Review

I'm proud to share the comments with my buddy Jim Waldmann. I first became aware of the score of Magdalena through my friendship with Chet Wright and Bob Forrest. They told me about it, about its gestation and how they learned that they could not use the music of Villa Lobos because he was very much alive and wanted to write an original score. We played through the piece on the piano (badly--none of us where particularly good pianists) and Bob and I tried to sing as much as we could. (Bob didn't sing much). It was impossible to tell what the heck they had as so much of the piece is interlocked with its oh so evocative orchestrations. Later Judy Kaye recorded several numbers with piano accompanyment, better but still lacking something. Then Evans Halle did the concert version in NY which I was unable to attend. Then this recording came out and became one of my desert island discs (a disc I would not consider going on a forever trip without). An absolute favorite, one which any musical fan should own. Brilliant performances by Ms. Kaye and Ms. Esham and also the men. One million stars (or is that one million emeralds?)