Chess in Concert (2 CD)

So I downloaded this more or less the second it was available. I've had the original concept album Chess for years now, and I was very excited to get the Menzel/Pascal/Groban(????) version. It is nice to get a more complete version than the original discs. The added songs have some of the connective tissue that hold the plot together make a substantial difference in listening to a cohesive show. But I'm afraid that musically, at least at first listen, it's only good, not great. And I'm not sure that it's as fun as the earlier recording either.

While I know the creators are touting this as the definitive version of Chess, the older recording has strengths this version lacks. Sure, Josh Groban as the Russian has a beautifully pure voice, but he brings little of the angst that Tommy Körberg brought to the original...Read more

"Chess" is one of the most revised and re-revised shows in history. Beginning with the original concept album in 1984, the show went through a slightly altered London production, then a drastically altered Broadway version (which tanked), and numerous international productions since then, most of which combined songs and plot elements from both the London and New York productions. Still, Tim Rice seems to have wanted to present a "definitive" version, and so we have 'Chess in Concert', presented in London's Royal Albert Hall in 2008.

This version features some of today's brightest young stars from Broadway and the West End: Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Kerry Ellis, and Marti Pellow, as well as baritone crooner Josh Groban as Anatoly. Overall the cast is excellent, although Menzel's vocal stylings will perhaps not be to everyone's taste. She does, however, capture Florence's vulnerabilities quite well, and is an excellent vocal belter.

Kerry Ellis has the...Read more

I wasn't sure I loved this. I wasn't sure I WANTED to love it. And because some of my initial reactions were so negative, I decided to give it a few days, really mull it over, concentrate on it and make up my mind. And I'm glad I did, because I avoided posting many of the kneejerk reactions I'm seeing in the reviews.

The orchestration is absolutely phenomenal in this version. It is likely the absolute best thing about the CD. The production value is fantastic as well. Rarely do I note production value enough to comment on it, but it's incredible here.

As for the cast, that is where you should give this recording the most patience. Each of the performers takes these characters we Chess devotees have come to know and love and adore and manages to make the character his or her own--without betraying the basis we've always known. It's a different read and, in the end, creates far more complext, realistic, and human characterizations than any previous recording...Read more