months ago.  The song "Mountain Greenery" is from Rodgers' time with Larry Hart and is used here to evoke the 1920s era--when it was written, of course.  There was little or nothing in first act of the score that really grabbed my attention.  In the second act "The Gentleman is a Dope" is a fun song and well sung here by Liz Callaway.  The title song "Allegro" is lively and tells me this show is also about the speed of our lives. "Come Home" is lovely and well sung by Audra McDonald, but seems weird sung by a character who is dead--if a jilted wife were singing it, it would hold more emotional punch, I think.

The articles in the booklet all talk about how Allegro was an early experimental musical and how the production concept used scenic pieces to suggest locations rather than using full sets.  I found it interesting that R and H were inspired in part by Our Town, and there are certainly similarities is style and content.  However, this show and recording leave me thinking the score is only musical bits, too.

Allegro

Music by Richard Rodgers

Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Opened in 1947

Cast: Nathan Gunn, Audra McDonald, Judy Kuhn, Laura Benanti, Patrick Wilson, Norbert Leo Butz, Liz Callaway

Phantom of the Opera--film on DVD

I held off on seeing this film when it was released in 2004 and have held off seeing as part of my Year. I have to confess I liked the stage production of Phantom of the Opera when I saw it on tour back in the early 1990s. I feel a bit of a counterfeit liking something that is so populist, but I do. And I'm a bit disappointed by it at the same time. I want this show to be a better middle point between musical theater and opera. I want it to bridge the gap for some people, and introduce them to more "serious" music dramas. And despite my mother thinking Phantom is an opera because it's all sung, I know it's not; nor does it help usher anyone into the opera house. I speak figuratively, of course.

There are many aspects of this film that I very much like. The world of the Opera Populaire, with it's cavernous basements, ever-reaching catwalks, and uber-Gothic decor is fantastic. It's a place I want to explore; it's a world whose inner workings I want to understand. How do the gas-jet lights work? What does the guy in the catwalks do? Why is the chandelier on a pulley?

This is a very attractive cast. That's part of the problem. Frankly, Gerard Butler is so sexy as the Phantom, I'd choose him in a second over Raoul--facial scars and all. I saw The 300, I know what Gerard is packing! So what if I'd have to live the rest of my life in a dank basement. I think the Gothic extreme of the set decor and costume is totally justified, for this is a Gothic tale. About the only set that holds more candles than this film, is for a Barbara Walters Oscar special.

The voices are disappointing to me, mainly because I want them to be more operatic. Minnie Driver as Carlotta is dubbed with an opera voice that is as over-the-top in its cliched portamento as is Ms. Driver's acting performance. I don't know if Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds are dubbed when singing or not, but either way they mostly speak the music. Gerard growls too much of the music for my taste. Patrick Wilson is bland as Raoul. I like the way Emmy Rossum looks as Christine, but her singing is a bit limpid for my ears--even if Christine is supposed to be 18 years old. While she doesn't really sing, I liked Miranda Richardson as the ballet mistress who knew the past of the Phantom. Is this aspect new for the the film? I don't remember it in the stage version.

Phantom of the Opera
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by Charles Hart
Opened in New York in 1988
Film released by Warner Bros. in 2004
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Cast: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Simon Callow, Ciaran Hinds, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver