I always forget to ask this question, but now you have reminded me and it's the perfect time!
To my ear, on the Williams recording, it always sounds like something is wrong, like a sour note, or that she and the ensemble are in different keys, at the end of Where You Are. But this must be crazy because why wouldn't they have fixed it before release? After the dance break she sings "tuns off the lights and turn on your mind". And on the word "lights" it's like she is not in the same key as the men who are singing "ah" or "ooh". It's like she or the men, or both, are scooping up or down to get into the same key. It's a rare example I can think of where it seems like a professional recording has such a blatant...error?
On the subject, I feel the same way in some recordings of Folies Bergeres from Nine. After the whole critics interlude it goes "Grazie, prego, darlings" and on the original it sounds like all of these words are set on the same two notes. But on others the "darlings" sounds conspiculously, and again, almost incorrectly placed on lower notes. I always think the actress is going flat or is not in the same key as the musicians. |
