Why is it so hard for Cirque du Soleil to engage an experienced musical composer from Broadway to lead their New York based shows?
It's the troupe's third attempt at breaking into the market, and each time has been a sadly disappointing offering. Paramour is the closest Cirque has come to creating a traditional musical, but as always, the composition doesn't fall to a well known composer or team of creatives, but to those they know best, composers Bob et Bill (Guy Dubuc & Marc Lessard), who have scored a jaw-dropping nine original scores for the company. Perplexingly joined by Andreas Carlsson, it was a missed opportunity to let this team write the score for a big scale musical in the Big Apple. Wanting to conquer the New York theatre scene without engaging composers who have ever worked there before - will Cirque ever have the courage of their ambition?
The premise in Paramour is a sticky love triangle set to the backdrop of a movie being made, which spans multiple different genres. It actually wasn't so long ago that we were presented with a musical score of a similar premise - Carter Burwell's score from Hail, Caesar! also had the composer going through different ages, times and styles to the premise of the audience visiting various 'movies'. It was extremely theatrical and probably would have been smarter framework than the flimsy love-story here. To their credit, the team manage to evoke these movie genres extremely well, with all the textures and instrumentation you'd expect in hackneyed spaghetti Western ('Help a Girl to Choose'), biblical epic ('Cleopatra') and mobster crime noir (NYC Rooftops) films. Other songs make interesting homages to old school musicals and Hollywood - 'Everything' sounds like a blend of 'Maybe' from Miss Saigon crossed with some more irritating material from Sunset Boulevard, such as 'Too Much In Love to Care'.
On the other hand, there's the usual Bob et Bill percussion-noise driven filler crap ('Revenge Fantasies', 'NYC Rooftops' - does anyone ever listen to these tracks after the first listen?), but also extremely satisfying moments, such as the highlight 'Egyptian Gift', an instrumental moment both clandestine and exotic, with booming drums and an arresting violin peppered across which sounds like magic. 'The Hollywood Wiz' is exactly the kind of opener a big-scale show needs - a grand, vaudeville feeling show-man tune with a strong contribution from the ensemble and a big voice. Maddeningly, unlike any well structured musical with themes and leitmotifs for characters, each 2-3 minute song in Paramour tries to make a new melody which is dead and buried before it even takes off. There are two brief reprises of songs, but nothing sophisticated or clever . . . maybe there are more, but I don't care to listen to it again to find out.
Who are the key players in Paramour? Ruby Lewis makes her debut with the role of Indigo, Ryan Vona plays composer Joey and Jeremy Kushnier plays AJ. They've all got awesome, powerful and vibrant voices, a belting hybrid of classical musical theatre and pop, with a bit of rough and raw power. It's just too bad that their material ranges from average to awkwardly bad.
The lyrics suck. There are too many instances where the most cringy, predictable rhymes you hope won't happen do happen, so there's really no point identifying examples. Honestly, what were we expecting from Andreas Carlsson, a man who writes lyrics for the likes of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC? This is Broadway, where the story is sometimes as important as the music - frankly it's not good enough and really lets the whole production down (chuck on 'Ginger Top' and 'Love Triangle' for a laugh, as they are worst offenders).
All in all, a passable but disappointing offering from Cirque du Soleil in their attempt at global domination. Talented cast members can't make up for unforgivable lyrics, and the music is not sophisticated or up to scratch to rank with the best shows on Broadway. Maybe one day, Cirque du Soleil will dare to work with some new composers, but until the day comes, there won't be a stand out performance from them on Broadway.
'Cirque du Soleil Paramour - Original Broadway Cast Recording' by Cirque du Soleil is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com, and is also available on Spotify & physical CD.
Toruk - The First Flight by Cirque du Soleil
[Source: Amazon.com]
Where to even begin describing this unexpected delight?
After a lukewarm performance on Joya, I didn’t have high expectations for Toruk. If I were asked to pick a favourite Cirque du Soleil
soundtrack, the scores of Bob et Bill (Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard) would never
have been among my choices. Now, I would consider Toruk ranking among some of the most listenable, and ranking among one of the best.
Toruk succeeds
where Avatar didn’t - it
distinguishes itself beyond the broad genre of ‘tribal’ music.The late James Horner wrote a surprisingly
unremarkable score for Avatar; for a
film with such acclaimed in its visuals and imagery, it certainly lacked
distinction in its musical style. I would never be able to tell you what
influences have been picked and make up the DNA of Toruk. It absolutely has a tribal feel and basis, but draws on
electronic beats, complex percussive patterns and a huge variety of voices and
instruments. Bob & Bill seem to hit their stride when it comes to creating
a more cinematic and immersive feel for a soundscape.
Typical of the pair’s work with Cirque, there is no big
ballad or grand use of themes and motifs. There are fragments of both but instead,
the compositions seem to progress through many movements within a single track.
The only caveat is that some phrases seem under-developed, but the variety is
refreshing and the result is a collection of tunes that manage to cover a lot of ground. The music feels like a fusion of works from Deep Forest albums, Tan Dun operas and Damon Albarn's scores for stage. As a little side-note for big Cirque Musique fans, this
record has a few cameos from superstars including Julie McInnes, Isabelle
Corradi and Christian Laveau contributing vocals - it’s really cute that they
contribute here.
On a whole the album is extremely unified and very
listenable – there are a few brilliant tracks that distinguish themselves. ‘Lu
Aw Navi’ is quintessential Cirque, a multi-layered percussive-electronic fusion
that builds climactically through layering and caries the central theme of the
album, and ‘Direhorses’ is an absolute revelation – a jaunty and celebratory
string arrangement that is extremely emotive and elating. The new singers to
the Cirque catalogue including Cumie Dunio and Elsieanne Caplette have
excellent voices that blend and transcend around the music, and I hope these
talented ladies end up on more Cirque recordings.
I will be interested in listening to the duo’s score for Paramour, Cirque’s ‘first’ (read: third)
attempt to break into the New York theatre scene – as it’s going to require
them to bring out some serious melodies and ballads that I wish were included
here. However, on a whole the album is dynamic, rhythmic and enjoyable, and a
terrific offering for Cirque to have in their catalogue.
Finally, we have another Cirque du Soleil soundtrack that
lifts us up and takes us to another world.
'Toruk - The First Flight' by Cirque du Soleil is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com, and is also available on Spotify & physical CD.
The Baroness Redecorates is perfection. I can count the number of records I consider 'perfect' on one hand, and this is always the one that I name first. I remember when I ordered this EP from Canada, the disclaimer on Maple Music said it would arrive in 10 weeks. 9 weeks and 6 days later I received it in the mail - and it did not disappoint. Every track on this album is perfect. The Baroness Redecorates marked a (celebratory?) parting of ways from Sarah Slean's record label. While my appreciation of The Baroness grows with each listen, I found it to be the slowest of Slean's catalogue. The Baroness Redecorates couldn't be a further departure, and it's jaw-dropping that this outstanding collection of tracks were considered B-Sides. The result, however, is a brilliant 30 minute EP which literally never leaves my collection.
The album is beautifully meditative and reflective at times, and wild and upbeat in the remainder. The coquettish 'Parasol' is a tango with a habanera flavoured rhythm paired with hysterical musings, and in a similar vein 'Compatriots' is a frantic number of bristling city life. The slower numbers are beautiful - 'The Lonely Side of the Moon' and 'Modern Man I & II' are wistful and evoke a feeling of longing and wanderlust. The best track of the album (which shifts to any given track on any given listen) might be 'The Rose'. This remarkable piece is at once sorrowful and celebratory, an ineffably beautiful reflection about how all life in the world must end.
The lyrics are scintillating, sparkling with wit and originality. A lot of this comes from the fact that these songs are not constricted to the theme of love - they're refreshingly abstract themes such as life, environment and trust.
Instrumentation is almost entirely piano and strings, with the strings in particular - all of which are written, arranged and conducted by Slean - being superb. They circumnavigate the melodies to embellish them, but when needed they suddenly descend into passages which are heavenly, dramatic or even becoming a piece in themselves. The album includes Slean's first string quartet, a 6 minute movement called 'The "Disarm" Suite' which concludes the album as the perfect encapsulation of what we've experienced.
TL;DR - this is the best album I've ever heard and owned. An absolutely outstanding record created by a vastly under-rated and unappreciated artist.
'The Baroness Redecorates' by Sarah Slean is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com, and is also available on Spotify & physical CD.
Sometimes it just doesn't seem feasible to create a product like this - a whole orchestra, brilliant core cast and a choir of 30, assembled for a complete recording of a musical that will probably never make it to Broadway. Therefore, I believe we need to chalk this recording of The Hunchback of Notre Dame up for the sheer sake of artistry.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the vastly under-rated scores of the Disney cannon. After missing out on the Oscar in 1996 it (along with the movie) disappeared into this void. Which is disappointing, considering the influences it draws upon and the complexity of its composition. This is also a score and film that doesn't shy away from complex themes and issues - the uncomfortable nature of sexuality, death, racism and [exclusion] all rear their glorious, ugly heads here encapsulated in this music. Originally the show was made in German to great acclaim in 1999, before making its long awaited English premiere in 2014. Now, it finally comes to a recording, and it couldn't be more perfect.
The cinematic feel of this recording is absolutely spine-tingling. No corners have been cut - this isn't a typical Disney musical soundtrack where you can hear a piano clomping around in the middle of the music holding it all together. The instrumentation and orchestrations behind the singers are absolute world class quality and pulls out all the stops - it potentially rivals the movie's original soundtrack. This music is powerful, oozing with grandeur and sparkling with brilliance. 'The Bells of Notre Dame' and is repeated motifs are breath-taking, as is 'God Help the Outcasts' and 'Heaven's Light'. And of course, one of the highlights is the brooding and dark twisted cry 'Hellfire'.
This feels like the only Alan Manken musical where the additional material fits into the same world, and feels like it's actually adding something to the story. 'Flight to Egypt', 'Thai Mol Piyas', 'In a Place of Miracles' and 'Made of Stone' are terrific additions, and the excellent 'Someday' which was cut from the original movie is re-purposed here (as a side note, 'Flight in Egypt' replacing 'A Guy Like You' is one of the best choices that Disney has ever made - it totally transforms the mood). A longer score has also allowed him to really flesh out brilliant themes. Stephen Shwartz might not have the same light and silly touch as the late Howard Ashman, but Schwartz manages to craft lyrics that aren't dumbed down to children. They speak esoterically and abstractly, and as such makes the material suitably feel more epic and suited to a musical.
You couldn't find another cast that would reach this level of confluence. The supporting cast are uniformly excellent, and absolutely rock their musical theatre ensemble feel and also . The remainder of the core cast include Ciara Renee's crystaline Esmerelda, Patrick Page's dark and authoratative Frollo, and Erik Liberman's flashing cheek and humour Clopain. The star of the show is Michael Arden, who brings an incredible flavour to Quasimodo. While Tom Hulcet's Quasi is quiet, refined and well spoken, Arden acts the role with a slight . But when he belts - and it's done fairly frequently - it's breathtaking and sounds like he can flatten mountains. 'Out There' made my eyes water from his emotion. Absolutely awesome.
You can tell that this soundtrack is the result of many hours of labor and passion of the collaborators - and for a measly $15 you'll get a slice this brilliance forever, along with a beautiful glossy 32 page book along with lyrics, pictures, and a forward from the creators. Please buy this soundtrack to support these gutsy, incredible artistic gambles. Everyone wins when the product is as great as this!! 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', composed by Alan Menken with lyrics Stephen Shwartzr, is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com, and is also available on Spotify & physical CD.
Heart of Thorns soundtrack cover (Source: Games-OST.com)
After completing the score of Guild Wars 2, original composer Jeremy Soule signed a contract where he was to exclusively write music for the Everquest series. With Soule refined to his tiny MMO cage, we now have the pleasure of Maclaine Diemer and Lena Chappelle (featuring a bit of Stan Le Pard) creating the music behind this absolutely spine tingling addition to the Guild Wars musical canon.
The music couldn't be a further departure from Soule's style. Whereas Soule's work is fantastical, this team know how to capture that fantasy sound but also create atmosphere. The score is lyrical, blending amazing orchestration (brass, strings and percussion being the strongest featured) and the traditional fantasy soundtrack with inspiration of indigenous voices and Eastern tonalities. The results are gorgeous, forlorn, and overall, exceptionally powerful.
There are no throw away tracks in this score. The thunderous 'Heart of Thorns Theme' is brilliant - a brooding, dark overture which pulsates with a rhythm driven by powerful percussion, strings, and brass. It's nothing short of awesome. Other picks are the mysterious and serene 'Quaggan Command' (dat name tho), the escalating 'Maguuma Overture', the exquisite candor of 'Tarir, the Forgotten City' and the ethnic and jaunty 'Jaka Itzel' (which along with 'Faren's Flier' provides some nice light relief to the otherwise serious score). There is also this beautiful discourse of intoxicating mystery which comes across in tracks like 'Rata Novus', 'Dangerous Beauty' and 'Taming the Jungle'. The score closes with 'Mordremoth', a final ode to the treaterous jungle which encapsulates the whole score with lightning strings, intricate rhythms and percussion and alien languages and ritualistic chanting.
There's also a very impressive preservation of themes previously appearing in the series - Soule's Guild Wars motif echoes throughout, featuring prominently on 'Leaving Tarir', and Crystal Oasis (all the way back from the original Guild Wars: Prophecies) features on 'An Exalted Lullaby'. However, the team integrates them only as brief fragments before they evolve to take on a life of their own. And I won't go into great detail on excellent battle tracks like 'Attack on Tarir' or 'Mouth of Mordremoth' - all you need to know is that they feature far more melody and structure as Soule's work, but unlike Soule, manages to actually make something enjoyable.
The recording of the orchestra isn't the highest possibly quality, but that's what makes it such a refreshing listen to after hearing so much of Soule's scores. You hear little scuffs, pages shuffle and people taking breaths, and at one point you can even hear someone's muffled cough in the background. These don't detract from the music - on the contry, it gives it a magical, living and breathing feeling. I understand there is a certain amount of instrumental patches used, but I couldn't be happier that there's a real orchestra in use to some capacity, and I hope it carries on for the next Guild Wars expansions.
I can't comment on how appropriate this music is within the game's instances, but the quality of music and melody here is extremely strong, and easily stands alone as an excellent soundtrack. My jaw dropped from the moment I hit play on a sample up until the final note had settled on the finale. I hope Diemer & Chappelle stay with ArenaNet for a long time, and I'm eagerly going to await their foray into Cantha, Elona, and beyond.
''Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Original Soundtrack' by ArenaNet, composed by Maclaine Diemer, Lena Chappelle & Stan Le Pardl is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon.com. Available for pre-order on physical vinyl. I wish it was available on CD, but who actually buys them anymore?
Cirque's annual music offering for 2013 is Zarkana, an attempt at a rock-opera/psychadelic/world/pop/whatever recording. There are so many things wrong with this recording and there are so many different types of crazy to be discovered. Zarkana is poorly composed and extremely over-produced. Songs amble around with no discernible melody or development, and many that do have those elements have been extremely compromised in losing their dramatic intensity and vibrancy during the transfer from live production to this recording. Too many songs develop a fine structure then have elements added seemingly from random, from improvisations of instruments disrupting the flow to elecronica breakdowns. It's frustrating since several of their live counterparts are impeccable - here they are awkward, jarring, and nothing special. Like previous Cirque recordings that have aimed to be considered heavy rock, Zarkana's instrumentation lacks the edge and rawness that so many great rock albums have - it's too dreamy and synth heavy, and too psychedelic to be taken seriously. The concept of this recording isn't really realised, and majority of the content isn't anything interesting.
Still, it's dependable on a Cirque du Soleil record that there is always at least a handful of interesting songs. 'Zarwaq' is a unique splice of tribal chanting and percussive beats, with unfortunate interjections of synthesisers, whereas 'Asteraw' feels diluted from an array of twinkly effects and random interjections, but has a vibrant and memorable melody. The mystique of 'Rae' is ruined by a bizarre spoken word interval and omission of the stunning bugle horn, but otherwise is an entrancing amalgam of voice and piano. The jewel of the album is 'Eridanus', which has an infectious chorus, and unlike most of the record has amazing mixing with exceptional clarity. It's an excellent song and shows that Cirque du Soleil's repertoire is still expanding and conquering new genres.
The remainder of the album variates between remarkably beige ('Tourago/Guiram', 'Gienah'), to embarrassingly weird ('Tarienter/The Archer', 'Crysococca') to horrifyingly bad ('Caph', 'Jarseate'). It's a painful reminder that Cirque kicked artistic excellence out of it's view long ago and are primarily interested in settling for the average.
Seeing as Zarkana was originally conceived as a rock opera on Broadway, this is probably the one time where it would have been acceptable for a release with English lyrics. Instead, we are left with imaginary lyrics that seem to be an after-thought of a scrambled attempt to change Zarkana's image. The result is a horrible mishmash of sloppy pseudo-English vowels with no apparent rhyme or structure, sometimes with an odd English lyric thrown in. The record is sprinkled with unpronounceable and upsettingly random titles that are all kinds of crazy ('Caph', 'Crysococca', 'Zawraq').
The recording of Zarkana isn't great. The mixing and production is fairly poor, the majority of the songs are unappealing, and . There are some likeable tracks, but the majority of the album isn't worth a recommendation. Overall I'd recommend just purchasing 'Eridanus' on iTunes and giving the rest of the album a miss.
Cirque du Soleil 'Zarkana' is available from their online boutqiue and on Amazon.com. Available on physical CD and digital download. Preview the entire album for free on Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana official website.
I had the pleasure of playing at Room 60 last week. Tick that off the bucket list.
At the Roost Launch last October a violinist jumped on staged and improvised some wretched jazz for about 10 minutes. I was absolutely awed at how bizarre it was, and vowed that when I returned from overseas I would perform on the stage in some capacity. I found a new love for the cello and, with a lot of inspiration and modelling from Jorane, devised a 25 minute set which would involve me simultaneously playing cello and singing.
My favourite shot that Chris did.
There was a bit of preparation to be put into the event. I went about recording several demos - mostly they were covers by artists like Leonard Cohen, Lady Gaga and Sarah Slean, but I also wrote a few original works. Once I felt reasonably happy with the results, I contacted Room 60 and got in touch with Leila Cosgrove. Leila organises all the music and was intrigued by the idea, and was very enthusiastic. I was asked to send through a bio and a promo shot, so I got my friend Christopher King to shoot some shots in an abandoned house and in a large green field. The bio was more difficult, because I have no credentials when it comes to music. I ended up blubbering something about how I was a 'sound designer' and wanted to experiment with jazz. That's another thing - people ask me what genre I play and I have no idea what to say to them. Once sent through, Leila confirmed I would be playing at 7pm on April 11th. Phew!
So once I had a date locked in, over a few months I learnt the basics of the cello again and learnt some of my favourite songs which I thought the cello could pull off on its own. It's interesting that people are so amazed by the concept of singing while playing, since cello isn't that different to guitar. It certainly has a deeper, richer timbre, and it's unusual to play with the bow - but it's also possible to strum the strings as if it were a guitar, which is a staple in most of my arrangements. It's restrictive, since I feel there's only so much you can do with it. It's not possible to play beautiful melodies while you're on your own, and much of the accompaniment sounds too sporadic and empty if there isn't always a lot of noise coming out of it. But it's relatively unheard of in Brisbane, and people seemed to like the idea enough.
I ended up playing six songs that were all covers - four pieces by Jorane (Musique Pour Gabrielle, Stay, Red Mountains and The Cave) plus one by Lady Gaga (Paparazzi) and Lior (This Old Love). I had written a few songs myself, but I felt that it would be more fun to play covers that people knew, and also it would be useful to gauge how feasible it would be to do something along the lines of it again. Predictably, Paparazzi and This Old Love were the favourites, The Cave and Pour Gabrielle were a bit too bizarre for people, but Stay and Red Mountains were lovely. I think the key is to play simple pieces (in English), and not to take it too seriously. Paparazzi got a lot of laughs, and during Stay the barmaid kept on opening the door to the fridge, so there was some cute comedic timing while I waited for it to shut.
The only shot of the night - courtesy of Ellen.
The response was staggering for me. So many people said things like 'I loved it and can't wait for the next one' or 'I'll be there for the next one', which makes me wonder what the future of me playing is. I have a lot of French pieces I want to sing, but I think the language barrier would restrict people's enjoyment. There are also a lot of gorgeous songs I want to play which require looping and layers, which I don't know how to do live. And many more would need more people other than me, and I hate depending on other people. That, and I'm doing this for fun - NOT for my career. So what's the point . . . hmm . . . ?
The best part of the evening for me was the wonderful turn-out of the audience. People who I had met with over the years, people I am and had worked with, family, friends and future friends were all there - that really meant a lot to me. It was very humbling that people had taken the time out of their evenings to come down for such a short event, and it made me feel so warm and fuzzy :] . I think the premise, length and venue were perfect, and the atmosphere and people there couldn't have been much better. It reminded me how much I loved singing and performing - maybe I'll try it again some time.
Cover of the Les Misérables highlights album (Source: Amazon).
Casting actors rather than singers in movie adaptations of musicals are always at best a necessary evil. Les Misérables has been one of the most anticipated musical adaptations of all time, and a lot of emphasis has been put on acting and pulling out emotion over singing. Unlike the usual filming process of recording tracks months before shooting begins, Tom Hooper's adaption of the world's second longest running musical featured actors singing in realtime on the set and then mixing an orchestra to suit the product after. Claims from the actors insinuate that this 'revolutionary' method allows more flexibility and emotion to be put into the singing, but the reality is that few manage to pull it off properly. Despite fantastic new orchestral arrangements and some wonderful chorus works, there is too much 'acting' in the singing, too many lacklustre singers and bad mixing really detract from what could have been an excellent recording - there are some great moments, however.
At the helm of the recording is Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, and he's just bad. He's acceptable on shorter passages and in songs that don't require such strenuous vocal demands, but star moments like 'Bring Him Home' and 'Soliloquy' are laden with dreadfully nasal vibrato it's unbearable, and he sounds like a squeaky puppy in phrases on 'One Day More' - he's also the worst contender for blubbering through lines and drawing out the emotion too much. Russell Crowe is awful - while no-one was expecting him to be Philip Quast, his gravely part-time rock voice is totally unsuitable as he lacks the vocal power that the role of Javert demands, but his timbre makes it sound as if just sounds like he is shouting as he clambers though 'Stars' and Suicide. It's remarkable how unmelodious his voice is, and shocking how amateur they both sound.
Elsewhere the cast are fine. Eddie Redmayne is surprisingly nice as Marius and Amanda Seyfried's voice is thin but lovely for a quiet Cosette, both are appropriately toned down for the movie but Seyfried is barely present on the recording. The same goes for Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham-Carter, who have the usual unremarkable vocal skills but communicate a good performance through the Thénardier characteristics. The two singers who have performed their respective roles on stage are less than stellar - Samantha Barks returns with her signature wooden-but-pleasent Éponine, as does Aaron Tviet as a passable-but-boring Enjolras who lacks any presence and authority since he sounds significantly demasculinized (look up David Thaxton for a good idea of how the role should sound). The star of the recording is Oscar touted Anne Hathaway as Fantine, who shreds 'I Dreamed a Dream' with ineffable passion and such conviction it's simply breathtaking. While she's not the definitive Fantine, her performance communicates an immensely impressive equilibrium which balances the harrowing anguish and pain of her character with a sensitive delivery of tone and melody.
The gimmick of having the singing live translates poorly from the screen to this recording, and while it's apparently a revelation when it comes to filming, it rarely works to add to the independent musical experience. There are some awful musical decisions such as in 'Castle on a Cloud', where The Grudge graces us with an appearance to cackle "COSETTTEEEE I LOVE YOU VERY MUCHHH" in our ear - it sounds absolutely terrifying out of context. On the other hand, the revised orchestral arrangements are incredibly vibrant, sumptuous and thrilling. Disregarding the vocals, 'Confrontation', 'Look Down' and 'The Final Battle' have never sounded so exciting, nor arrangements like 'In My Life', 'Red and Black' or 'Javert's Suicide' so luscious.
Regardless of both positive and negatives, the recording isn't the most pleasant listen because the mixing is, unfortunately and predictably, awful. The wonderful orchestra is captured perfectly but the recording is marred by the vocals, which are captured with only basic microphones. The result means that there is a lot of hissing and scuffs, with extraneous noises featuring, like people kicking furniture, scuffs of shoes, and over dramatic breathing and lipsmaking. It sounds as though there has been no processing or editing of the vocals - there's not even a basic reverb to unify the numerous tracks together, and it would have greatly improved their placement in the mix - it's very unprofessional and it's irritating to listen to.
There have been some revisions and rearranging to the lyrics, and while they don't do anything major like change the meanings of the song, they're also so minor it didn't really seem necessary (ie. In 'At The End of the Day' - "The winter is coming on fast . . ." becomes "The plague is coming on fast . . .". What's the point? Winter sounds more poetic anyway). 'Suddenly', the new song composed in a scramble to win the Oscar for Best Song, has the complexity of a Christmas carol and is totally unnecessary to the story (if anything, a song should have been written for Cosette). It's not really anything memorable, and I hope it never gets added to the stage show.
All that aside, there are highlights for the CD. Anne Hathaway's incredible rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' is the jewel of the album, and anything with the chorus included is wonderful - 'At The End of the Day' and 'Red and Black' are magnificent. 'The Final Battle' is riveting with the sheer grandeur of the orchestra, and for the sake of nostalgia 'One Day More' is fairly good. My absolute favourite track is the 'Epilogue' which, despite its imperfections, is a luminous adaptation which features an elegant and beautiful orchestra arrangement, thunderous chorus, and includes - finally - the Bishop in Valjean's final moments (I can't describe what that means to me).
All in all, I'm less miserable about the soundtrack than I thought I'd be. There are some awful performances from some of the most prominent actors including Jackman and Crowe, but there are some acceptable performances and Hathaway absolutely steals the show with her rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream', all backed by some glorious orchestration. While mixing is horrible and very amateur, when properly done the chorus shines, and there are a few great moments. This is also only the highlights album, so you can expect another deluxe collector's special Asian limited edition to come out featuring all the tracks at double the price. I'll probably buy that one too. All in all, if you're a fan of the musical then you'll be a sucker for this CD regardless. If you're a fan of the movie and love blindly following crazes, you'll probably like this too. If you enjoy singing rather than acting, perhaps not so much.
The 'Les Misérables' Highlights album is available worldwide December 25th, and is currently available on iTunes. Available on physical CD and digital download.
Well, music is obviously a big part of my life and sharing
it is a pretty important thing for me. I wanted to share some thoughts of all
the songs that have meant a lot to me over this last year, with one for each
month from October 2011 to September 2012.
October
'The Broom/Scarlett Flying' by Cirque du Soleil from Iris.
Danny Elfman started composing the music for Iris in 2009, for the shows premiere in
2011. On average, composers for film take around 3 -4 months to complete a
score, and Elfman had 2 years. One of my favourite pieces of all time, ‘Scarlett
Flying’ is included on Iris.
This piece is important to me because the first time I heard
it was at a time in my life where everything was going right. I remember the
day I first heard the song (Tuesday 11th of October – I was on my way
into university to work on my Performance Innovation assignment), and
TaylorJeffs on CT announced that the entire Iris album was available for
streaming online. I jumped on the bus and eagerly loaded it up, and actually
started crying upon hearing the first few notes because I was so glad Cirque du
Soleil could still produce magic in their music.
"The most coruscating moment on the album is the exquisite and flawless 'The Broom/Flying Scarlett' arrangement. Beginning with a reprise of the opening tune shared delicately between woodwinds and a solo violin while strings flourish softly behind, the piece evolves into something utterly stunning. It provokes this incredible but practically indescribable emotion that resembles something like yearning. It's an ephemeral and achingly beautiful piano waltz paired with this forlorn, angelic voice which fragments and harmonies itself, and slowly layers with chimes and glockenspiels which leads into the striking, driving and powerful orchestra accompaniment. The arrangement is sweeping . . . I'm listening to this right now and I am covered in goosebumps - it's just so good. "
The piece is also now included on Le Best of Cirque du Soleil 2, which I'm very happy about.
November
'Downside Up' by Peter Gabriel from New Blood.
I’m not a Peter Gabriel fan in general, but ‘Downside Up’ is
a song I really fondly remember. Originally it was released on the album Ovo in 2000 (not the shitty Cirque du
Soleil one with ‘dodecaphonic melodies’, the soundtrack to the show from the
show at the Millennium Stadium). The rendition there is nice, but really
heavily synthesised and with mixing that’s a bit boring. While it’s an okay listen
it’s not compelling or uplifting. The new version is subtle and mellow to begin
with, but the chorus introduces an entire symphony that evokes a visceral and
celebratory atmosphere, with a melange of fluttering strings and woodwinds
which sound regal and wood-nymphesque.
This version was released in November 2011 on his album New Blood, and is a re-imagined
rendition that is performed entirely on orchestra, with new vocals featuring
Peter Gabriel and his daughter Melanie Gabriel. At this time, we were just
about to open for our Production One performance, The After Dinner Joke. In
between rehearsals I busted out this song almost all the time, and I still find
listening to the chorus to be an elating way to spend my time . . !
December
'Musique Pour Gabrielle' by Jorane from 16mm.
I’d known about Jorane since 2007, when I saw her first
perform on a Cirque du Soleil DVD (Soleil de Minuit), and was really taken by
the piece she performed. Like most performances Cirque do, they’re not particularly
good at crediting who does what and what the songs are actually called, so she
fell of my radar pretty much entirely until last year. Her new EP, Une Sorcière Commes les Autres, was
released last year, and it came recommended to me after I bought another Cirque
CD (hurr).
‘Musique Pour Gabrielle’, which was originally released on
her album 16mm, is no exception. It’s
a quirky, feel good piece that has an eclectic mix of instruments and moods. It
starts off very brightly and later moves into a closing phrase that features
some of the most gorgeous and earnest cello music that I’ve ever heard. It
evokes feelings of wanderlust and homesickness simultaneously, and I love the
filmclip because it just shows ordinary people smiling, doing the jobs, dancing
at home . . . it makes me feel very nostalgic.
After the La Boite 2012 Season Launch, I walked around the
city about 3am. I had a lot to think about and I wasn’t sure what to do with
myself, so I just walked and listened to this album. The following morning, I
went to the GOMA, and this song played while I sat in the atrium, looking out a
huge glass window onto the river – I realised I’d come a very long way since
the start of the year. While the launch was in October, I started planning
ahead for Of Little Matter in December,
and that’s’ where the piece (and a lot of Jorane’s music) came to be a huge
influence in my style of composing. I hope one day I’m able to write music that
moves other people in a similar way.
January
'En Plein Face' by Harmonium from Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison.
I got introduced to Harmonium through Jorane – after enjoyed
The You and the Now so much, I went ahead and picked up Une Sorcière Commes les Autres and discovered that all the songs
were covers of French Candaian songs. I particularly enjoyed the cover of ‘En
Pleine Face’, which I found was originally buy a folk group called Harmonium
(in English the title literally manes “In Your Face”).
The piece, included on one of the bands only EPs Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison, is very
gentle because evolving into a somewhat hypnotic and inspiring ballad, and then
transforming to something that seems to represent some pleading disappointment
– very difficult to describe, and it’s hard to grasp, especially as the song is
in French. The band, especially in the closing moments of the song, sound very
much like the Beatles.
I alternated between listening to the original and Jorane’s
cover. I ended up including this one as I thought it’d be boring to list the
same artist twice, though I do like both versions, and both have their
advantages over the other. I just like the song because it’s so easy to sing
and it’s so memorable – I remember singing it a lot during a dinner with gravity, and one evening I ran into Liesel Zink who
laughed and complimented my singing skills in French. Winner.
February
'Sunday' by Stephen Sondheim from Sunday in the Park With George.
Sondheim’s ‘Sunday’ is far from anything like “an ordinary
Sunday”. For some reason I had avoided Sunday
in the Park with George for a long time because it just hadn’t appealed to
me, but during one rehearsal of Sweeney Todd, Sarah recommended I give it a
listen and showed me ‘Sunday’. Even then, it took me a few weeks to get into
it, but once I did I was so glad I’d found it. I ordered the CD and when I
received it I really enjoyed a few songs (‘Sunday’ the most), although the
score is really difficult to engage with initially.
In the musical, the song is performed at the end of Act One,
and is then reprise at the end of Act Two to close the show. It is probably
Sondheim’s strongest ensemble piece, holding a hauntingly beautiful melody that
utilizes the entire ensemble of the show – the version below is from the 2010
Proms. The delivery is stunning, with a huge orchestra and choir which conveys
the grandeur and rich texture of the score.
Thematically the song’s lyrics discuss the observations of
idyllic surroundings, suggesting the simplicity of life can supply even the
most beautiful and inspiring art in the eye of the beholder. As someone who
wants to create art, I find that message very special and important.
March
'Losing My Mind' by Laura Michelle Kelly from The Storm Inside.
Oh, to be young and incredibly good-looking. A very cute and
vastly different adaptation to Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Losing My Mind’. Originally
it’s a heartbreaking ballad about the uncertainty about the perception of love,
but here it’s just something you can bop your head to. I can easily see it in some
kind of romantic comedy movie, starring Zooey Deschanel doing various
sad-single women things – like doing her hair, diving under covers, eating
ice-cream all while simultaneously wailing irrationally.
I’m a director.
Just something to relate a little crush too. :0)
April
'The Vegemite Song (The Black Death)' by Amanda Palmer from Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under.
Fond conversations with Steven Mitchell Wright drew me back
to this one. How could this not be on anyone’s list? Perfectly surmises my
thoughts on the subject and I usually redirect people to it when asked for my
opinion.
May
'Libertango' by The Swingle Singers from Too Cubed.
We had been working with Ben Schostakowski in a university
unit called Production 2, where we devised a work of theatre under supervision
and guidance of an industry professional. We used Ben’s starting point,
eisteddfods, to create a work that was a satire on the preparation and process
of children competing at eisteddfods.
We were fairly up in the air about what we wanted to focus
on, and Ben suggested that we bring some music into the room to add some
inspiration. We found this track by the Swingle Singers that unintentionally
embodies the entire vibe that we wanted for the production – a melodramatic and
over the top creation that regardless of how intense characters were, the
ending result is something ridiculous.
I’ve been a fan of Piazola’s music since I heard an
interpretation of ‘Libertango’ on bond’s album Shine. The piece is somehow quite romantic, sort of hypnotic with
its repetitive descending passages and carries a sense of allure. The vocals of The Swingle Singers, who provide everything and use nothing beyond their
voices, adds a complexity and grandeur to the work, and added in the Glee vibe that we were trying to create
. Tom and I still bust this one out every now and then.
June
'Rainbow High' by Andrew Lloyd Webber from Evita Broadway Revival Cast Recording.
I had actually bought a copy of Evita in 2010, entirely based on the fact that Philip Quast played
Juan Peron in the 2006 version. I didn’t think much of it, and I found the
music to be pretty unpleasant and the instrumentation to be pretty week. I left
it alone for about 2 years until I somehow got very enthused about it in May
this year. As it turned out, Evita
was currently being revived on Broadway and a new recording came out in June.
The new recording got me enthused about the entire score
(probably due to fact that it’s a complete recording) -I'm crazy about Elena Roger, who is perfect in
the title role of the trashy and calculated actress who clawed her way to the
top and seduced a nation. Her voice has an earthly quality, slightly rough and
raw, but powerful and engaging. She is captivating, and while she has attracted
a lot of criticism for being too nasal, she is ferocious on the brutal highs and
lows of the score, and manages to balances explosive exuberant with a quietly
modest and candid.
Roger’s performance in 'Rainbow High' is simply bitching,
and she absolutely smashes the ending with these incredibly crazy notes that I
imagine would bring the house down. It’s a high paced, hypnotic and a bit of a
bizarre song. I regularly scream out passages from this – it’s an insanely
catchy piece and a lot of fun to belt out. I sang this a lot all through adinner
with gravity, and frequently ever since.
July
'You Woke Me Up!' by Andrew Bird from Noble Beast.
Through July I was working with Dave Sleswick on the show Iphigenia 2.0 for Vena Cava Productions.
We were one day away from our preview and Dave and I decided that one scene
(‘The Bridesmaids’) in particular needed music. We weren’t sure what the mood
should be, so Dave tried ‘You Woke Me Up!’ as the temporary soundtrack.
I instantly fell in love with the track and Andrew Bird’s
work. The final we ended up using I wrote and recorded the day that we opened
for a preview, and although it’s in a different key with a different melody and
different instrumentation, I drew a huge amount of inspiration from this track.
I love its simplicity and nonchalant mellow mood. It’s sweet and calming, but
also warm and playful. I listened to it everyday through the process after and
ordered the album from Amazon as soon as I could.
August
'And I Will Kiss' by Underworld (feat. Dame Evelyn Glennie and the Pandemonium Drummers) form Isle of Wonder.
Written by Underworld for a section in the opening of the
2012 Olympics, this 17-minute mega-mix accompanied a breathtaking and stunning
theatrical segment called ‘The Pandemonium’. Around 90 drummers swarmed around
the crowd while hundreds of actors pulled up the entire lawn of Olympic
stadium, while towers and buildings emerged from the ground.
The piece is led through a thunderous percussion section dominated
by Dame Evelyn Glennie, a deaf artist who drums in time based on the vibrations
she feels with her bare feet. The piece is an inspirational and explosive
anthem. It builds through the use of layers, gradually adding melodies in
electronic synthesizers, percussive loops, and chanting, ritualistic vocals. To
me it really embodies the atmosphere of the Olympics – an uplifting and
indescribable event that really celebrates the world coming together for a few
days to celebrate human spirit and athletic talent.
I remember watching the opening (a few days after, since we
were in bump-in during the time) and not thinking much of it, but once this
came on I thought I had to look up this song. Its like a massive journey across
17 minutes, which can be used to entertain yourself on the train (four listens
from Dakabin to uni!), to block out boring people who don’t understand criteria
sheets, and just to motivate me whenever I have to do lots of research.
Listening to it at full volumes makes my ears ache, but it’s beyond words to
describe how much I love it.
September
'Loving You' by Stephen Sondheim from Passion.
The third Sondheim composition to reach the list, Loving You
is the most hummable piece included in the 1993 musical Passion. The piece is brief, a candid and subtle moment which
represents a short explanation and resembles a breath - it is the major turning
point of the show, where Fosca communicates that her relentless pursuit of
Giorgio is not a conscious choice she has made, it is simply who she is.
Fosca is one of the most complex fictional characters I have
ever heard of – she is repulsive and impossibly ugly, in the original stage directions and Tarchetti’s original
novel she is described as“an ugly, sickly woman: incredibly thin and sallow,
her face all bones and nose, her hair pulled tightly back. Just as there is a
beauty that surpasses all possible description, so is there an ugliness that
escapes every manifestation”. Her character is fragile, occasionally erupting
into uncontrollable hysterical outbursts upon accounting thoughts and emotions
that she cannot endure. She pursues Giorgio in a fervour that is terrifying,
although this piece explains why she does the things she does.
It’s hard to express the deep connection and appreciation I
feel towards the story, music and lyrics of Passion.
This piece, along with the Passion
original recording, played on repeat through September and the start of October
as I was writing a professional plan and proposal for a staging of the show for
Directing Theatre subject at university. The piece is firmly engraved inside my
brain, and I find it simultaneously beautiful and harrowing to be able to
acknowledge within Fosca the possible emotions that people are too afraid to
express.
