West Side Story cast recording

Not since the original 1957 Broadway cast has another stage cast recorded West Side Story-with even Jerome Robbins' extraordinary 1980 revival going unrecorded. Now, however, a new West Side Story is on CD. It is the Arthur Laurents' (author of West Side Story) directed production, and his outstanding stage production makes for an outstanding CD.

It reached the top spot on Billboard's Soundtrack and Cast Album list for two weeks in June, and remains the best selling live cast CD—and there are reasons. The crystal clear digital sound is a masterpiece of sound engineering. Even in this age of digital sound, the clarity of this recording is in a class by itself. This clarity enhances the superlative voices of the two leads, Matt Cavenaugh (Tony) and Josefina Scaglione (Maria), whose Sinatra-like voices truly benefit from the superior engineering. But, no voice, with even a moment of solo time, does any harm to the experience of relearning West Side Story.

The recording session was supervised by the current stage director Arthur Laurents and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and it expertly combines the drama of the stage with the magnificence of the live musical experience. Listen to "I Feel Pretty" and "A Boy LIke That" sung in Spanish and you realize the correctness of director Laurents' decisions for this production. Translations and full lyrics are on the CD sleeve, and Barnes and Noble markets an enhanced version of the album with three extra cuts that include Josefina Scaglione singing "I Feel Pretty" in English. When she sings it, it is a song with real credibility.

This is the cast CD of the year and a wonderful way to discover (or rediscover) West Side Story.