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(More customer reviews)This 1984 behind the scenes look at Bernstein's first recording of his classic score, West Side Story, is a real treat. The singers he assembled were an eclectic mix: Kiri Te Kanawa, Tatiana Troyanos and Jose Carreras, among others. The latter may have seemed an odd choice for the role of Tony, but vocally this character has never been better interpreted. Less successful is Te Kanawa, who overdoes her Puerto Rican accent, ignoring Bernstein's plea for "the merest hint of Puerto Rican-ness".
The video takes the viewer through preliminary rehearsals in Bernstein's apartment, interviews with the singers and Bernstein, and finally the recording studio. More than anything else, it conveys the joys and frustrations of making a recording with the composer himself conducting, and the programme does not shrink from showing temper tantrums from both Bernstein and Carreras (who storms out of the studio at one point, cursing "Ma porco in Dio!")
Bernstein's energy, creativity, anguish and love of life are evident in every scene, and this is often a moving study of a towering musical figure.
Among the singers Jose Carreras steals the show, singing the demanding "Maria" in a performance that is both poetic and powerful. He sings a magnificent High B flat on the word "MAria!" and then ends the song on a melting falsetto. This is the Carreras of yore, and he is unforgettable.
Forget the off-key singing in the movie version of this classic - this is the real thing, with the maestro himself in charge.
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