Music

Average customer rating:

Sondheim recital
Also a very dissapointed fan
Adequate performance; poor entertainment
a very disappointed fan
What a train wreck!

Sings Sondheim
Mandy Patinkin
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
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Dress Casual
Mandy Patinkin
Experiment
Oscar & Steve
Kidults

ASIN: B00006JP2C
Release Date: 2002-10-29

Tracks:

Opening
Lesson #8
Another Hundred People
When?
Someone Is Waiting
Johanna
Green Finch and Linnet Bird
Pretty Women
Finishing the Hat
If You Can Find Me, I'm Here
Live, Laugh, Love
Live Alone and Like It
Everybody Says Don't
Rich and Happy, Part 1
Our Time
Broadway Baby
Rich and Happy, Part 2
Uptown, Downtown
Liaisons
Send in the Clowns
Live, Laugh, Love (reprise)
You Could Drive a Person Crazy

Tracks:

Free
Company
Waiting For The Girls Upstairs
Pleasant Little Kingdom/Too Many Mornings
Not While I'm Around
All Things Bright and Beautiful
It Takes Two
In Someone's Eyes
Beautiful
Losing My Mind
Take the Moment
Sunday

Amazon.com

Recorded live at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia, this double CD is one heck of an extensive tribute to Stephen Sondheim. Backed only by Paul Ford on piano, Mandy Patinkin gets through nearly three dozen songs penned by the Broadway master. Some are obvious (excerpts from Sunday in the Park with George, in which the singer created the title role), others less so ("If You Can Find Me I'm Here" from Evening Primrose). Patinkin is often mocked for his shivering falsetto, but here, it's actually when his voice explores a lower register that it falters. What's more interesting is when he tackles songs usually sung by women, such as Follies' "Broadway Baby" and Company's "Another Hundred People" and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy"--the latter hammed up so much that you can hear the chewing of the scenery. A distinctively mannered interpreter, Patinkin remains an acquired taste, but fans of his will be in heaven with this set. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Sondheim recital.......2007-01-22

Probably the best way to approach these disks is to treat them like a recital in a concert hall. Rather as you would listen to a Schubert or Schumann song cycle. Taken together this way, we come to hear Sondheim as one of our finest composers, serious, comic, manic, depressive, always dead on target no matter what the subject matter. And Patinkin is perfect for these songs; he understands the meaning and value of every note and every word, just as a fine concert singer would do, and he makes his listeners understand, too. One of the most intriguing concept albums in recent memory, and a joy all the way through. Bob Finley, Palm Springs, CA.

Also a very dissapointed fan.......2003-08-22

I too LOVE Mandy and Stephen Sondheim and own just about everything both has ever made! I also have been to 6 of Mandy's live performances. This was truly a big dissapointment to me. Every concert I have seen Mandy in has been filled with emotion and his personality just grabs hold of you for an evening of wonderful escape-ism. This to me was very un-entertaining and I actually became irritated after awhile of listening to it. It seemed to drone on with out the wonderful feelings and emotions and soaring voice that Mandy typically puts into his music. I gave this as a gift too (since my friend and I had missed Mandy at his Sondheim review in DC last year) and felt badly that I had. There are so many other great recordings of Mandy...Kidults, Saturday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden, Mandy sings Rogers & Hammerstien and Sondheim. This one has just sat on my shelf after I played it through twice hoping to warm up to it...while my other recordings are very worn out with years of playing!

Adequate performance; poor entertainment.......2003-05-04

I received this disc the same day a "Philip Quast Live at the Donmar". The Quast disc has its own flaws (and I dont wish to compare the two performers) but it has been strung together in a more thoughtful manner, with witty imagination and using a more dangerous in the choice of songs, which is really where this disc fails. The songs here are generally enjoyable though rather standard, and the lack of cohesion (running the songs together doesnt count) means I just dip into the discs listening to a few favourites, rather than enjoying the whole show.

a very disappointed fan.......2003-02-05

I have every recording Patinkin appears on, even if he's only on one track; I adore his voice, his flair, his emotion, his ability to deliver a song.

But (much of) this recording is disappointing, mainly because Mr. Patinkin's voice in the lower range sounds muddled and forced, as though he's lost ability to control it (however, the more falsetto sounds are as clear and sharp as ever).

And I don't care for the format of this performance. Live recordings should have live audience reactions: one (often unrelated) song after another without applause had me wondering when--if ever--was the audience was going to be allowed to react.

Also, while I've never had the privilege of attending a Patinkin concert, I imagined that--above all-- he would be passionate. Perhaps he was. But what (mostly) comes across on the CD is a somber--almost technical--performance.

I hope he's healthy, that mixed quality of singing on this recording was just a fluke, and that his next CD will be a Five-star as all his previous ones have been

What a train wreck!.......2003-01-15

Hate to join the chorus of neigh-sayers, but jeeeez! I have to agree that with the exception of a few cuts (such as "Hyphenated Harriet") Mandy is a vocal bull in a china shop -- what he doesn't shatter he ... on. What should have been a tribute (I love Sondheim, but do we need ANOTHER anthology recording of oft sung songs?)is more like a wake. Mandy seems intent on becoming the male Ethel Merman -- if you can't hold the note, belt it out with a misplaced vabrato and maybe no one will notice. I REALLY wanted to like this recording, but is truly horrible. If the pipes are gone, Mandy, I hope you get back to acting.

The Columbia Albums of Irving Berlin, Vol. 1-2

Average customer rating:

The Columbia Albums of Irving Berlin, Vol. 1-2

Manufacturer: Collectables
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000AHEU8
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Tracks:

It's A Lovely Day Today/Blue Skies
Maybe Its Because I Love/I Got Lost
You'd Be Surprised/I'll See You In Cuba
Always/Remember
Shaking The Blues/Play A Simple/Alexander's
Here's No Business/Got The Sun/Girl I Marry
Say It Will Music/Cheek To Cheek
It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow/ Now It Can Be Told
This Year's Kisses/Be Careful! Its My Heart
Lady Of The Evening/ Better Luck Next Time
Steppin' Out With My Baby/ You're Just In Love
Let's Face The Music/Say It Isn't So
How Deep Is The Ocean/I Never Had A Chance
Change Partners/Mandy
You Can't Brush Me/Everybody Step/Waiting At The End
Soft Lights/They Say It's Wonderful
Puttin' On The Ritz/Marie
I've Got My Love To Keep Me/Top Hat
What'll I Do/All Alone
A Pretty Girl/Isn't This A Lovely Day
Lazy/I'm Getting Tired So I Can Sleep
I'm Playing With Fire/Let's Have Another Cup
Heat Wave/Let Yourself Go
The Piccoline/No Strings

Album Description

Full Title - The Columbia Albums Of Irving Berlin Vols. 1 & 2. Composer, conductor, arranger Frank DeVol scored more than fifty movies and is best known as the composer for the theme songs for the TV series 'My Three Sons', 'The Brady Bunch' and 'Family Affair'. In the 1940s DeVol was an arranger for Dinah Shore, Tony Bennett, Rudy Vallee, Vic Damone and Doris Day. Frank DeVol received multiple Emmy Awards and Academy Award nominations for his extensive body of work. Irving Berlin's medleys featured are 'Always/Remember', 'A Pretty Girl/Isn't It A Lovely Day' and 'Say It With Music/Cheek To Cheek'. 24 tracks. Collectables 2003.

Music:

Music