The Maury Yeston Songbook
With a revival of Nine having just opened on Broadway, PS Classics has picked the ideal time to release The Maury Yeston Songbook. Containing 20 songs culled from five of Yeston’s musicals and a song cycle, along with three stand-alone compositions, this disc is packed with ample evidence of Yeston’s consistently fine, highly versatile work. Intelligently and lovingly produced by Tommy Krasker and John McDaniel and with performances that — in most cases — more than live up to the material, the vast majority of the disc’s tracks are delightful. As it turns out, even the most context-rich of the selections lift beautifully out of the shows for which they were written.
The inclusion of only one song each from two of Yeston’s biggest hits, Titanic and Grand Hotel, is puzzling, but it’s one of the few questionable decisions that have been made here. Every song is presented fully and truthfully, whether utilizing the original stage orchestrations or reduced instrumentation created specifically for the recording. (McDaniel himself accompanies the performers on a number of tracks.) The songs may not sound exactly as you remember them, but each sounds exactly right. The attractive, sepia-toned CD booklet includes full lyrics and brief, frequently fascinating comments from the performers on the songs they sing.
So much is right with The Maury Yeston Songbook that we should probably begin by dealing with the numbers that don’t live up to expectations, just to get them out of the way. Betty Buckley’s performance of “Be On Your Own” from Nine — piercing and shrill in the extreme, and almost all surface-level emotion — is the disc’s only wild misfire. Her steely vocal tone seems well-suited to the song, but the pieces never come together in this performance. Sutton Foster’s “I Want to Go to Hollywood” from Grand Hotel lacks fire; the depth of the lyrics is not reflected in her otherwise fine vocal work. Alice Ripley’s “A Call From the Vatican” (again, from Nine) is well sung and mostly well acted but not particularly sexy, and Ripley’s trouble with the song’s high notes lessen the number’s, ahem, climax.
Ripley and Buckley redeem themselves elsewhere on the disc. The sentiment of the opening track, “Please Let’s Not Even Say Hello” (from the December Songs song cycle), is a simple one, with Yeston’s melody capturing a complex interweaving of emotions that Ripley interprets to perfection. Buckley handles the lengthy and descriptive “I Had a Dream About You” with attractive, understated aplomb.
Other Broadway veterans make very strong impressions. Three additional numbers from Nine — “Only With You,” “Simple,” and “Unusual Way” — receive polished renditions from Brent Barrett, Liz Callaway, and Brian d’Arcy James, respectively, while Howard McGillin gives everything he can to Titanic‘s “No Moon.” Laura Benanti lends her silver-coated soprano to a beautiful and thrilling duet of Phantom‘s “Home” with Robert Cuccioli, who doesn’t come off particularly well. Two Christines — Ebersole and Andreas — respectively get a great deal of emotional and musical mileage out of “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” and “By the River.”
As strong as the weightier and more familiar numbers are, some of the album’s most enchanting cuts are quieter and more obscure — e.g., “Danglin'” and “Now and Then,” both written in 1978 and receiving their world premieres here. The first acutely captures the pain of heartbreak as rendered in the unmistakable country twang of Johnny Rodgers, who accompanies himself on piano and who arranged the piece; the second, in which Benanti shines against the backdrop of Yeston’s accompaniment, proves to be an equally effective expression of loss and hope. But perhaps the most perfect expression of Yeston’s talent is “You’re There Too,” from 1988’s In the Beginning. Christopher Fitzgerald’s sensitive performance helps to make this the most moving cut on the disc; it displays a wealth of feelings but distills them all into an intimate piece that suggests two lovers sharing the warmth of a summer night.
Yeston seems to have a deep understanding of the human condition, and his innate musicianship allows him to wed music and lyrics to the point where they seem inseparable. In sum, he is one of the most important and distinctive composers that the American musical theater has seen in the last 20 years, and The Maury Yeston Songbook should be added to the audio library of everyone who loves this art form.
