The Pacific Overtures [Original London Cast] [Complete Recording]

by James Holmes, English National Opera

Overview

Although it failed to find a sustaining audience when it opened on Broadway in 1976, Pacific Overtures, a musical about the opening of Japan to the West written by John Weidman with songs by Stephen Sondheim, continued to attract interest over the years, with an Off-Broadway production in 1984 and a British regional premiere in 1986. The English National Opera took it up the following year, opening the first London performance on September 10, 1987, followed shortly after by a recording of the full show that was issued on two CDs (That's Entertainment Records TER-21152) and a slightly abridged double-LP set (TER-21151). The most commonly available version, however, was this highlights disc, which contains the songs only. Roughly comparable to the Original Broadway Cast album (though 11 minutes longer), it presents a somewhat more formal version of the score, probably because the Broadway version employed Asian and Asian-American actors, while this one features British opera singers who miss much of the humor of the score. For instance, Simon Masterton-Smith, playing the Shogun's mother, sings "Chrysanthemum Tea," a song of murder, with plenty of menace but none of the character that Broadway's Alvin Ing brought to it. The one song that the opera singers do really well with is "Please Hello," in which admirals from various countries demand admittance to Japan; particularly effective is the British one, played by Eric Roberts, who sings a parody of Gilbert & Sullivan's "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" with both the necessary speed and individual phrasing. Nevertheless, the Broadway album remains superior. [In 2004, Jay Records released a remastered version of this album that improved it enormously. The original 1988 TER Classics edition had been mastered so softly that it was difficult to hear well, even at high volume. The new version largely corrected this problem.] ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	07/05/2024
Label:	Jay Records
UPC:	0605288143724

Album Credits

Performance Credits

English National Opera   Primary Artist
James Holmes   Primary Artist,Conductor
English National Opera Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Gordon Christie   Primary Artist,Vocals
Simon Masterton-Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
D. Angas   Primary Artist
Joji Hirota   Primary Artist,Percussion,Japanese Percussion
Michael Sadler   Primary Artist,Vocals
Yoshikazu Iwamoto   Primary Artist,Shakuhachi
John Kitchiner   Primary Artist,Vocals
Alan Woodrow   Primary Artist,Vocals
Harry Nicoll   Primary Artist,Vocals
Malcolm Rivers   Primary Artist,Vocals,Bass (Vocal)
Christopher Booth-Jones   Primary Artist,Vocals
Edward Byles   Primary Artist,Vocals
Richard Angas   Primary Artist,Vocals
Eric Roberts   Primary Artist,Vocals
Paul Strathearn   Primary Artist,Vocals
Ian Comboy   Primary Artist,Vocals
Leon Berger   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Cashmore   Primary Artist,Vocals
Terry Jenkins   Primary Artist,Vocals
Graham Fletcher   Vocals
Soloists and Orchestra of the English National Opera   Orchestra
James Flournoy Holmes   Conductor
Raymond Ovens   Orchestra Leader
Michael J. Lloyd   Conductor
Jim Holmes   Conductor

Technical Credits

Stephen Sondheim   Composer,Lyricist
John Cashmore   Cast
Sophie Marchant   Remastering
Diana Choy   Dancer
Marie Jeanne Lecca   Costume Design
Ian McLaren   Cast
Graham Fletcher   Cast
Paul Strathearn   Cast
Tim Pennington   Assistant Engineer
Gordon Christie   Cast
Thomas Marty   Cast
Donna Louise   Dancer
Catherine Ashmore   Photography
Raymond Ovens   Leader
Alex Bardock   Assistant Engineer
David Toguri   Choreographer
Anna Pavlou   Assistant Producer,Production Assistant
John Kitchiner   Cast
Ben Turner   Editing,Engineer,Editing Engineer
John Yap   Producer,Executive Producer
Joji Hirota   Performer
John Kurlander   Engineer,Balance Engineer
Jonathan Tunick   Orchestration
Michael Sadler   Cast,Performer
Yoshikazu Iwamoto   Performer
Heather Kenmure   Design,Cover Design
Keith Warner   Stage Direction
Alan Woodrow   Cast
Ralph Koltai   Set Design
Harry Nicoll   Cast
Henrietta Bredin   Liner Notes,Sleeve Notes
Nicola Bowie   Assistant Choreographer
Malcolm Rivers   Cast
Hugh Wheeler   Additional Music,Unknown Contributor Role
John A. Yap   Producer,Executive Producer
Pacific Overtures cast ensemble   Cast
Claire Lutter   Dancer
Edward Byles   Cast
Richard Angas   Cast,Recitation
Kurt Weill   Composer
Eric Roberts   Cast,Performer
John Weidman   Book,Sleeve Notes
Anthea Pender   Design,Cover Design
Bruce C. Rowley   Coordination,Assistant Producer,Production Assistant
Terry Jenkins   Cast,Performer
Mark Bailey   Design Assistant
Carolyn Choa   Dancer,Assistant Choreographer
Nick Chelton   Lighting Design
Ian Comboy   Cast
Leon Berger   Cast