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La Strada


(Lionel Bart) (RNBW028)

Adapted from Fellini’s motion picture
Studio Cast recording with Madeline Bell and the Michael Sammes Singers based on the first draft score. Orchestra arranged and conducted by Ken Moule. Recording produced by Lionel Bart and Chris Curtis.

Lionel Bart’s fascinating lost score for LA STRADA is offered to the listening public for the first time in this exciting new Bayview Records release. First composed in 1967 and lavishly recorded in this demonstration recording which features Madeline Bell and the Michael Sammes Singers, only two of these songs survived the rigors of rehearsals, tryout and previews to make it to the show’s opening and closing night 14 December, 1969 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Hear Bart’s distinctive voice in his musicalization of one of Fellini’s greatest films in this legendary one performance Broadway flop which starred Bernadette Peters and Larry Kert.

Bart, composer and/or lyricist of five consecutive London musical hits of the sixties; LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS, FINGS AINT WOT THEY USED T’BE, OLIVER!, BLITZ and MAGGIE MAY, wrote one of his most ambitious scores for LA STRADA, which captured much of the characters private fears and anxieties in soliloquies and duets. Filled with his trademarked lyric wordsmithery, the score features many showstopping moments, from the jaunty 6/8 theatrical anthem “To Be A Performer”, the rousing “Something Special”, the raucous “If Her Mother Only Knew”, to the show’s soaring big-ballad “My Turn To Fall”. This English demo boasts uncommonly lush arrangements for an orchestra of 25 arranged and conducted by Ken Moule.

“…contains so much freshness, originality and genuinely moving dramatic force that it deserves deep respect and admiration… superior musical drama.”
Richard Watts, N.Y. Post

“The best is "Belonging", a fine ballad of unrequited love.”
Steven Suskin, Playbill On-line

“... hardcore Bart fans like myself will find this an intriguing chance to collect a good chunk of Bart's original score.”
Ken Mandelbaum, Broadway.com

Buy

Tracks:
To hear a song sample, click on any song title below that is followed by

1. Overture – Orchestra
2. The Seashell Game – Gelsomina, Sisters
3. To Be A Performer – Zampano, Gelsomina, Company La Strada track 3
4. Belonging – Gelsomina
5. Hullo And Goodbye – Mario, Marita
6. Nothing – Zampano, Gelsomina
7. My Turn To Fall – Marita La Strada track 7
8. Something Special – Mario, Gelsomina, Zampano La Strada track 8
9. Tan-tan-ta-ra! Farewell! – Zampano
10. If Her Mother Only Knew – Company
11. Zampano The Great! (Reprise) – Marita, Zampano
12. Finale (To Be A Performer – Reprise) – Company

Other Lionel Bart titles on Bayview include the Original London Cast recordings of LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS (RNBW010), FINGS AINT WOT THEY USED T’BE (RNBW011), and MAGGIE MAY (RNBW020)

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© 2004 Bayview Record Company