This 50th-anniversary recording of West Side Story is good only as long as no one sings. Nick Ingman leads the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in an acceptable interpretation of the orchestral Prologue and dances, but he provides metronomic accompaniment to the singers, who were recorded at different times and places. (Judging by the disc credits, four studios–in London, Salisbury, and Rome–were used by one production company to make vocal tracks that were then layered over orchestra tracks recorded in Liverpool by another production company.) Major casting decisions are questionable, and the disparity in recording ambience from studio to studio only compounds frequent instances of incompatibility or inadequacy in vocal casting. This serious flaw is fatal to the score’s high point, the “Tonight Ensemble”, where the vocal lines fail to mesh.
Here are a couple of examples of poor casting: Decca Broadway chose a full-voiced operatic singer with an Italian accent (Vittorio Grigolo) as “American” Tony; the young semi-classical star, small-voiced Hayley Westenra of New Zealand, is an un-Hispanic-sounding Maria. Neither conveys emotional involvement in the solos, and there is no chemistry in their duets. The third billed cast member is Connie Fisher, known mainly because of a TV singing competition where she won the lead role in a London production of The Sound of Music. Her rendition of “Somewhere” is somnolent.
Then there are the accents attempted by some members of the British-based cast. When the chorus portrays Jets, they sound kind of New Yorkish; as Sharks and Shark Girls their stage Hispanic accent (“Everyone there weel geeve beeg sheer!”) is irritating, and their shout of “Mambo” is unintentionally hilarious because it rhymes with “Rambo”.
In the 50 years of West Side Story the reference recording has retained superiority to successive efforts taped in Hollywood, London, Nashville, and the multiple venues of this current mess. To fittingly commemorate the crown jewel of Broadway musicals, Decca Broadway should have assembled a Broadway cast and musicians and recorded them in one theater, preferably on or near Broadway.
