Stephen Sondheim, Liz Callaway, Angela Lansbury, Steve Orich - A Stephen Sondheim Evening (1983 Concert Cast)

A revue created for the Whitney Museum's Composers' Showcase series (and sometimes known as You're Gonna Love Tomorrow), A Stephen Sondheim Evening collects songs with music and lyrics by Sondheim in a live 1983 concert featuring a top cast of Liz Callaway, Cris Groenendaal, Bob Gunton, George Hearn, Steven Jacob, Judy Kaye, and A Little Night Music's Victoria Mallory, with a special appearance by Angela Lansbury. While many of the songs were somewhat obscure at the time, they're rather familiar decades later, including selections from 1954's Saturday Night and outtakes from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. And though the Fender Rhodes sounds dated, the cast and the performances are excellent. Callaway's "What More Do I Need" is still definitive, and Sondheim himself accompanies Lansbury's "Send in the Clowns" and leads the singers on "Old Friends." --David Horiuchi Amazon.com

An Evening with Sondheim

This is an excellent compilation of songs, both well and not so well known, which is performed by a first rate cast of performers. This 1983 concert features great vocals with minimal though effective accompaniment. In my opinion, Liz Callaway gives a definitive version of "What More Do I Need?" (Saturday Night) and "The Miller's Son" (A Little Night Music). George Hearn and Victoria Mallory turn in a beautiful rendition of "With So Little To Be Sure Of" (Anyone Can Whistle). Angela Lansbury is accompanied by Stephen Sondheim on the piano to deliver her rendition of "Send in the Clowns," which is one of the better and heartfelt sung and is definitely worth a listen. Selections from all of Sondheim's major musicals except Follies are featured. July 29, 2008

By no means bad!!!

I like this Sondheim Revue. The performers are good, and I appreciate that they don't try to be "clever" with Sondheim's music. They just performs it as it is written.

The orchestrations are...well...slim. But the synths aren't disturbing, except in Miles Gloriosus.

Otherwise some rare SJS gems are included here. And Angela Lansbury's Clowns is one of the few versions of this song worth listening to (it's not a bad song, but done so many times:P). January 4, 2005

Buyer Beware!!

This is one of the better Sondheim tributes, but because RCA cut out 2 numbers from the original 2 lp set to fit on one disc, I can only give this 3 stars. I owned the original lp set, and wasnt aware of this omission until after I bought the cd. One of the best songs on the original, You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through with Liz Callaway (among others) from Follies was cut. Inexcusable! There were several other lesser songs they could've cut instead if time was a problem. (Poems and There's Something About a War being two of them) In small print in the booklet it says the 2 cut songs are available on Collected Sondheim. Yeah, like I want to shell out 50 bucks to get those 2 songs when I have everything else on that compilation? If you havent heard the original set, you'll probably love this recording and there is a lot to love, including Angela Lansbury singing Send In the Clowns with Sondheim on the piano. But if you have heard the original LPs, Buyer Beware! Shame on you, RCA!!! May 28, 2004

Atrocious! Dont be fooled!

This recording is really realllllllllly bad. The songs are terrific, of course, although the selection seems rahter arbitrary. And it is terrific to have a recording of lost gems like House of Marcus Lycus and Invocation. But otherr than that, this CD just stinks! The arrangements were scaled down to a piano (which really seems like its being piped in from a different concert hall) and a wince-inducing synthesizer. The voices are uniformly distant and tinny, the result - i assume - of poor mic placement. And WHO is this Stephen Jacob person, and how did he get it into his head that he's a singer? Every time he opens his mouth - I kid you not - I shudder. I was kind on this CD - I give it 3 stars only because it has some great songs on it, and Judy Kaye's Another Hundred People is very very good. But other than that, this is worthless. April 29, 2000

A wonderful recording of some great Sondheim

I was at this concert, and this recording captures the excitement that the performers generated that night. A lot of Sondheim's best songs, and a generally strong group of singers. It's unfortunate that the CD release is missing two of the numbers that were performed that evening (and were included on the original LP release). Judy Kaye's "Being Alive" is a particularly glorious highlight of this CD. April 13, 2000

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