Wonderful Town

For the Berlin Philharmonic's festive 2002 New Year's Eve concert, recently-appointed music director Sir Simon Rattle mounted this performance of Leonard Bernstein's musical comedy about two Midwestern sisters trying to make it in the Big Apple (Wonderful Town actually premiered on Broadway almost 50 years earlier). Most of the singers here—Kim Criswell, Audra McDonald, Thomas Hampson, Brent Barrett—appeared in a highly-praised 1999 audio recording, but instead of the smaller instrumental ensemble found on the CD, a full orchestra is employed, with an extra complement of saxophones, and although Rattle tries to keep things sprightly, the result has a distinctly heavy, almost elephantine feel. The singing, too, though admirably clear, is rather stentorian, more reminiscent of the Metropolitan Opera than the Great White Way. But Bernstein's effervescent score—which includes “Ohio,” “A Quiet Girl” and “It's Love,” and was purportedly composed in a mere five weeks—survives even the Teutonic treatment it receives here (not to mention the sight of Criswell clearly reading the lyrics to the big “Conga” number—reprised at the close to send the audience home happy). Presented in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, and PCM stereo, the sound quality is excellent, but the venerable 1953 original cast recording starring Rosalind Russell had a style and vitality this disc lacks, and there's reportedly a kinescope of a 1958 TV production in which Russell (as well as legendary musical director Lehman Engel) repeated their Broadway work. That would indeed be a treasure on DVD; until it appears, however, this version is a useful stopgap. Recommended, with reservations. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)