tracks

Overture And Night Waltz (Love Takes Time)
The Glamourous Life
Now/Soon/Later
You Must Meet My Wife
Every Day A Little Death
Night Waltz
A Weekend In The Country
It Would Have Been Wonderful
Send In The Clowns
Poor Old Frederick
Send In The Clowns (reprise) / Finale
Every Day A Little Death (Film version)
Night Waltz (Film version)
End Credits (Film version)

notes

℗© 1978
In 1977, the film version of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC was released, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Lesley-Anne Down, and Diana Rigg, with Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold, and Laurence Guittard reprising their Broadway roles. While the critical reception to the stage musical was glowing, the critical reception of the film was notoriously underwhelming. Despite this, Jonathan Tunick received an Oscar for his orchestrations of the memorable, lovely, and tuneful score, which is magnificently preserved on Masterworks Broadway's digital and CD re-release of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Original Soundtrack Recording).

All criticisms of the film aside, Masterworks Broadway has produced a treasure for fans of Stephen Sondheim and of the film alike with this record. They have splendidly remastered the 1978 soundtrack for the digital era. They have pulled the audio from the original stereo masters, included "Poor Old Frederick," a previously unreleased instrumental cue, and the film versions of both "Night Waltz" and "Every Day A Little Death," which includes the carriage ride verse written for the film. There is simply no denying that the music that made it into the film is just as brilliant as it was on Broadway. Stephen Sondheim's new version of "The Glamorous Life" and the added verse for "Every Day A Little Death" is also fascinating, even if they aren't as strong as the rest of the score. Likewise, Elizabeth Taylor's sultry but unpolished singing voice for Desiree Armfeldt isn't bad.

The merits of the album come from Jonathan Tunick's integrity to Stephen Sondheim's original concept and score. He guarantees that the music for the film score is lushly sumptuous. The entire cast on the album handles the score well, bringing emotionality and life to each of the signature numbers. The strongest and most impressive vocals on the album come from as Len Cariou as Frederick Egerman, Lesley-Anne Down as Anne Egerman, Diana Rigg as Charlotte Mittelheim, and Laurence Guittard as Count Carl-Magnus Mittelheim. These four make songs such as "Now," "Soon," "Every Day A Little Death," and "It Could Have Been Wonderful" the standout tracks on the album.

credits

Design – Lester Glassner
Engineer – Warren Vincent
Liner Notes – Tom Carlson
Music By, Lyrics By – Stephen Sondheim
Producer [Album] – Bob Hathaway (2)
Producer [Album], Orchestrated By [Scored By] – Jonathan Tunick
Recorded By – John Richards

companies

Manufactured By – ArkivMusic

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