Danish CHESS CD
Stephen Farrow
I've said before that when it comes to "Chess" I have a geek streak a mile wide.
I tried to buy this in Footlight the last time I was in New York, and they were
unfortunately too hopeless to try and order it for me (they were out of stock; I
was told that the only person with information on when it would be reordered and
what it would cost was the owner, who was out. It was suggested to me that I
phone from home - an international call - and place an order over the phone,
despite the fact that I was standing there with the money in my hand prepared to
pay for both it and the shipping cost on the spot. That's pathetic, and they
lost the sale). Last week, the (vastly superior) Dress Circle in London had it
on sale, so I bought it, and I'm listening to it.
The big attraction, of course, is that it follows the song list of the London
production, though it's not a complete recording of the music used in the London
production (the Press Conference sequence, for example, isn't on the recording,
though the interview in the second act is), despite being billed as the
"complete cast recording". I read somewhere that an earlier pressing including
the complete score was withdrawn because of rights issues; there are certainly
edits here and there that suggest that more was recorded than is heard on this
release.
The performances are fine. Terrific orchestra, strong chorus. Emma Kershaw's
Florence has a good, strong belt voice; she's very good, offers powerful
versions of her big numbers (and *really* lets loose at the end of "Nobody's
Side"), but she just lacks the star power of Elaine Paige or Judy Kuhn's vocals
(or Helen Sjoholm's in "Chess pa Svenska", for that matter). Zubin Varla's
Freddie is in the Murray Head mode, only without the yowling missed top notes.
Stig Rossen's Anatoly is excellent, though very similar in both vocal tone and
interpretation to what Tommy Korberg did with the role (and Korberg is still the
definitive interpreter of those songs). Everyone else does quite well, though
the American accents are sometimes a little on the strange side (probably not
surprising, since it's based on a Danish stage production).
Bottom line - if you can track it down (and it's on sale at Dress Circle right
now for a *very* good price - about £10 for the 2-CD set) and you like this
score, it's well worth having. It's nice to have the numbers in their London
order, and the additional material is welcome, though more would have been nice.
The performances are all listenable, the orchestra's great, and I'm enjoying it
very much. It might even become my "Chess" of choice, simply by virtue of being
a nicely done, relatively full recording of the first version of the show I saw
on stage.
--
Stephen
There was no part of that that wasn't fun.
DylanBD
> The big attraction, of course, is that it follows the song list
> of the London production, though it's not a complete recording
> of the music used in the London production
I'm showing my ignorance, but what are the differences between London
production and the concept album? I know the show only from that (which I
like) and the Broadway CR, which I didn't.
Stephen Farrow
It might help if I give you the song order from the Danish CD ("Someone Else's
Story" wasn't in the London production, though it was in the subsequent UK tour,
but the song order on this CD otherwise reflects the London production). Compare
this to the concept CD and you'll see that the changes were fairly numerous.
ACT ONE:
The Story of Chess
Merano
Anatoly and Molokov/Where I Want to Be
Diplomats *
The Arbiter
Chess Hymn
Merchandisers
Chess #1
The Arbiter (reprise)
Quartet: A Model of Decorum and Tranquility
Florence and Molokov **
1956 - Budapest is Rising/Nobody's Side
Mountain Duet
Chess #2
Florence Quits
Pity the Child
Embassy Lament
Heaven Help My Heart
Anthem
ACT TWO
The Golden Bangkok/One Night in Bangkok
You and I *
The Soviet Machine **
Interview **
Someone Else's Story **
The Deal *
I Know Him So Well
Endgame *
You and I (reprise)
Finale/Anthem (reprise) **
* - contains significant material not heard on the concept recording
** - song not included on the concept recording
--
Stephen
You know I do an empowering lemon bundt.
DylanBD
> It might help if I give you the song order from the Danish
> CD ("Someone Else's Story" wasn't in the London production,
> though it was in the subsequent UK tour, but the song order
> on this CD otherwise reflects the London production).
Thanks. Have to say, though, Someone Else's Story is one of the things I
didn't like from Broadway, Judy Kuhn notwithstanding.
Joanne Dalton
<sfa...@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
I must have an earlier version of the recording. The song list on my
Danish Chess CD is:
ACT ONE
The Story of Chess
Merano
Commie Newspapers
Press Conference
Anatoly & Molokov/Where I want to Be
Diplomats
Arbiter
Hymn to Chess
Merchandisers
Chess #1
Arbiter - Reprise
Quartet - A Model of Decorem and Tranquility
Florence & Molokov
1956 - Budapest is Rising
Nobody's Side
Der Kleine Franz
Mountain Duet
Chess #2
Florence Quits
Pity The Child
Embassy Lament
Heaven Help My Heart
Anatoly and the Press
Anthem
ACT TWO
The Golden Bangkok/One Night in Bangkok
One More Opponent/You and I
The Soviet Machine
Interview
Someone Else's Story
The Deal
I Know Him So Well
Talking Chess
End Game
You and I - Reprise
Finale.
Joanne
Kevin Marshall
> Bottom line - if you can track it down (and it's on sale at Dress Circle right
> now for a *very* good price - about £10 for the 2-CD set) and you like this
> score, it's well worth having. It's nice to have the numbers in their London
> order, and the additional material is welcome, though more would have been nice.
> The performances are all listenable, the orchestra's great, and I'm enjoying it
> very much. It might even become my "Chess" of choice, simply by virtue of being
> a nicely done, relatively full recording of the first version of the show I saw
> on stage.
>
10 bloody pounds! This is a must buy--Dress Circle's website says it
should come out to about $21 with shipping, when the London cast
recording from Amazon cost more than $30, even with free shipping. I'm
buying it as soon as I get home tonight.
Kevin
Stephen Farrow
<song list snipped>
Then you do, indeed, have the earlier version. It's very obvious on the one I
have that some material was recorded but not included ("Der Kleine Franz" being
the most obvious omission, because there's nowhere to put a clean edit between
it and "Mountain Duet").
--
Stephen
My hat has a cow.