Chess in Concert [2008 London Concert Cast] [Highlights] [PA]

Performer: Original Soundtrack/Various Artists/Josh Groban
Producer: Hugh Wooldridge; Hugh Wooldridge; Nigel Wright
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Lyricist: Tim Rice. Adapters: Hugh Wooldridge; Hugh Wooldridge; Tim Rice. Personnel: Marti Pellow, Christian Lund, Andrew Playfoot, Mark Evans, David Bedella, Christopher Colley, Idina Menzel, Clarke Peters, Adam Pascal, Josh Groban, Kerry Ellis (vocals). Liner Note Author: Tim Rice. Animation: Rehana Rose Khan. Editors: Gary Bradley; Laura Young; Laura Young. Photographers: Chris Christodoulou; Tristram Kenton; Simon Williams ; Tristram Kenton; Simon Williams. Arrangers: Anders Eljas; Anders Eljas. With lyrics by Tim Rice, the 1984 "concept" album CHESS represented ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson's first foray into Andrew Lloyd Webber theatrical territory way before MAMMA MIA. It never quite accomplished its larger goal although the 1986 live production did enjoy a three-year run on London's West End (doing less well in the States) and has had its devotees over the years. Which helps explain this 2009 revival featuring such luminaries as adult contemporary vocalist Josh Groban, Tony winner Idina Menzel (WICKED), and the Tony-nominated Adam Pascal (RENT). The special concert performance was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008 and boasts the City of London Philharmonic as well as a large 100-voice chorus. There is also a video that was shown on PBS's GREAT PERFORMANCES. It might be argued that lyricist/librettist Tim Rice does not so much collaborate with composers as compete with them. His early successes with Andrew Lloyd Webber, notably JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA, were content-heavy efforts with often wordy songs and complicated characters, and Lloyd Webber fled to the relative simplicity of practically libretto-free shows about cats and train engines, never again granting a lyricist co-billing with him. Rice had another set of complicated ideas for CHESS, on which he worked with Benny Andersson and Bj�rn Ulvaeus, late of ABBA, setting two interlocking romantic triangles against the backdrop of world chess tournaments during the Cold War. The work was represented first by a 1984 concept album, followed by a successful 1986 London stage production that did not spawn a cast album and an unsuccessful 1988 Broadway stage production that did. All during this period, Rice and several directors tinkered with the plot, and the songwriters added and deleted songs. In 1994, a third recording appeared in Sweden taken from a concert production overseen by Andersson. Not surprisingly, this album, featuring Scandinavian singers singing in accented English, tilted more toward the music over Rice's lyrics and story. And not surprisingly, this 2008 London concert version overseen by Rice tilts the other way. The recording has been mixed so that the vocals are up front, making it much easier to understand what's going on and to comprehend Rice's witty, idiomatic lyrics. The leads include two stage veterans who both got their starts in RENT, Adam Pascal (also of Rice and Elton John's AIDA) as the American chess champion Frederick Trumper and Idina Menzel (also of WICKED) as Florence Vassy, who begins with Frederick and then switches allegiance to the Soviet chess champion Anatoly Sergievsky. This recording is an improvement over both the compromised Broadway album and the hard-to-follow Swedish one, making it the best version of CHESS since the 1984 original. It might be argued that lyricist/librettist Tim Rice does not so much collaborate with composers as compete with them. His early successes with Andrew Lloyd Webber, notably Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, were content-heavy efforts with often wordy songs and complicated characters, and Lloyd Webber fled to the relative simplicity of practically libretto-free shows about cats and train engines, never again granting a lyricist co-billing with him. Rice had another set of complicated ideas for Chess, on which he worked with Benny Andersson and Bj�rn Ulvaeus, late of ABBA, setting two interlocking romantic triangles against the backdrop of world chess tournaments during the Cold War. The work was represented first by a 1984 concept album, followed by a successful 1986 London stage production that did not spawn a cast album and an unsuccessful 1988 Broadway stage production that did. All during this period, Rice and several directors tinkered with the plot, and the songwriters added and deleted songs. In 1994, a third recording appeared in Sweden taken from a concert production overseen by Andersson. Not surprisingly, this album, featuring Scandinavian singers singing in accented English, tilted more toward the music over Rice's lyrics and story. And not surprisingly, this 2008 London concert version overseen by Rice tilts the other way. The recording has been mixed so that the vocals are up front, making it much easier to understand what's going on and to comprehend Rice's witty, idiomatic lyrics. The leads include two stage veterans who both got their starts in Rent, Adam Pascal (also of Rice and Elton John's Aida) as the American chess champion Frederick Trumper and Idina Menzel (also of Wicked) as Florence Vassy, who begins with Frederick and then switches allegiance to the Soviet chess champion Anatoly Sergievsky. Anatoly is portrayed by classical crossover star Josh Groban. The part is really the starring role. (If Chess has a hero, Anatoly is it; Frederick isn't exactly a villain, but more of a troubled mercenary in the mold of Rice's Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar.) Groban has the vocal chops to handle the part, but not the dramatic ability. He croons his way through the songs and speaks his bits of dialogue woodenly. Thus, in this performance, Anatoly is upstaged over and over again by Frederick and Florence, if only because Pascal and Menzel are able to use their stage experience to inhabit their characters far more effectively. The plot has been tweaked yet again, but it still doesn't make a lot of sense. (Not only is the Soviet champion the hero, but, having defected to the West, he returns to the Soviet Union at the end, the sort of action that would have earned any real defector a one-way ticket to the gulag.) Yet this recording is an improvement over both the compromised Broadway album and the hard-to-follow Swedish one, making it the best version of Chess since the 1984 original. [Like Chess Pieces, a single-disc album of the best songs from that 1984 album, this highlights disc culls the most popular tracks from the 2008 recording, including "I Know Him So Well" and "One Night in Bangkok," which were British hits in their initial recordings, along with the ballads "Heaven Help My Heart" and "You and I." The only important song that's missing is "The Arbiter." But since this album was selling on release for only a couple of dollars less than the two-CD set, it's hard to see much advantage to it.] ~ William Ruhlmann

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