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“Sondheim Sings”

Volume I: 1962-72

Rare Demos Drawn From The Private Recordings of the Celebrated Composer/Lyricist

Reviewed by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady.com

I can’t sing. So maybe that is why I really appreciate those that can.

If I could sing, I would sing songs by Stephen Sondheim. But my fourth grade teacher told me I was a mouther, and did not let me sing with my class in the Xmas pageant. That was when I stopped singing in the shower.

People who don’t sing, really need background music. And this CD is quickly becoming one of my favorites

PS CLASSICS INC, the nonprofit organization dedicated to the heritage of the American musical theatre, just releases SONDHEIM SINGS: Volume I (1962-72).  The 19-track CD comes with a 32-page color booklet that includes full lyrics, as well as production and personal photographs.

The CD, the first in a series, utilizes the demos held in Stephen Sondheim's private collection, and consists of the Tony, Grammy, Oscar and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer-lyricist singing and playing songs from such shows as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies and A Little Night Music, among others, all digitally remastered.

The track listing consists of both well-known and obscure material, including many early versions of songs revised substantially after the demos were recorded; as such, it provides not only an enjoyable listen, but also a fascinating glimpse of the artist at work.  The series is being produced by Sondheim archivist Peter E. Jones; it is being launched with Sondheim's full cooperation, with apportioned proceeds going to the Young Playwrights Festival, which Sondheim helped found and continues to champion. Subsequent volumes will reach as far back as 1946 and include material that Sondheim wrote in college as well as private songs he wrote for friends and colleagues in the 1950s.

PS CLASSICS INC is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by Philip Chaffin and Tommy Krasker, who also run the commercial record label PS Classics LLC (responsible for Grammy-nominated cast albums of Assassins and Nine: The Musical, songwriter tributes like The Maury Yeston Songbook, and solo albums by such artists as Jessica Molaskey, Christine Andreas, and Rebecca Luker).  While PS Classics LLC focuses on more modern fare and on contemporary renditions of the Great American Songbook, PS Classics Inc. focuses on preserving the heritage of American musical theatre by locating and restoring forgotten works, then recording them with leading artists from the worlds of Broadway, opera and jazz, and by working with the estates of the great songwriters to help bring their forgotten archives and repertoire to light.

The company’s first CD, the first-ever recording of Kay Swift and Paul James’ 1930 musical Fine and Dandy, was released in May of 2004. The disc, featuring a 28-piece orchestra and a cast that included Broadway stars Carolee Carmello, Gavin Creel, and Mario Cantone, received raves from critics across the country.  Other restoration and recording projects on the PS Classics Inc. horizon include the 1928 Walter Donaldson / Gus Kahn musical Whoopee, plus – in celebration of his centennial in 2005 – an album devoted to Jule Styne in Hollywood. 

For more information, please visit psclassics.org.

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