Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Overture - New York Philharmonic
2. Beautiful Girls - Andr� Gregory, New York Philharmonic
3. Don't Look at Me - Barbara Cook, Howard McGillin
4. Waiting for the Girls Upstairs - Liz Callaway, George Hearn, Howard McGillin, Daisy Prince, Lee Remick, Jim Walton
5. Rain on the Roof - Betty Comden, Adolph Green
6. Ah Paree - Liliane Montevecchi
7. Broadway Baby - Elaine Stritch
8. Road You Didn't Take - George Hearn
9. In Buddy's Eyes - Barbara Cook
10. Who's That Woman? - Betty Comden, Barbara Cook, Liliane Montevecchi, , Lee Remick, Elaine Stritch,
11. I'm Still Here - Carol Burnett
12. Too Many Mornings - Barbara Cook, George Hearn
13. Right Girl - Mandy Patinkin
14. One More Kiss - Licia Albanese, Elaine Stritch
15. Could I Leave You? - Lee Remick
16. Love Land - Cast
17. You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through - Howard McGillin, Daisy Prince

Disc 2:

1. Buddy's Blues
2. Losing My Mind
3. The Story of Lucy and Jessie
4. Live, Laugh, Love
5. Finale: Waiting for the Girls Upstairs and Beautiful Girls (reprises)
6. Stavisky: Theme from "Stavisky"
7. Salon at the Claridge #1
8. Arlette by Day
9. Auto Show
10. Easy Life
11. Secret of Night
12. Erna
13. Distant Past
14. Arlette by Night
15. Airport at Biarritz
16. Trotsky at Saint-Palais
17. Montalvo at Biarritz
18. Operetta
19. Arlette and Stavisky
20. Recent Past
21. Salon at the Claridge #2
22. Suite at the Claridge
23. Old House
24. Goodbye Arlette
25. Hideout at Chamonix
26. Erna Remembered
27. The Future
28. Women and Death
29. Theme from "Stavisky"
30. Hideout at Chamonix - New York Philharmonic
31. Erna Remembered - New York Philharmonic
32. Future - New York Philharmonic
33. Women and Death - New York Philharmonic
34. Theme from Stavisky - New York Philharmonic

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73777 in Music
• Released on: 1986-01-22
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Cast Recording
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .42 pounds
• Running time: 131 minutes

From Amazon.com
Since the original Broadway cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's Follies was a truncated affair that turned out to be both a disappointment and a disservice to a brilliant show with a brilliant cast, this 1985 concert performance from New York's Avery Fisher Hall set out to record the whole score, a set of pastiches of old songs and songwriters as performed by a cast of faded stars and the visions of their younger selves. The result was a star-studded roster backed by the New York Philharmonic led by Paul Gemignani, with principals Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin, Lee Remick, and George Hearn, supported by the likes of Carol Burnett, Liliane Montevecchi, and Liz Callaway. Even these stars can't quite match the original cast, and the results are somewhat uneven--from Cook's yearning "Losing My Mind" to Patinkin's you-love-it-or-you-hate-it schizophrenia in "Buddy's Blues." Other highlights include Elaine Stritch's wry "Broadway Baby," the two young couples' interplay in "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through," and the electrifying audience reactions to "Beautiful Girls" and "Who's That Woman?" (A documentary video was released, but unfortunately, it did not contain the complete show.) As a bonus, this two-CD set includes 45 minutes of instrumental music Sondheim composed for the 1974 French film Stavisky, including two melodies that had been cut from the original production of Follies. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

A Good recording.
The original is my perferred version, even though it is very watered down. Here, all the songs are complete, but it comes out uneven somehow. The really great performers here are Carol Burnett and Barbra Cook. They really shine. The rest do mediocre performances. Out of the rest, Lee Remick, and Elaine Strich do a great job. Buy this you want the "complete" version and four stellar performances, but the original is the one to get performance wise.

FOLLIES - the best recording ...so far
If any one album makes a case for FOLLIES is is this set of FOLLIES IN CONCERT. It is not the definitive FOLLIES, but about as close as we're likely to get. The sound is very VERY good, especially for a live recording, but as such there is quite a bit of applause on this disc.

Producer Thomas Shephard originally taped the dress rehearsal so he would have quiet endings for all the numbers but when the audience nearly tore the roof off Avery Fisher Hall, he decided that eliminating applause would negate the event that led to the album. So, he comprmised and used applause after the "follies" numbers but not after plot songs. If you didn't know this you might wonder why "Beautiful Gilrs' gets such a huge hand and the next song "don't Look at me" seems to be met with stoney silence.

The cast is sensational. Perhaps not in the same league as the originals but a fine "revival" cast. Lee Remick and Barbara Cook are ideal as leading ladies Phyllis and Sally and its a joy to hear Cook's glorious voice in "Losing My Mind." Mandy Patinkin effectively uses his energy to put a new spin on "Buddy's Blues. " I know some object to his over-the-top style but it was effective on stage. Elaine Stritch has fun singing "Broadway Baby" and Carol Burnet makes the most of "I'm Still Here." Really, there isn't one bad track in the whole package.

Completists may quibble with the slight cuts here and there..the last bit of the Overture (including a segment of "Can That Boy Foxtrot") has been cut, as has "Bolero D'amour." The original montage ending of "Rain on the Roof/Ahh Paris/Broadway Baby" was dumped, and the spoken interludes in "Loveland" have been re-arranged. NONE of this will impair your enjoyment of this wonderful show.

As a bonus RCA has filled out the second CD with the soundtrack of Sondheim's score for STAVISKY. Many cut songs from FOLLIES were used in this film score, so its a natural tie-in.

The booklet has all the lyrics but no synopsis to place the songs within the context of the story. It is a minor flaw in an otherwise first rate package.

My Favorite Follies
This is, in my opinion, the best recording of Follies you can buy. The quality of the recording isn't the best for reasons of staging and the lack of wireless mics back then, but who cares? Take a look at the list of famous singers in this cast. A big plus of this recording is the complete overature that wasn't on original. Barbra Cook is absolutely wonderful. Her voice doesn't age! I like the fact that they raised the key of a few of Sally's songs for Barbra since Sally is supposed to be the soprano of the two female leads anyway. Babra sings every single song with feeling and vocal perfection. I feel that her rendition of Losing My Mind is the definitive version of that song. Her final, "you said you loved me," is gorgeous and really shows the pain that Sally is feeling in her dramatically perfect interpreation of the song.

Lee Remick is wonderful as Phyllis. She has the icy beauty that really makes her song, Story of Lucy and Jessie really make sense. Her version of Could I Leave You? Is great! She is just really great.

George Hearn is absolutely wonderful! He sings every song like a god and it's nice to hear him sing something other then Sweeney Todd, which he tended to scream a lot in. I adore his voice and think he is perfect for the character of Ben.

Mandy Patinkin is so annoying. He emphasizes things that aren't supposed to be emphasized and he's just ridiculous in all of his songs. His voice isn't the problem, it's his high voltage, uneccasary dramtization that turns me off.

The supporting cast is wonderful. One More Kiss sounds so much better when it's sung by Opera singers, and these two are amazing. I mean look at their names and you'll go, Oh my god! Elaine Strich's interpreatation of Broadway Baby is very different for she truly sees the true irony of the song and portrays it very well. Everyone else is wonderful also. This CD is a must buy!