Rating: 
Summary: Wish I were there!
Review: Sondheim is unique. Here are a galaxy of stars to prove it!
If you only wanted to hear his songs in the original context then they do not truly understand the nature of music, So the reviewer wanting to give negative stars has TOTALLY missed the point. This is ENTERTAINMENT - not just a straight run through of the shows. To change the songs points up there brilliance - as for the recording - the one I have is perfectly clear. In short - you will find this an excellent entertainment. One caveat - it's 30 minutes shorter than to CD's and you miss a lot of great music. Othewise buy it and have a great time!
Rating:
Summary: Anything of Sondheim is better than all of anyone else...
Review: Such star power and such integrity of interpretation! Madeline Kahn, Karen Ziemba, the incomparable Bill Irwin. The magnificent rendition of "Sunday". What more could a Sondheim fan ask for? One small criticism - what happened to "I Never Do Anything Twice!" by Betty?
Rating:
Summary: Joseph Hart Doesnt Have A Clue
Review: Sure, if you like composers who manage to plagerise their own work for every "new" "musical" they come up with. Sondheim is the greatest. Sure, so few of his songs have become "popular" music, but he composes good, no not good, OUTSTANDING music! ALW looks like a toddler banging on pans compared to Sondheim. Sweeney Todd is a brilliant piece of genius! Sondheim writes difficult pieces of music (an lyrics), that engage the audience, that stir their minds, send shivers down their spines and tears down their cheeks. He challenges the artist, he challenges what supposed "good music" is. Sondheim is a genius!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent celebration!
Review: The video shows an all-star cast performing Sondheim's songs. Special attention is required all the time because of the high quality of the interpreters but I have to choose my favorites : Liza Minelli is superb, Glenn Close is fantastic in "Send in the Clows" and you will simply adore the girl that sings "Broadway Baby"! Have lots of fun and enjoy the diversity of the work of this composer. Must have it.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!
Review: There aren't enough superlatives for this disc. I was blown away by the performances (with one exception). If you're at all interested in Sondheim, snap this up!
Rating: 
Summary: Like Wagner
Review: To paraphrase Noel Coward, Stephen Sondheim lacks talent to a remarkable degree. So, if you don't like it, don't listen to it (as I would like to say to the ladies' league of decency). There is a remarkable, darling old (Mary Rodgers) show called "The Mad Show" (with Linda Lavin and Jo Anne Worley), in it is a clunker called "The Boy From." I hated it before I ever knew who wrote it. Sondheim wrote it, an interpolation from the master. In "The Seven Percent Solution," a high octane cast Sherlock Holmes caper is a number sung I think in a brothel called "I Never Do Anything Twice." I winced and loathed it and would have bet money it was a German tune. The end credits gave it to Sondheim. It has been said Sondheim learned his trade from Hammerstein. Hammerstein didn't have much to teach, but he was better than this. A few years ago I made an effort to catch the Sondheim bug and bought many ($$$) CDs of Sondheim shows. God what a dismal, infuriating waste. The man has written only one popular song, "Send in the Clowns." I won't knock it by saying it's just a series of triads because lots of good songs are. But one? Sondheim's songs are insipid and weird and unpleasant to listen to, and as at least one person has said (and that one person is a comfort), you don't walk out of the theater humming them. Because you can't. This is good? Look at Lloyd Webber's songlist. Which would you rather hear? Ethel Merman went to her grave baffled by his success, I'll do the same. And talk about pretentious! In NYC I walked out of "Company" in a rage of ripped-off boredom, sat through "Follies" twice (because I liked the old actors, and if I have to name a favorite Sondheim show, it is this one), and watched that horrific totally unmusical "Sweeney Todd" (all the way through) on PBS. Oh yes. And that ridiculous rumor that Sondheim composed some of the dance music for "West Side Story." Only a tin ear would buy that one. And this review just covers his so-called music. Lyricwise, he has turned a few good phrases, but hardly enough to constitute a career. It's been said that the lyrics to songs are so unimportant that anyone can write them. That it just doesn't matter. Sondheim is no exception. Larry Hart is. Unless you already know Sondheim, or are from Manhattan, I advise you to rent this DVD before buying it. It stinks.
Rating:
Summary: Like Wagner
Review: To paraphrase Noel Coward, Stephen Sondheim lacks talent to a remarkable degree. So, if you don't like it, don't listen to it (as I would like to say to the ladies' league of decency). There is a remarkable, darling old (Mary Rodgers) show called "The Mad Show" (with Linda Lavin and Jo Anne Worley), in it is a clunker called "The Boy From." I hated it before I ever knew who wrote it. Sondheim wrote it, an interpolation from the master. In "The Seven Percent Solution," a high octane cast Sherlock Holmes caper is a number sung I think in a brothel called "I Never Do Anything Twice." I winced and loathed it and would have bet money it was a German tune. The end credits gave it to Sondheim. It has been said Sondheim learned his trade from Hammerstein. Hammerstein didn't have much to teach, but he was better than this. A few years ago I made an effort to catch the Sondheim bug and bought many ($$$) CDs of Sondheim shows. God what a dismal, infuriating waste. The man has written only one popular song, "Send in the Clowns." I won't knock it by saying it's just a series of triads because lots of good songs are. But one? Sondheim's songs are insipid and weird and unpleasant to listen to, and as at least one person has said (and that one person is a comfort), you don't walk out of the theater humming them. Because you can't. This is good? Look at Lloyd Webber's songlist. Which would you rather hear? Ethel Merman went to her grave baffled by his success, I'll do the same. And talk about pretentious! In NYC I walked out of "Company" in a rage of ripped-off boredom, sat through "Follies" twice (because I liked the old actors, and if I have to name a favorite Sondheim show, it is this one), and watched that horrific totally unmusical "Sweeney Todd" (all the way through) on PBS. Oh yes. And that ridiculous rumor that Sondheim composed some of the dance music for "West Side Story." Only a tin ear would buy that one. And this review just covers his so-called music. Lyricwise, he has turned a few good phrases, but hardly enough to constitute a career. It's been said that the lyrics to songs are so unimportant that anyone can write them. That it just doesn't matter. Sondheim is no exception. Larry Hart is. Unless you already know Sondheim, or are from Manhattan, I advise you to rent this DVD before buying it. It stinks.
|
