| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 04:16 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 04:04 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| And Neway is (was) certainly no Audra McDonald. Which gets to my point - expecting one actor to replicate the performance of another (some 60+ years later) is absurd. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Ronsdivas 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - MikeR 04:16 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| I wasn't asking her to "replicate" her performance...just sing "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" in the key that Mr Rodgers and Hammerstein chose for the production.I assume Ms McDonald CAN sing it in key... | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | LegitOnce 12:58 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| I'm not sure I understand. McDonald finished the song in D-flat major, which is the published key and the key Neway sang it in. If you want to check, the Los Angeles Times has posted a clip from the telecast, presumably with NBC's permission. | |
| URL: | Climb Ev'ry Mountain |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Chromolume 01:05 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - LegitOnce 12:58 am EST 12/07/13 |
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| I'm not sure I understand. McDonald finished the song in D-flat major, which is the published key... ...in the vocal score. But the original published sheet music doesn't modulate, so it ends in C. (In other words, there really is no "THE published key," lol.) | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 04:36 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 04:30 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| But Rodgers likely put the song into the key that he felt worked best for Ms. Neway. So why shouldn't Ms. McDonald get the same consideration? | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Ronsdivas 04:45 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - MikeR 04:36 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| Good point. So when she tries on Cunegonde...they can just find the key to make it "singable".Wow...I bet a lot of sopranos wish they had that option. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 06:10 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 04:45 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| In fact, during the audition process for the original production, "Glitter and Be Gay" was put in a lower key, suggesting that Bernstein was open to the possibility of having it performed in a lower key if that proved to be necessary. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Ronsdivas 06:26 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - AlanScott 06:10 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| and when has it ever been performed lower?? | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 06:59 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 06:26 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| I don't know. I haven't seen every performance of it ever. Keys are changed all the time in Broadway shows, sometimes during the run, sometimes for tours, sometimes for productions in other countries and in revivals. Sondheim has particularly spoken about how he never expects the key in which he writes a song to be the key in which it will be performed. He expects that the keys in which songs will be performed will be decided based upon who is cast. In fact, Maria's music in TSOM was altered for the original London production and the Australian production, but I suspect that started with the national tour, which cast real sopranos as Maria, as did the London and Australian productions. In fact, unless my ears are deceiving me — I don't have a great sense of pitch — "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" was put in a slightly lower key in that first London production (with a great opera mezzo as the Mother Abbess). Later, June Bronhill sang it in a higher key in the revival with Petula Clark. Rodgers, who was known as such a stickler for how he wanted his music performed, nonetheless frequently went along with — perhaps even suggested or advocated — key changes for film versions, tours, replacements, etc. Carol Bruce, for example, performed Vera in Pal Joey a lot, for example, in the national tour of the revival and when that revival was reproduced in London. She sang the songs in much lower keys than the ones in which Vivienne Segal had sung them originally. And what about the fact that keys were changed for Merman during the original run of Gypsy? What about the extreme key changes in Gypsy done for Lansbury? If my understanding is correct — as I'm not a musician — this went beyond lowering most of the songs by a whole step for her when it got to "Rose's Turn," which goes through a bunch of key changes. Some keys were lowered, some were raised, thereby changing key relationships and reducing the overall range of the number. Some keys were changed for Christine Andreas when she played Eliza Doolittle. Do all of those bother you greatly? | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | LegitOnce 12:42 am EST 12/07/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - AlanScott 06:59 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| Plus there are a lot of "ossias" (alternate notes and phrases) in "Glitter and Be Gay" so that the Cunegonde can, if she needs to, avoid some of the faster runs and the long written-out high -E-flat in the "Observe how bravely I conceal" coda. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Ronsdivas 07:01 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - AlanScott 06:59 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| No...not at all. Thanks for your informative and not snarky answer. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 08:03 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 07:01 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| You're welcome. Actually, I was being a little snarky but I'm glad it didn't seem that way. ;) It can be tough to get used to, but it really is done all the time, for a variety of reasons. I don't doubt that McDonald has that climactic note, but it is on a potentially awkward vowel and they may have felt that she'd be able to sing it without altering the vowel so much in a lower key. If you want to hear something funny, listen to June Bronhill sing it in a higher key on the Petula Clark recording. At the end, which I think climaxes on a B flat rather than Neway's A flat, Bronhill's last two words sound something like, "yah AHHHH!" Whatever she sings on the last note seems to have no consonants at all and is certainly not an E vowel. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Ronsdivas 08:08 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - AlanScott 08:03 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| Thanks again Alan. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 04:56 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 04:45 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| After you get through giving her "mannerism coaching" you can dictate what key she should sing in. You seem to have a problem with Audra McDonald. You're in the minority for good reason. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Ronsdivas 05:00 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - enoch10 04:56 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| That's my choice. | |
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| re: Isn't she always? | |
| Posted by: | Cleveland 04:52 pm EST 12/06/13 |
| In reply to: | re: Isn't she always? - Ronsdivas 04:45 pm EST 12/06/13 |
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| "I bet a lot of sopranos wish they had that option." As MikeR has already pointed out, they often do--transposition for the performer is done frequently | |
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