David Newman adapting Leonard Bernstein - WEST SIDE STORY 2021

[Jay 39,171]

The soundtrack album is coming from Hollywood Records this December, likely on digital formats only but who knows

 

David Newman talks about his role on this episode of of "Score: The Podcast" hosted by Robert Kraft and Kenny Holmes, starting about 61 minutes in (the play button below should take you right to it)

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Wow it's really annoying and rude how Kraft starts interrupting him there with the singing and thinks he's being cute.

 

Newman does clarify for me why JW didn't do this movie (mostly because there really wasn't much original to do)

[Jay 39,171]

Here's my own transcription of a part of this interview

 

"To be clear, I didn't do any composing, I did a little bit of arranging.  Quite frankly, in West Side Story, 95% of the music are songs and dances.  There is a little bit of interstitial music, but it's all based on the show's, it's using little [{he gets interrupted by Kraft here}].  It's more towards the end of the movie after Bernardo and Riff are killed, there are a few little things of something, there's another song that does have an arrangement.  But mainly...

 

This was my role in West Side Story - I did a lot of the.... actually I'm probably not supposed to say that.  I did not conduct this, Dudamel did.  I supervised it, I got on this.... [...] so when the movie came John was supposed to do it, though I don't, I never saw... I don't know, there really was nothing to do in the movie besides kind of oversee it and make sure it didn't go off the rails, which was my job.  So John asked me if I would sort of take over from what he was 'gonna do', whether that was real or not, so that's what I ended up doing. 

 

So I ended up sort of overseeing the music part.  I did a little arranging, I did a little orchestrating, but it was a kind of a big group effort.   There was a vocal person, there was a music supervisor, there was me, there was Spielberg, it was a little chaotic at times, but it turned out great I can say. 

 

It is a wonderful take on West Side Story, it's very young - I don't know if you've seen the trailers but they're very young, and I think that it's more akin to a modern sort of Romeo and Juliet which is really the way it was designed in the first place.  The singing ended up being very good, some really really good stuff, but it's really character full, and it it's lovely, it's a lovely movie.

 

It was very difficult, and we got cockblocked by Covid.  We weren't quite done yet, we were 3 days from... we were gonna go to New York in March, and I knew we weren't.  We were supposed to be in March 23rd 2020 in New York, and it got shut down, and if we had gone we would have gotten stuck in New York, it was... so the whole thing shut down. 

 

We ended up then going back and recording the Prologue which we hadn't done yet, that's what was left outside other little things, which we did at Fox and finished up.  And then they dubbed the movie, which they were able to do because it's not a million people, and we just finished doing the soundtrack, which I must say sounds amazing.  And it wasn't easy to do.  It's some of the most difficult music to sing.  Talk about groove and pocket and vocal quality and color that the music in West Side Story... it straddles opera and vaudeville, it is extremely difficult thing to... [{gets interupted by Kraft again}] everything, Latin, all kinds of that Latin music that was so popular in the late 50s in New York, so all that, it was a very tricky thing to do, but it turned out, I think, great."

 

 

 

~

 

later after a detour, Kenny asks "can you tell us about being on the scoring stage with Spielberg, is he pretty vocal in there?  Does he sit back?  What is the vibe with Spielberg in there?"

 

And Newman says

 

"He likes to film stuff, so a lot of his views of stuff is behind a camera, even when we're doing stuff.  And he knows when to talk and he knows when to not talk, he knows when to let things get worked out and he knows when to... and let's face it, Spielberg movies are the best dubbed movies there are.  The way Spielberg uses music in his films, it's just brilliant, in my opinion.  He allows the music to do what it's designed to do.  It's a sensibility.

 

"When you say he's filming, he's got his camera out on the stage just filming constantly?"

 

"I think he likes to look at... I think... this is my opinion, he doesn't say this to me, but a lot of it he's filming"

 

"I wonder ifs for his own personal diaries, or EPK?"

 

"It is. For both, I think"

[Naïve Old Fart 10,311]

"...cockblocked, by COVID".

That's a new one! 

[Marian Schedenig 8,892]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Wow it's really annoying and rude how Kraft starts interrupting him there with the singing and thinks he's being cute.

 

Newman does clarify for me why JW didn't do this movie (mostly because there really wasn't much original to do)

 

I'd heard that bit back when the video went up, and a) that's where my comment in the other thread came from about Newman not having much creative work, and b) yes, the one other thing I remembered about it was Kraft being almost offensively annoying.

[Jay 39,171]

Yea I didn't realize until just a bit ago that this podcast episode was from June

[Marian Schedenig 8,892]

…and not just his singing, but then explaining for what feels like forever that he is aware that Bernstein used the tritone extensively in WSS and also in On the Waterfront, and then bluntly asking Newman if he'd ever noticed that. And when Newman actually tries to give some relevant insight into it, he simply keeps talking over him, and singing again when Newman draws a connection to his own father's Street Scene.

[Jay 39,171]

YUP!  That was cringey to watch.  Yikes

[Disco Stu 15,501]

That guy is definitely why I stopped listening to this podcast like 2 years ago.

[Richard Penna 4,089]

I saw the one with JNH a month or two ago, and it was reasonably insightful, but yeah, I didn't like how Kraft get interrupting or essentially fawning over the composer, saying score ABC was amazing.

 

In that sense Schweiger is a good interviewer, as he just asks a question and sits back, or at least backs off if they both start talking. I'm not sure who else would've gotten Horner's epic Troy/New World rant.

 

And yes, I vastly prefer it when interviewees talk candidly, honestly - you learn more stuff. In that sense, JW's interviews are useless 

[Yavar Moradi 2,942]

Shameless plug: https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/1000935-odyssey-interviews-david-newman

 

I do my best not to be obnoxious, and David Newman has never been more candid! He was in the midst of work on West Side Story at the time we recorded.
 

Yavar

[Jay 39,171]

When was that interview recorded? 

[Thor 8,197]

I've interviewed Newman too, and (unlike his shy brother) he's so vocal and talkative about most things, you can basically just let him go off on a tangent. There's no point of much interuption.

[crumbs 14,697]

16 minutes ago, Thor said:

I've interviewed Newman too, and (unlike his shy brother) he's so vocal and talkative about most things, you can basically just let him go off on a tangent. There's no point of much interuption.

 

Robert Kraft mustn't have gotten the memo. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,888]

He did, but he interrupted it.

[Yavar Moradi 2,942]

15 hours ago, Jay said:

When was that interview recorded? 

Probably just a couple weeks before it was published two years ago.

 

Yavar

[p0llux 416]

This book just arrived and there were a few excerpts from John Williams, David Newman, and Gustavo Dudamel about their involvement with West Side Story.

[Thor 8,197]

A bit hard to read, but it's amazing how everyone neglects to mention Williams' involvement as a session pianist on the original WSS.

[Jurassic Shark 12,888]

They couldn't even be bothered to include David Newman's whole head.

[Thor 8,197]

There's no David Newman in those photos.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's Ramiro Belgardt standing with Spielberg and Dudamel.

[Jurassic Shark 12,888]

He's got many names.

[crumbs 14,697]

It's nice to see JW was involved in an advisory capacity, even if he didn't personally adapt or conduct the score. 

[p0llux 416]

4 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's Ramiro Belgardt standing with Spielberg and Dudamel.

 

It's Matthew Sullivan. Producer and Music supervisor. It says at bottom of the second pic.

[Jay 39,171]

Why are JW's eyes fuzzy in your avatar

[Disco Stu 15,501]

1 minute ago, p0llux said:

 

It's Matthew Sullivan. Producer and Music supervisor. It says at bottom of the second pic.

 

Ha!  It helps to read 

 

He does look kinda like Ramiro if you're not paying close attention (which I obviously wasn't)

[p0llux 416]

that's not JW, that's French Horn man. His real identity is a secret thanks to that fuzz.

[Jay 39,171]

OST album drops Friday December 10 on Hollywood Records, including a physical CD edition for 12 bucks

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09K494MJX

[crumbs 14,697]

Wonder how much underscore will be included?

 

Would the songs account for most of the CD running time? Never seen the film or play.

[tomsmoviemadness 3,466]

7 hours ago, crumbs said:

Wonder how much underscore will be included?

 

Would the songs account for most of the CD running time? Never seen the film or play.

Probably. In the film from the 60's the only underscore were the Overture, Prologue, The Dance At The Gym, The Rumble (fight scene) & the End Credits.

 

And a few very very short tracks in between the songs as transitions.

 

I actually hope we get a Deluxe Edition with all the songs and score pieces + Instrumental versions of all the songs. I would spend my on that. It happens more often these days. Look at the releases of Frozen 2, Encanto & Mary Poppins Returns

[Jay 39,171]

"Hollywood Records has announced the official soundtrack album Steven Spielberg’s new film adaptation of West Side Story. The album features the songs from the movie originally written for the stage musical by Leonard Bernstein and with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The record is produced by David Newman who arranged and adapted Bernstein’s original score for the film, Jeanine Tesori who supervised the cast on vocals and music supervisor Matt Sullivan who serves as executive music producer. Gustavo Dudamel conducted the New York Philharmonic during the first recording sessions in 2019, with additional recording by the Los Angeles Philharmonic done the following year. The soundtrack will be released digitally this Friday, December 3 (in two version, including a Dolby Atmos Music edition) and physically next Friday, December 10. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD version, which features liner notes by John Williams who served as the project’s score consultant. A vinyl edition is set to come out in early 2022. West Side Story is written by Tony Kushner and stars Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, David Alvarez, Josh Andrés Rivera, Corey Stoll, Ana Isabelle, Brian d’Arcy James and Rita Moreno. The movie musical will be released in theaters nationwide on December 10 by 20th Century Studios.

 

Here’s the album track list:

 

1. Prologue
2. La Borinqueña (Sharks Version) – David Alvarez & Sharks
3. Jet Song – Mike Faist, Kyle Coffman, Kevin Csolak, John Michael Fiumara, Patrick Higgins & Jets
4. Something’s Coming – Ansel Elgort
5. The Dance at the Gym: Blues, Promenade
6. The Dance at the Gym: Mambo
7. The Dance at the Gym: Cha-Cha, Meeting Scene, Jump
8. Maria – Ansel Elgort
9. Balcony Scene (Tonight) – Rachel Zegler & Ansel Elgort
10. Transition to Scherzo / Scherzo
11. America – Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Ana Isabelle, Jennifer Florentino, Natalie Toro, Arianna Rosario, Ilda Mason, Jeanette Delgado, Annelise Cepero, Tanairi Sade Vazquez, Jamila Velazquez, Edriz E. Rosa Pérez, Melody Martí, Gaby Diaz, Juliette Feliciano, Isabella Ward, Maria Alexis Rodriguez, Yesenia Ayala, Gabriela M. Soto, Sebastian Serra, Julius Anthony Rubio, Ricardo A. Zayas, Yurel Echezarreta, Kelvin Delgado, Ricky Ubeda, Carlos Sánchez Falú, Adriel Flete, Jacob Guzman, Carlos E. Gonzalez, David Avilés Morales, Andrei Chagas & David Guzman
12. Gee, Officer Krupke – Kevin Csolak, John Michael Fiumara, Jess LeProtto, Ben Cook, Kyle Allen, Myles Erlick & Patrick Higgins
13. One Hand, One Heart – Ansel Elgort & Rachel Zegler
14. Cool – Ansel Elgort & Mike Faist
15. Tonight (Quintet) – Mike Faist, David Alvarez, Ariana DeBose, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Jets & Sharks
16. The Rumble
17. I Feel Pretty – Rachel Zegler, Ana Isabelle, Ilda Mason, Annelise Cepero, Jamila Velazquez, Andréa Burns, Tanairi Sade Vazquez & Yassmin Alers
18. Somewhere – Rita Moreno
19. A Boy Like That / I Have a Love – Ariana DeBose & Rachel Zegler
20. Finale
21. End Credits"

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2021/11/29/soundtrack-album-for-steven-spielbergs-west-side-story-announced/

 

[Disco Stu 15,501]

An OST releasing a week ahead of the film?  What year is this?

 

13 minutes ago, Jay said:

8. Maria – Ansel Elgort

 

I'm scared

[Jay 39,171]

It's a pet peeve of mine when a music album calls one track a "Version", but then there isn't another version on the album (or a previous one).

 

Why is track 2 called "La Borinqueña (Sharks Version)", instead of just "La Borinqueña"?

[Marian Schedenig 8,892]

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

Why is track 2 called "La Borinqueña (Sharks Version)", instead of just "La Borinqueña"?

 

Probably because it's not a "normal" version of the Puerto Rican anthem, but the Sharks' take on it?

[Jay 39,171]

Ah, ok, that makes sense.  Thanks!

[TheUlyssesian 2,570]

Still a bit amazing that David Newman does not make the cover but the conductor does.

 

There are some contractual shenanigans that we don't know about.

[publicist 4,647]

1 hour ago, TheUlyssesian said:

Still a bit amazing that David Newman does not make the cover but the conductor does.

 

Quote

Gustavo Dudamel conducted the New York Philharmonic during the first recording sessions in 2019, with additional recording by the Los Angeles Philharmonic done the following year. 

 

A good copywriter would assume it's voiced so ambiguously to hide the fact Dudamel did just enough circus horse parading to get his name on it and the LA guys then did the real work, but i have no idea if that was the case.

[Jay 39,171]

Well, you can watch David Newman talk about having to finish recording in LA instead of NY because of covid here, or read my transcription of what he said here.

 

He clearly says "I did not conduct this, Dudamel did", though later when talking about LA, he does simply say "We ended up then going back and recording the Prologue which we hadn't done yet, that's what was left outside other little things, which we did at Fox and finished up", without specifically saying Dudamel was still part of the "we"

[publicist 4,647]

Who cares, really. I will watch this streaming just out of curiosity if Spielberg's going senile or if there's really a meaningful purpose behind all this.

[Jay 39,171]

5 minutes ago, publicist said:

Who cares

 

Well, you're the one who brought it up.

[publicist 4,647]

Yeah, and you muddied it up further. Who knows. Who cares. I just pointed out that the press release did raise my suspicion. It doesn't matter much, though, since both conductors certainly are most capable.

[Luke Skywalker 1,932]

Nice, john williams liner notes

[TheUlyssesian 2,570]

51 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

 

A good copywriter would assume it's voiced so ambiguously to hide the fact Dudamel did just enough circus horse parading to get his name on it and the LA guys then did the real work, but i have no idea if that was the case.

It is very explicitly phrased to say that Dudamel only conducted the NY sessions and someone else conducted LA sessions but who?

Why are even basic credits some kind of mystery these days. Like is there some racket? Why can't they just objectively list who did what. There is always this lawyerly phrasing. 

[Disco Stu 15,501]

I mean, that's what liner notes are for, not covers.

[Jay 39,171]

Does Dudamel live in NY or LA?  If he lives in LA, he probably recorded those sessions too

 

Again, when David Newman was explicity talking about the process in that podcast, he wasn't like "Dudamel conducted in NY, then covid ruined things and I had to conduct in LA", he said "I did not conduct this, Dudamel did"

 

But yes if anybody else conducted any part of it they will be listed in the CD booklet

[Luke Skywalker 1,932]

Dudamel is the conductor of the LA philharmonic…so I hope he lives in LA.

 

edit: i see he is conductor of several orchestras around the world so i dont know where he lives 😅

[Jay 39,171]

Exactly, which is why it'd be weird if they recorded the final cues at Fox under someone else

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Los Angeles is his main home, it's where his son goes to school, etc. etc.

[Disco Stu 15,501]

From the NY Times classical critic:

 

 

[SilverTrumpet 642]

 

 

First full track.

 

I appreciate the lack of dialogue since in the original had it on the OST. 

 

Guy's awful though.

 

WAIT! I spoke too soon! They have dialogue at the end only. Weird choice.