South Pacific [Cast Recording]

it is too easy to judge a revival of a golden broadway hit by the template of the original and find the newer show wanting; this one is not, believe me. i can understand how frank rich of the new york times burst into tears in response to the opening night show; i almost did, too, when i listened to this cd for the first time. this edition of south pacific -- only the second on the broadway stage in 60 years -- is simply sublime. i found it better than the original in many ways. it is the best revival since guys and dolls with nathan lane, better than the recent revivals of the music man (close) kiss me kate (not so much) and pal joey (get oudda here...).

and folks who say this recording is insipid or lacks energy or that certain songs are "too well sung" are all wet. the orchestrations are true to the original ones, so the music will immediately sound familiar and comfortable, but now with 21st century technology and crystal clear sound so you can hear what the music sounded like to folks back in 1949.

kelli o'hara is out of sight as nellie forbush; her voice is pure and clear and pitch perfect and conveys all the energy you'd want and she interprets the lyrics "correctly" (read: as we have come to understand from mary martin and mitzi gaynor). she even affects a southern accent, and exudes way more in good looks and femininity than mary martin ever did, and is more energetic and more of a real singer than mitzi gaynor in the movie. they can mail kelli the tony right now.

paulo szot as emile de becque fills up the music hall with his baritone-bass voice on his big songs, especially twin soliloquies and this nearly was mine. some enchanted evening was a little softer than ezio pinza's and that song needs to be boomed out. i was as satisfied with his voice overall, however, as with pinza's or rossano brazzi's -- and paulo has a sort of robert goulet look about him, with a mustache no doubt meant to instantly convey the french planter look.

the only voices i found wanting and suffering in comparison with the originals were loretta ables sayre as bloody mary -- she is not juanita hall and sounds too much like a middle-aged lea salonga and not gravelly and rough enough to convey bloody mary's edge and cynicism as hall did so well especially on bali ha'i or even happy talk

-- and matthew morrison, as joe cable, who has to strain to hit the high notes on younger than springtime, which william tabbert in the original show never had any problem with. springtime, along with some enchanted evening, are the male arias in this opera and need big voices to carry them off and morrison's is too thin. even on my girl back home he seems to be straining a bit. he does convey more youth than tabbert or john kerr, who played joe cable in the movie, did, which may be what R & H had in mind for the character.

the ensemble numbers -- there is nothin' like a dame, wash that man right outta my hair and i'm in love with a wonderful guy -- are strong and energetic; certainly no complaints there; every bit as good as the original.

one advantage of cds is that you can get more material on them than on lp records so there is some dialogue, which especially is effective when emile introduces his two children to nellie and she reacts as only a carefully taught bigoted southern belle would; you get more context for the drama and progression of the story in the songs.

the show is edgier and more up front and in your face re the race issue than the movie was; anyone who thinks rodgers and hammerstein were all warm and fuzzy fluffmeisters need only watch this show or listen to this cd -- and take a harder look at flower drum song to see that they had courage to confront, sometimes with seriousness and sometimes with humor, the race issue. finian's rainbow, which came out at about the same time, addressed it, too, but only showboat -- which came out 20 years before -- when done right and in its entirety with its full gravity and not as a minstrel show, confronts the race issue more and better than does south pacific.

i think there was an idealistic, optimistic (but not cockeyed) feeling in 1949 that it was a new world after the war and we all had a chance for a fresh start, under new rules, and the old rules, including of racial discrimination, were fair game to be overturned,, in polynesia as well as on main street usa, so R & H saw the opportunity to use michener's story as their soapbox to lend their voices to that movement.

if you are only going to buy one south pacific and want the best and most enjoyable one to listen to, i would buy this one rather than the original cast recording or the movie; i had both of those already, but from now on, this is the one i will mainly listen to -- it is that good.

The current 2008 Lincoln Center revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC, is an absolutely wonderful evening of entertainment, fully deserving of all the praise it has garnered so far. Unfortunately, little if any of the magic and excitement that the stage performance has in spades is to be found on this cast recording of the show. It is truly disappointing to report that the songs are sung here by the principals as if they have left their stage personas behind and decided to merely sing the songs as pop tunes rather than within the context of the show. Paulo Szot, in particular, gives rather lackluster performances of Emile de Becque's songs. On the stage, his acting and singing are exemplary but on this recording he appears to be singing phonetically, giving the impression he does not understand what the lyrics mean, certainly not the case in his stage performance. Even Kelli O'Hara, a superb singer whose voice is perfect for Nellie Forbush, sings her songs so carefully that it appears that she is trying to be letter perfect in her vocal delivery but little else, again in severe contrast from her stage vocals. Matthew Morrison, as Cable is the weakest singer in the show and that is evident even more so on this recording, but at least on the stage he more than made up for his vocal shortcomings by delivering a multi-layered acting performance in the role, which is of little consequence on this recording. In contrast, Loretta Ables Sayre, as Bloody Mary sings her numbers very close to what was heard on the stage and comes across best of all on this recording. The best that can be said of this cast album of SOUTH PACIFIC is that if you are looking for a memento of the stage production and you are completely unfamiliar with any other previous recordings of this score, it will probably be to your liking. It just is not as good as the live stage performance with the same cast.

The best recording of SOUTH PACIFIC remains the 1958 soundtrack South Pacific (1958 Film Soundtrack), which still sounds great and features definitive vocal performances and lush, atmospheric orchestral and choral work that has never been equaled on any recording of SOUTH PACIFIC. The still available 1949 Original Broadway Cast South Pacific (Original 1949 Broadway Cast) with Mary Martin & Ezio Pinza is truly special but the sound is not so good. The soundtrack offers the best combination of performance and sound ever accorded this score. In fact Richard Rodgers himself proclaimed at the time that the 1958 soundtrack was the most perfect recording of SOUTH PACIFIC ever. This 2008 revival cast album has done nothing to change that assessment.

The first Broadway revival of "South Pacific" has been greeted with absolutely ecstatic reviews and a host of awards. I honestly don't think I've seen or read a single negative thing about this production. However, something must have been lost in the translation to CD, because I find this recording to be little more than mildly entertaining.

Musically, there is very little fault to be found with this CD. The performeres all have good (and in the case of Kelli O'Hara and Paolo Szot, great) voices. O'Hara's crystal clear tone rings like a bell on her songs, and Brazilian opera star Szot uses his expert understanding of musicality and dynamics to good effect. Szot is particularly impressive on "Some Enchanted Evening," where his voice caresses the melody and makes this oft-sung song sound new again.

Even more impressive is the orchestra, which at nearly 30 pieces is one of the largest on Broadway. This recording will make you long (if you don't already) for the days when such large pit orchestras were common, because they sound absolutely fabulous. From the first sumptuous chords of the "Bali Ha'i" melody that begin the overture to the final ultimo, the musicians - under the expert baton of conductor Ted Sperling - transport you to the tropical South Pacific and find every ounce of texture in the score's orchestrations.

With so much right, why only three stars? Well, it's almost as if the score is a little too perfect. In taking such care with the music, the performers seem to have lost the life of the characters. Rodgers & Hammerstein's brilliance was their ability to write beautiful melodies while serving story and character. The people they wrote these songs for are living life to the fullest, and experiencing a plethora of emotions they can only express in song. Many of the tracks on this CD lack that life and vigor. When we get the occassional glimmer of true feeling (such as during O'Hara's delightfully playful take on "Honey Bun"), it makes the rest of the CD that much more disappointing in comparason.

Don't get me wrong; I'm sure the show as performed nightly at the Vivan Beaumont is excellent. This recording does a lot of things right, and I know many people will absolutely adore listening to it again and again. But for me, I want more conviction captured on the CD, since like many people who buy it I will probably not get the chance to see the show live.

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