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While no one else "deedle dums" as well as Zero Mostel, this recording removes all doubts: despite any buzz you may have heard when the production opened last February, Alfred Molina is a splendid Tevye. Since this is the first version actually made with the long form CD in mind, it contains far more material than any prior version. So while Molina and cast cover all the beloved moments from 1964, we also get Tevye's three soliloquies and Molina performs them all brilliantly. No one who listens to this recording would ever describe Tevye as "a man desperately clinging to Tradition." The soliloquies make it clear that Tevye is a true mensch, a man who gives himself to each new challenge, and makes each difficult decision with a strong mind and a big heart.

Robert Petkoff does a terrific job as Perchik the revolutionary (lover of second daughter Hodel). His Perchik is virile and ardent, investing his big number "Now I Have Everything" with all the passionate self-revelation it requires. Norman Jewison eliminated this song from the 1971 soundtrack. Big mistake!

Nancy Opel gives uncommon depth to her Yente. At Leveaux's request, Harnick and Bock wrote a new song for her, "Topsy-Turvy," which makes explicit what was implicit in the number they've replaced ("The Rumor"). Yente may say she's doing God's work, but she knows her objection to love matches is purely pragmatic: "The matchmaking business? Finished! Done! I've counted [my blessings]. None!"

(Jewison not only eliminated "The Rumor" from the soundtrack, he also took out Yente's attempt to pitch Ruchel the Shoemaker's Daughter during the opening number "Tradition" - another Big Mistake!)

David Ayers also does fine work in the critical role of third daughter Chava's Russian lover Fyedka. In this new version, it's now Fyedka's voice breaking in with the Russian words "Za va sha, Zdarovia" while Tevye & his Jewish friends are singing "To Life! To Life! L'Chaim!" Fyedka didn't have these lines in the 1964 original or the 1971 film, but giving him these lines now makes a crucial point. From first to last, FIDDLER's Fyedka is a good guy. This is the most significant change FIDDLER's creative team made to Sholem Aleichem's original. They've put him there to challenge us, and that challenge is more relevant than ever.

Finally, this new version also gives us most of the music Jerry Bock wrote for Jerome Robbins' dances. The music for the famous "Bottle Dance" at the end of Act One is especially thrilling, the single clarinet as expressive here as the solo violin which frames the whole musical in its opening and closing moments.

Bottomline: If you buy the 1964, you buy it for Mostel. If you buy the 1971, you buy it for Isaac Stern's medley (created for the film's opening credit sequence). If you buy the 2004, you simply get a whole lot more: more scenes (especially the 3 soliloquies + new Yente song) AND more music (for the Robbins dance sequences).

I'm a FIDDLER fanatic & now that I have the new 2004 CD, I doubt any of the others will get much play. That's the truth!


Broadway is back   June 27, 2004
 16 out of 19 found this review helpful

What's so amazing to me is that I actually just saw this on Broadway with a few other shows on my recent trip to New York. I feel like I was part of Broadway history. This is a story to be told again and again. It will survive many decades like our operas have. After the show I bought singing lesson CDs at The Colony on Broadway called Voice Lessons To Go by Vaccarino(available on Amazon too)- they are great, and the piano vocal scores to quite a few shows. If only Baz Lurman could here me now! That store was so amazing. So fun to be in the smack middle of Broadway with dancers, actors, singers and tons of tourists everyway- buying my "singing supplies" like I was really a part of it. OK, so we all have secret fantasies! So happy that Broadway is becoming revitalized again.


a FIDDLER plays once more...   June 29, 2004
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This cast album to the 2004 Broadway revival of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is, as touted, the most complete album of the Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick score to date, including the brand-new song "Topsy-Turvy". Alfred Molina essays the role of Tevye, still most-associated with Zero Mostel and Topol, and does a credible job. Though he occassionally lacks the joyful spirit and charm of his predecessors, his performance is solid (and no doubt the performance on disc cannot compare to the live performance). Randy Graff (the original Fantine in Broadway's LES MISERABLES) is a vibrant and vital Golde (and perhaps the most beautifully-sung). Leading the daughters is the ravishing Laura-Michelle Kelly as Hodel. Kelly is in my opinion the most affecting actress to play the role since Julia Migenes in the original cast. Nancy Opel is a fantastic Yente (Opel was a late replacement for Barbara Barrie, who left the show during previews). Opel gets the brand-new song "Topsy-Turvy", which is on the whole not very memorable, indeed the song it replaced, "The Rumour" was a one-joke number that wasn't too great, either. This sparkling new FIDDLER features a tight and strong cast. Highly recommended for fans of the score.


A terrific, fresh 'Fiddler'   June 14, 2004
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I have been very upset by the unnecessarily harsh criticisms that this recording has received, an example being the reader review before mine. Though I have not seen the Broadway production, any reservations people may have with Leveaux's reinterpretation should not colour anyone's view on the album. What Mr. Krasker, Mr. Chaffin and the PS Classics team have brought musicals listeners is an altogether new and exciting exploration of this stage classic. The score has never sounded better with the aid of a first class cast and orchestra, not to mention the flawless technical aspects of the release.

No, Molina's Tevye does not sound like Topol - and I applaud that. Yet the delightful jewishness of the role, the light philosophising and the fatherly tone is still all there. And he injects the lyrics with great meaning and life.

The rest of the cast is similarly first rate, Laura Michelle Kelly deserving of particular note. Her rendition of 'Far From The Home I Love' is the most heartfelt I have come across; she also makes the listener really understand the dilemma she's facing. Her contribution alone would be worth the price of the disc; the brilliance of the rest of the team elevate it to being an absolute must.

Ignore the negative comments of traditionalists - PS Classics' 'Fiddler' is as finest (and most complete) cast album yet of this joyous score. I believe it genuinely presents the piece for a brand new generation of listeners - and succeeds wonderfully.

Bravo!


Surprising Tevye   July 26, 2004
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Let's face it...Zero Mostel IS Tevye. The same as Merman was Rose in GYPSY. With that said, Alfred Molina turns in a surprisingly good performance...at least on record. When the musical opened his personal reviews were ho hum but a few months later, when the recording was made, he has made the part his own.
Technically this revival is far superior to the 1964 recording. Wisely, a lot more dialogue was included and quite a bit of dance music.
As Golde, Randy Graff, a Broadway veteran, gives a nice performance. Nancy Opel, as Yente, is funny and on the spot.
Most of the actors were vocally great. But it is Molina who carries the show. His is a subtler Tevye than Mostel's. In fact, his scenes are more touching and warm.
This is definitely a plus to any musical theatre library.