Follies in Concert/Stavisky

Be the first to write a review

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Follies in Concert, drawn from two performances at Avery Fisher Hall in New York in September 1985, features a handpicked cast of stage, screen, and nightclub stars, and represents songwriter Stephen Sondheim and record producer Thomas Z. Shepard's attempt at a do-over of a cast album for Sondheim's 1971 musical Follies. The show had an original Broadway cast album, but it failed to convey the breadth of the score, which was unusually long, since it contained both contemporary show music and a series of pastiches of the kind of music that might have been heard in one of the interwar musical revues the characters were said to have appeared in, Sondheim's takes on the ...
See more details below
CD
$13.97
BN.com price
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up In Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (CD)
  • All (10) from $12.20   
  • New (10) from $12.20   

More About This Product

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Follies in Concert, drawn from two performances at Avery Fisher Hall in New York in September 1985, features a handpicked cast of stage, screen, and nightclub stars, and represents songwriter Stephen Sondheim and record producer Thomas Z. Shepard's attempt at a do-over of a cast album for Sondheim's 1971 musical Follies. The show had an original Broadway cast album, but it failed to convey the breadth of the score, which was unusually long, since it contained both contemporary show music and a series of pastiches of the kind of music that might have been heard in one of the interwar musical revues the characters were said to have appeared in, Sondheim's takes on the styles of predecessors like Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter. It would have taken a two-LP set to encompass all the material, and while major record labels were still recording cast albums in 1971, Capitol Records, which handled Follies, restricted it to only one disc. Fourteen years later, RCA was willing to plump for a more complete rendering, and Sondheim and Shepard put together a concert cast who did not have to conform to the demands of a realistic stage performance. The show is set at a 30-year reunion of the fictional Weismann Follies, and the two couples who are the main characters, middle-class Buddy and Sally, and upper-class Ben and Phyllis, are supposed to be about 50 years old. In this version, film star Lee Remick (a veteran of Sondheim's 1964 musical Anyone Can Whistle) as Phyllis and George Hearn (fresh from his Tony Award-winning performance in the musical La Cage aux Folles) as Ben were about the right age in real life, but 37-year-old Mandy Patinkin (late of Sondheim's most recent show, Sunday in the Park with George) as Buddy was too young, and veteran Broadway star and cabaret singer Barbara Cook (surprisingly making her debut in a Sondheim work) as Sally was too old at 57. No matter. All sing well and characteristically. Remick holds her own; Cook plays to Sally's emotional essence, notably in "In Buddy's Eyes"; Patinkin is his typically bravura self (even providing his own background vocals, in falsetto, on "Buddy's Blues"); and Hearn brings out Ben's superficial confidence, eventually giving way to a musical nervous breakdown in "Live, Laugh, Love." The show is also full of specialty numbers that give terrific showcases to the likes of Carol Burnett (an understated "I'm Still Here"); Liliane Montevecchi (perfect casting for the Porter-like "Ah, Paree!"); and audience favorite Elaine Stritch (a typically caustic "Broadway Baby"). Follies in Concert might not be the definitive version of Follies, but it is a vast improvement on the original Broadway cast album, finally giving a sense of the score's quality. [Cassette and CD versions of this album added the soundtrack recording of director Alain Resnais' 1974 film Stavisky, one of Sondheim's few film scores.]
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • Release Date: 10/25/1990
  • Label: Rca Victor Broadway
  • UPC: 078635712827
  • Catalog Number: 27128
  • Sales rank: 67,214

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Overture - New York Philharmonic (5:02)
  2. 2 Beautiful Girls - André Gregory (4:58)
  3. 3 Don't Look at Me - Howard McGillin (2:04)
  4. 4 Waiting for the Girls Upstairs - Daisy Prince (5:38)
  5. 5 Rain on the Roof - Adolph Green (0:51)
  6. 6 Ah Paree - Liliane Montevecchi (2:01)
  7. 7 Broadway Baby - Elaine Stritch (3:56)
  8. 8 The Road You Didn't Take - George Hearn (2:50)
  9. 9 In Buddy's Eyes - Barbara Cook (2:59)
  10. 10 Who's That Woman? - Liliane Montevecchi (5:23)
  11. 11 I'm Still Here - Carol Burnett (5:49)
  12. 12 Too Many Mornings - George Hearn (4:52)
  13. 13 The Right Girl - Mandy Patinkin (4:40)
  14. 14 One More Kiss - Licia Albanese (2:45)
  15. 15 Could I Leave You? - Lee Remick (3:03)
  16. 16 Love Land - Cast (2:48)
  17. 17 You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through - Daisy Prince (4:49)
Disc 2
  1. 1 Buddy's Blues - Mandy Patinkin (3:59)
  2. 2 Losing My Mind - Barbara Cook (4:17)
  3. 3 The Story of Lucy and Jessie - Chorus (2:46)
  4. 4 Live, Laugh, Love - George Hearn (4:45)
  5. 5 Finale: Waiting for the Girls Upstairs: Beautiful Girls - Cast (4:06)
  6. 6 Theme from Stavisky - New York Philharmonic (2:08)
  7. 7 Salon at the Claridge - New York Philharmonic (2:31)
  8. 8 Ariette by Day - New York Philharmonic (1:57)
  9. 9 Trotsky at Saint Palais - New York Philharmonic (2:11)
  10. 10 Montalve at Biarritz - New York Philharmonic (0:39)
  11. 11 Operetta - New York Philharmonic (1:33)
  12. 12 Ariette and Stavisky - New York Philharmonic (1:58)
  13. 13 Recent Past - New York Philharmonic (1:47)
  14. 14 Salon at the Claridge - New York Philharmonic (2:11)
  15. 15 Suite at the Claridge - New York Philharmonic (1:08)
  16. 16 Old House - New York Philharmonic (3:19)
  17. 17 Goodbye Ariette - New York Philharmonic (1:26)
  18. 18 Hideout at Chamonix - New York Philharmonic (1:20)
  19. 19 Erna Remembered - New York Philharmonic (1:27)
  20. 20 The Future - New York Philharmonic (1:03)
  21. 21 Women and Death - New York Philharmonic (1:50)
  22. 22 Theme from Stavisky - New York Philharmonic (1:58)
Read More Show Less

Album Credits

Performance Credits
Barbara Cook Vocals, Track Performer
Mandy Patinkin Vocals, Track Performer
The Saturday Night Live Band Track Performer
Elaine Stritch Vocals
Carol Burnett Vocals, Track Performer
Lee Remick Vocals, Track Performer
New York Philharmonic Track Performer
Licia Albanese Track Performer
Betty Comden Vocals, Track Performer
Paul Gemignani Conductor
Adolph Green Vocals, Track Performer
Phyllis Newman Vocals
Liz Callaway Vocals, Track Performer
Arthur Rubin Vocals
Susan Cella Vocals
George Hearn Vocals, Track Performer
Jim Walton Vocals, Track Performer
Frank Kopyc Vocals
Howard McGillin Vocals, Track Performer
Daisy Prince Vocals, Track Performer
Ted Sperling Vocals
Susan Terry Vocals
Sandra Wheeler Vocals
André Gregory Vocals, Track Performer
Liliane Montevecchi Vocals, Track Performer
Albanese Vocals
Technical Credits
Paul Goodman Engineer
Jay David Saks Producer
Zubin Mehta Director
Harold Prince Producer
Thomas Z. Shepard Director, Producer
J.J. Stelmach Art Direction
Bert Fink Liner Notes
Thomas MacCluskey Engineer
Herbert Ross Director
Otts Munderloh Engineer
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously