Why do record companies do this to us? When
Leonard Bernstein himself decided to record his complete score of the
groundbreaking 1957 musical, he cast as the non-Puerto Rican hero, Tony,
Jose Carreras an opera singer with thick Latin accent. It was impossible to
get beyond the accent to appreciate the strength of his singing. Now, Decca
decides to produce a 50th Anniversary recording of the score and has Tony
sung by young, thick-accented Italian opera singer Vittorio Grigolo. Grigolo
has a history with the part, having made his La Scala debut in the role. He
sounds young enough for the role and he certainly has a beautiful voice. But
that accent! He sounds like he should be the leader of the Puerto Rican
gang. There is a compensating pleasure in this recording, however. Hayley
Westenra of New Zealand sings the role of Maria, and she has an angelic
quality that serves the piece well. |
Storyline: This transformation of the Romeo and Juliet story to the
streets of New York City sets an Italian American street gang (the Jets)
against a Puerto Rican gang (the Sharks). Tony, the former leader of the
Jets, who is growing up and trying to break out of the gang life by working
in Doc’s drug store, meets Maria, the sister of the leader of the Sharks.
Tony and Maria fall instantly in love, and at Maria’s urging, Tony tries to
prevent a rumble between the two gangs. Things go wrong, however, and in the
ensuing knife fight Tony ends up killing Maria’s brother. In the explosion
of hatred and prejudice that results, Tony, too, is killed.
West Side Story continues to grow in legend even
if it wasn't an instant classic. When it opened on Broadway after an out of
town tryout here at the National Theatre in 1957, it got mixed
reactions - in part because it was so unlike most other musicals that it was
hard to see its strengths on first glance. (The Music Man was the
Tony Award winner that year.) But it had its proponents from the start for
its success at blending music, lyrics, script and dance into a unified whole.
telling a story that was at once contemporary and timeless. Dance tells more
of the plot than had ever been the case before and lyrics
revealed
character while music unified it all. The movie version in 1961 solidified
the success of the work and has made it a long-lasting staple of the
American musical theater.
The supporting cast is quite good. As Anita,
Bernardo's Puerto Rican girl friend, Melanie Marshal all but spits out the
venom of hatred in the early bars of "A Boy Like That," and melts deliciously
as Westenra's Maria turns their confrontation into the beautiful "I Have A
Love." Will Martin leads a spirited "Cool" and Connie Fisher is hauntingly
ethereal as the voice of hope on "Somewhere" (even if it is, for reasons of
time, devoid of the accompanying ballet music). "Gee Officer Krupke" is
delivered with fine spirit by the ensemble and supported by a clear reading
by the full orchestra.
That orchestra is the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra. The quality of the recording is sharp and clear in
most instances, but the mambo has a strange balance between the sections, with some
themes obscured. Conductor Nick Ingman imposes a strangely mechanical
feel that keeps the
rousing jazziness of Bernstein's music from having its full impact,
especially in the multiple rhythmic sections of the dance at the gym.
But the loveliness of the orchestra's playing in the wedding shop
scene ("One Hand, One Heart") is touching. Indeed, that one track is the most
memorable on the entire disc. |
