Better Than Broadway
howeird | California, USA | 02/21/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording of Brel's French translation of the Broadway hit "Man of La Mancha" takes an excellent score to new heights. Richard Kiley's performance on the original Broadway cast recording took the song "The Impossible Dream" onto the pop charts - Brel's version is even more dynamic and inspiring. But this is much, much more than just another name on the Jaques Brel fan club discography. Joan Diener played Aldonza in both versions - and her much more intense performance on this album tells me the Brel production was directed far better, both musically and artistically. All the performances on this album are better than the Broadway - and the Broadway show was top-notch (we don't even want to *think* about the movie soundtrack- it was horrible, with non-singers and bad actors in all the roles).Brel's translation is true to the original, with two exceptions. "Un Animal" takes Aldonza down to a much more raw, bestial level than the original "It's All The Same", and the filler fluff song "Little Bird" has been re-worked into a more pertinent "Sans Amour", though it's still filler.The addition of the Knight of the Mirrors (Le Chevalier Aux Miroirs) scene, missing from the Broadway album (but not from the score), adds depth.This is possibly the best foreign language adaptation of a Broadway musical ever. If you are familiar with "Man of La Mancha" in English, this recording will impress you, even if you do not speak French. Brel and Diener and the cast give landmark performances."
The great performer
howeird | 06/17/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I have never heard or seen this musical in nature, so I wasn't sure, how it would work on a record, but I was pleasantly surprised. Music is well recorded, songs tell a story and of course, Brel is magnificent. Listening to his voice is like seeing everything happen right in front of one's nose. The only fault in him is that he outshadows completely the other performers... If I should compare this to other Brel-CD's, I'd call this interesting, rather good - Brel shows, that he was a born performer - but in comparison to his own songs the music isn't as strong and original. Still: very much worth listening!"
