London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Simon Rattle and others - Bernstein: Wonderful Town (Bonus Track Version) (2018)

Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra pay homage to Leonard Bernstein with a recording of Wonderful Town that captures the energy and excitement of sold-out performances from December 2017. Featuring an all-star cast led by Danielle de Niese and Alysha Umphress, this release coincides with worldwide #BernsteinAt100 celebrations marking the centenary of the Orchestra’s former President.

Bernstein’s five-time Tony award-winning musical follows sisters Ruth and Eileen on their quest to make it big, pursuing careers in writing and acting from their cramped basement apartment in New York’s bohemian Greenwich Village. Fresh from rural Ohio, the sisters end up getting more than they bargained for, realising that life in the Big Apple is not as glamorous as it may seem.

A bright and cheery love letter to the city that never sleeps and the colourful characters inhabiting it, Wonderful Town draws on Fields and Chodorov’s 1940 play My Sister Eileen, which itself is based on a series of autobiographical short stories by the ‘real-life’ Ruth McKenney.

Bernstein’s infectious score includes classic numbers such as ‘Ohio’, ‘One Hundred Easy Ways’, and ‘A Little Bit in Love’, as well as a riotous conga that had delighted audiences dancing in the aisles of the Barbican hall. The digital version of the album will include an additional version of Conga!’, featuring audience participation, as a bonus track.

Concert reviews

‘I cannot imagine better casting for the sisters than the quintessentially sassy Danielle de Niese and the effortlessly funny Alysha Umphress.’

The Times

‘Simon Rattle pulls out all the stops for LSO’s Bernstein celebration’

Financial Times

Tracklist
1. Wonderful Town: No. 1, Overture
Sir Simon Rattle & London Symphony Orchestra

Wonderful Town, Act I
Sir Simon Rattle, Ashley Riches, London Symphony Orchestra, Flora Dawson & London Symphony Chorus
2 No. 2. Christopher Street
3 No. 3. Ohio
Sir Simon Rattle, Danielle de Niese, London Symphony Orchestra & Alysha Umphress
4 No. 4. Conquering New York
Sir Simon Rattle, Alysha Umphress, London Symphony Orchestra & London Symphony Chorus
5 No. 5. One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man
Sir Simon Rattle, Alysha Umphress & London Symphony Orchestra
6 No. 6. What a Waste
Sir Simon Rattle, Alysha Umphress, David Butt Philip, London Symphony Orchestra, Duncan Rock, Nathan Gunn & Ashley Riches
7 No. 8. A Little Bit in Love
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra & Danielle de Niese
8 No. 9. Pass the Football
Sir Simon Rattle, Duncan Rock & London Symphony Orchestra
9 No. 10. Conversation Piece
Sir Simon Rattle, Stephen John Davies, Ashley Riches, Alysha Umphress, Nathan Gunn, Danielle de Niese & London Symphony Orchestra
10 No. 11. A Quiet Girl
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra & Nathan Gunn
11 No. 12. Conga!
Sir Simon Rattle, Kevin Brewis, London Symphony Chorus, Alysha Umphress & London Symphony Orchestra
12 Wonderful Town: No. 13: Entr'acte
Sir Simon Rattle & London Symphony Orchestra

Wonderful Town, Act II
Sir Simon Rattle, Kevin Brewis, London Symphony Chorus, David Butt Philip, Michael Baxter, Danielle de Niese, Andrew Keelan, London Symphony Orchestra & Stephen John Davies
13 No. 14. My Darlin' Eileen
14 No. 15. Swing!
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Keelan, Jane Quinn, London Symphony Chorus, Kevin Brewis, Sophia Foroughi & Alysha Umphress
15 No. 16. Quiet Incidental
Sir Simon Rattle, Danielle de Niese, London Symphony Orchestra & Alysha Umphress
16 No. 16a. Ohio (Reprise)
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra, Danielle de Niese & Alysha Umphress
17 No. 17. It's Love
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra, Danielle de Niese, London Symphony Chorus & Nathan Gunn
18 No. 18. Ballet at the Village Vortex
Sir Simon Rattle & London Symphony Orchestra
19 No. 19. Wrong Note Rag
Sir Simon Rattle, Alysha Umphress, London Symphony Orchestra, Danielle de Niese & London Symphony Chorus
20 No. 19a. It's Love (Reprise)
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Chorus, Alysha Umphress, Nathan Gunn, Danielle de Niese & London Symphony Orchestra
21 Wonderful Town, Act I: No. 12. Conga! (Audience Participation Version)[Bonus Track]
Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, Kevin Brewis & Alysha Umphress