Siobhan

I absolutely love this CD and have played it many times. I thoroughly enjoyed the music. I also have the soundtrack from the movie, but this CD is much better. This one also includes "Thank you for the music" as a separate piece. And that is my favorite from the whole play.

That particular song was just sung during the credits in the movie and it's not even listed on the play list, so you really can't access it separately. It's just part of the last song, "I have a dream" on the movie CD. And there is a very long pause before you even get to it on the movie version. You could miss it if you didn't know it was there.
It was worth buying the Broadway sound track for that song alone.

Two years ago I had the opportunity to attend Mamma Mia on Broadway in NYC with a couple of friends. It was great! Immediately after, we went to a music store and my friend purchased the CD. Driving home from Minneapolis for 4 hours, we put in the CD and sang our heart out. The music is wonderful, the movie is great! I soon purchased my own copy and have all the songs memorized. At our memorial day program this past spring, our friend sang "Thank You for the Music" dedicated to all the fallen comrades and friends and family that had recently passed on. It was very touching. Yes, I love it!

If you've only seen the movie version of Mamma Mia, you're in for a treat, as this recording features 24 songs (much more than was featured in the film) all sung beautifully by the 1999 London cast.

I was very disappointed when I first played the CD because I realized that I had ordered the wrong CD. It is the English version rather than the movie version. i find it to be annoying. I didn't think that I could exchange it so I am stuck. Next time I will read the fine print more carefully.

Product was in good shape and arrived promptly. However, I did not care for the CD.

This soundtrack for a movie version of The Merchant of Venice makes for an interesting music album. Without actually having a note of authentic Elizabethan music on it, a medieval atmosphere is created. Contrasting styles and textures seem to immerse the listener and transport one to different places. In addition to the three tracks featuring countertenor Andreas Scholl, track number eight has words by Shakespeare sung by a delightful boy soprano, Ben Crawley.

My main gripe with this, as with most movie soundtracks, is that however well they serve the movie, they do not provide an "even" musical environment for the listener at home. I play music to relax or to match my mood. Because of the variety of styles and textures on this album, there is always something that strikes a jarring note so this CD does not get as much play on my home rotation.

What a beautiful collection of music from the movie, "The Merchant of Venice". It is the first CD I listen to each time I get into my car. Every track is unbelievably moving, from the Jewish songs to the mid-evil voices and strings. Some are haunting and others, uplifting...always leaves me wanting more of the same.This music is great for meditation or will calm you in rush hour traffic. The lyrics are exceptional and are written by John milton, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Luys de Narvaez and Clara Sanabras.

While watching the movie on HBO, I was entranced by the musical score and ordered both the video and the soundtrack. Very evocative. It has become one of my favorites.

The solo voice pieces by Andreas Scholl and Hayley Westenra are excellent. Selection #15, "Bridal Ballad", is the one that stands out. The CD price is a bargain.

I am really picky about film scores. A lot of film scores I hear are loud, bombastic, and over the top. My favorite film score of all time has to be Jocelyn Pook's compositions for the 2004 film adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". Her orchestral compositions really reflects the time period the film takes place in. For me, the gorgeous film score was what made the film so engaging for me. The meldoies were never loud or bombastic like you would hear in John Williams' or Hans Zimmer's work. Andreas Scholl's operatic vocals added a nice touch to Jocelyn Pook's music. Originally I thought Andreas was a she and not a he. His voice is very high for a man and I mean that in a positive way. My favorite track on the album is "Bridal Ballad" with Hayley Westenra. This was my first introduction to Hayley. I must say I was quite impressed. She has a lovely voice that is rarely heard in singers around her age. I wish Britney Spears could sing like that, much less sing like a human and less like a chipmunk.Anyways, I really feel that Jocelyn captured the Shakespeare era that the story was takes place with her music. I hope to hear more from her in the near future.

Without exaggeration and without argument, Andreas Scholl is the most outstanding countertenor of our modern time, which has seen an astonishing revival in this voice type. His voice quality is unquestionably masculine, astonishingly high, incredibly powerful, flexible and commanding.

This CD contains 18 tracks which skim the surface of his career with Decca which covered a few years. It's a great sampler of Scholl's mid-career to 2006. One could argue that "Best of" is misleading since it omits all of his astonishing early recordings with Harmonia Mundi and Scholl fans sincerely hope that more is forthcoming now that he has returned to that label.

However, notable tracks include several famous Baroque opera arias including Ombra mai fu (Handel, SERSE) and Cara sposa (Handel, Rinaldo). One of my favorite folk songs is here: Blow the Wind Southerly. Also is one track of the soundtrack Scholl did for the Merchant of Venice movie: How Sweet the Moonlight. Part of Pergolesi's Stabet Mater with Barbara Bonney is here--I argue with that since this is incomparable as a whole and having just part of it grates on me but it is enough of a sample to give something of the flavor. Also included are a couple of things that are nowhere else such as the Korean folk song.

Aficionados of Scholl and the countertenor voice type will not have to be told to snap this up. I would also recommend this to anyone who was interested in collecting good voices. File this next to the early Pavarotti but on a "higher" shelf.

The Best of Andreas Scholl is a must have for every music lover. This counter tenor has such an amazing voice and brings a collection of wonderful songs. I enjoyed the CD from the first till the last second.

many people say andreas scholl has a non-expressice voice for opera and that the beauty of his voice gets him by. well after listening to the choice of his best i argue that. his "dove sei" is beautiful as well as his "ombra mai fu," a peace he made his own.over all a very nice selection. a must for all andreas scholl fans and those who enjoy a musical diversity.

EVITA is without question Andrew Lloyd Webber's finest achievement. He and Tim Rice collaborated on one of the true operatic masterpieces of musical theatre, and it's interesting hearing this - the representative recording of the first staged production of the show. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the most disappointing of all the English cast albums of the show. The orchestrations and performances are deplorably lackluster, particularly in light of the definitive American Premiere production that would take place the following year.

For one, the orchestra is obviously very small and minimalistic - sounding truncated and sloppy in many areas of the score.

Secondly, the cast is mediocre - particularly and most unfortunately Elaine Paige's Eva. Don't get me wrong, I adore Elaine, but it's obvious here that her voice was not in top form when this recording was done. She may have either been sick, or just one of those performers whose voice didn't mature until she was much older. For example, listen/watch her performance of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" on the Royal Albert Hall Celebration DVD and then listen to her rendition of the song on this album. She's almost painfully flat and strained here. She has this annoying habit of yelling the notes she can't quite hit - so obviously not the natural semi-operatic belter that Patti LuPone is.

Overall, avoid this cast album unless you're an EVITA completist. It simply is not worth the money that it goes for. I don't care if it is an import.

If you're an EVITA newb, I'd say go with the American Premiere Cast highlights album as a starter. Buy the full double album if you can afford it (and trust me, it's well worth it), but you absolutely can't go wrong with Patti, Mandy, and Bob.

I bought this thinking it was the entire show. It's missing some of my favorite songs, such as "Rainbow Tour." Elaine Paige is great, but I don't care much for David Essex as Che.

Over the years Andrew Lloyd Webber has made many musicals, some more successful and appealing to the public than the others. Most people will, however, agree that "Evita" remains one of his most satisfying works to this date. Numerous reasons confirm this statement. Just like in its predecessor "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Evita" is almost entirely sung-through; the lyrics are witty and appropriate; the subject matter is again a personality larger-than-life who rises from obscurity and dies at the peak of its fame, thus becoming a legend; the score is captivating and appealing to the listener, at home or in the theatre.

Following the suit of the Superstar, ALW and Tim Rice first published Evita as an album, which appeared in 1976. It was an instant success and soon afterwards the preparations began to put it on the stage. The veteran of the musical theatre direction, Hal Prince, accepted the offer to adapt the original album and Elaine Paige, then an unknown actress and musical theatre performer was cast in the role of Evita. The show premiered in London in 1978, winning acclaiming reviews and numerous awards. And yet, since the concept album was selling so well, the authors felt it unnecessary to release another full version of Evita, with the London cast. That is why we only have this highlights 53-minute recording of the original London production. The story of Evita is widely known, but for those who are new to this let's repeat the essentials: We follow the life story of Eva Duarte Peron, wife of post-World war two president of Argentina, Juan Peron. However, the musical is very loosely based on the actual life of the real Evita. The story follows Evita from the day of her death in July 1952, and then we have flashbacks until that moment, covering her coming to Buenos Aires, alleged love affairs, meeting Peron, being the first lady and dying of cancer at 33.

Being the first theatre version of the somewhat revised concept album material, this disc is not the best recording available. There are several drawbacks. First, it lacks a great part of the show, since all we have here are snippets, i.e., the main musical numbers, meaning it is a bit difficult to follow the story if you are a first-time listener, even though the booklet provides a basic story outline. One of the other obvious weaknesses is the minimalist orchestrations used on this recording. After the lush and epic sound of the concept album featuring the London philharmonics and a rock band, here we have the usual pit orchestra, consisting of only the basic instruments. Thus the beauty of the score remains somewhat lost and is only traceable in hints. The authors seem to be aware of it, since for the upcoming Broadway recording of the show, the orchestrations were improved and sounded clearer.

In addition, the cast performance here is also mixed. Although the role of Eva Peron raised Elaine Paige to stardom, I find her performance not the best, simply because her voice sounds too young. With time her vocal abilities matured, but here she just doesn't reach a much needed uncompromising determination of the character, the way Patti LuPone did on Broadway or Julie Covington on the original album. That is not to say that Elaine performance here is altogether bad, but it could have been much better. David Essex, on the other hand, is a very good Che. He has the strong vocal power Colm Wilkonson and Antonio Banderas both demonstrated in their interpretation, which leaves one wondering why was Mandy Patinkin cast in the role when the show was transferred to Broadway, since he had a very light and unpleasant voice. Joss Ackland, an esteemed British actor is a well chosen Peron, with a suitable dark note in his performance.

The CD comes with a couple of the production photos, but no lyrics are included.

For those of you who are getting acquainted with the story of Eva Peron for the first time I must point out: Bear in mind that this musical is only loosely based on the life of the real Evita. As much as Tim Rice's lyrics are craftily made, they lack a lot of historical accuracy. As a historian I became very interested in Eva Peron's life story so I did some research after seeing the movie. It turned out that the authors based their entire work on a single book called EVITA: THE WOMAN WITH A WHIP by Mary Main. It was based on rumors, lies and myths, written with the single purpose of slandering Eva Peron as much as possible. It contains no footnotes and no bibliography. The authors used it mainly because it was one of the few books available on the subject in the English language during the 70-is. So one should be very careful in making any conclusions based on the musical or the movie alone.

So this disk is more of a welcomed addition for the collectors of the Evita cast recordings, rather than a first-choice album for the new listeners. The latter should get one of the three available 2-CD albums: the 1976 concept recording with Julie Covington, the 1979 Broadway cast with the best Evita of them all, the Tony-winning Patti LuPone, or the very good 1996 movie soundtrack with Madonna in the lead. They all have the complete score and are much more satisfying than this highlights album.

This soundtrack does not, in my opinion, rate as high as the Original Broadway Cast album with Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone, but it is not too bad. It is incomplete, which was a disappointment. Elaine Page doesn't hold a candle to Patti Lupone as Evita, and the Che leaves much to be desired. The highlight of this album is "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" which is simply superb. It was worth buying the cd just for that song. Some of the lyrics are different, which was interesting to hear, because they changed them around a bit when Evita was brought to the US. If you are an Evita lover I would suggest this album, but if you are just being introduced to Evita I would suggest going with the Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin cd.

I wanted the complete Evita soundtrack, and this rendition was terribly disappointing. The cd ends abruptly mid story. Voices are spectacular of course, but the cover suggests this is the original London peformance and a buyer, like me, expects the entire musical score. I wouldn't buy this again.

If you are going to get the CD of the Mamma Mia musical this is the one to buy. I know the price is stiff, but, at least to me, it is worth it. I have played it several times and never get tired of it. In addition, it includes an encore rendition of the songs Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, and an initial rendition of Waterloo. You can buy cheaper CD's of the Mamma Mia musical, but these ABBA songs are worth paying a little more to get the best version that is available for sale.

I wish that this edition was released earlier, I have the original soundtrack, but it would have been nice if they had the encore songs in it, which this one does. If you enjoyed the musical you should have this CD because it will bring you back and recall the scenes from the musical.

Anyone who has the privilege of watching the ingenuous Mamma Mia! musical (especially ABBA fans) will adore this soundtrack. With all the amazing hits that were woven into the play, the vocal talents on this CD are every bit as brilliant, captivating and dynamic as they are on stage. If you haven't seen the musical yet - go see it... it's worth it, and something real fun to take the family to!

This is a fun CD set. The music is lush. The performances by Bernadette Peters, Carol Burnett, Nathan Lane and rest of the cast are simply great. The personalities of the characters really come through. In the production numbers, you can almost see the dancers. Goodness, Carol Burnett -- always one of my favorites -- here at 70 sounds wonderful.
I have to state my bias, though, I'm performing the role of Sheridan Whiteside in a community theater production of the play. So people less familiar with the play may not appreciate this CD as much. It has grown on me, so maybe it takes a few listens. The 2000 movie of "The Man who Came to Dinner" with Nathan Lane would be good background (as well as a lot of fun in its own right).

Great piece of work - would love to see this staged sometime. Some of the talent is predictable but this is a great idea.

As Ken Mandelbaum pointed out, "The Man Who Came To Dinner" is perfect as is, and isn't improved by musicalization. That said, I think it could have still been done much better. The two ladies (Lorraine Sheldon and Magie Cutler) get the best songs - the ballads for Maggie and the show tunes "Sherry" and "Putty In Your Hands" for Lorraine (although both songs rely upon the same "re-mi" hook in what seems to be plain lazy composition, rather than thematic continuity). Whiteside never gets a really great number, and the show is called "Sherry," isn't it? Shouldn't he have an 11:00 number? Shouldn't his establishing number be funnier? Why does the Noel Coward character have two (bland) songs and the Harpo Marx character none? Why does the nurse, Miss Preen, never sing?
Although the score is never truly bad, it seems as though opportunities to write great songs (rather than acceptable ones) were missed. And please, Lipton, please get over your obsession with internal rhymes. Your overuse of them is like putting an entire box of salt in a stew.

As reviewers search for reasons why this just isn't a terribly good disc, I submit that you can't gild a turd. And that the only reason this near-forgotten score has been revived is because it's a ***JAMES LIPTON VANITY PROJECT***. Lipton, best (and only) known for his execrable TV show (oh, wait! no, there were also those sterling Bob Hope Birthday Specials...), is, politely put, an undertalented lyricist and playwright. That his emetic program has afforded him enough (hopefully-brief) celebrity to coerce talented performers (all but one--Tommy Tune--have been dais guests of the oleaginous Lipton) to waste their time in the service of his ego is just another reason to regret ITAS' popularity.

B'way completists rejoice if you will, but please also admit that there are many shows much more deserving of fresh recordings with marquee casts than this hacked-out pastiche of other creators' immeasurably-better work.

At the risk of sounding totally mean, I have to say that there are some bright spots in this rather over-the-top and inflated score. No wonder it closed and was never recorded until now. It's just not as good as the publicity for the recording would lead you to believe. There's nothing original here, it's Broadway formula down to the first note of the overture to the end.

If you are a broadway passer-by, someone who looks to getting to know just what's on broadway and not what's it like, someone who says he's seen all of the broadway shows after reading the "what's on listings" in the papers this is a CD for you. I don't own the CD but own all of the Cds from which songs were taken to make this CD. every musical has it's own style and kind of music, and this CD doesn't even take all the highlights. If you are into really experiencing something when listening to a cd, if you are a real broadway-lover and you are interested in modern musical-writing, every one of the original cast recordings (from which songs were taken to this CD-hairpsray, producers, millie, aida, b&b, boheme, moving out) will be a much bigger enjoyment for you than this one. and most preferabely- all of them! :)