Stephen Sondheim slams Lady Gaga's 'Sound of Music' performance, Oscars producer slams back

[Dorothy Gale 7,575]

A travesty? He's obviously using buzz words to get press. 

[PopBitch 1,218]

I mean, so what if she sang it in a "semi-operatic" way? 

Calling it a travesty is a complete exaggeration and he used it simply to insult her performance. 

It it captivated her audience and that's really all that matters. Sorry old guy whose repertoire means absolutely nothing to me.  

​

His repertoire means a lot to Gaga, I would imagine, because she's a Broadway musical enthusiast.

And Send in the Clowns is one of the best songs ever written.

[Kayla 7,595]

He's the only one who seems to think so, so

[elijahfan 25,386]

She sang it with so much heart.... I love Stephen Sondheim, but I couldn't disagree more.

Plus, I think it's really not nice from him to sh!ittalk about fellow musicians. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to shut up if you have nothing nice to say. Here, he's just coming across as a dated, frustrated and cynical old man.

[ryhanna 3,507]

Travesty? I can understand not liking it, but come on, it was not a travesty. 

[MahoganySnitch 67]

Travesty? I can understand not liking it, but come on, it was not a travesty. 

​​This. The usage of this word alone is awkney-worthy.

[lodylody 1,725]

"he is so jealous" is every third grader's reaction when someone is mean to someone else. Grow up, jealousy isn't the cause of everything  

[CapeCodVenus 13]

He probably wouldn't of said this if the performance wasn't popular...

[SKANK 14,288]

I don't think Sondheim actually think's Gaga's Oscar performance is a travesty. He is just being  a dramatic old queen. But if he was being serious...

Is it more important that a performance be successful from a technical stand point, or that a performance be successful in how it makes an audience feel? 

Judging by the the standing ovation and the flood of overwhelming adoration from the press, from critics, and on social media…there is no way to conclude that her performance was anything close to a travesty. It was a resounding success because it made a great number of people feel nostalgic.  

 

[Coop 15,325]

Well a professional  classical singer praised her  so   

 

Classic FM presenter and classical singer extraordinaire Catherine Bott delivers the verdict on Lady Gaga's much-discussed medley of Rodgers & Hammerstein's songs from 'The Sound of Music'.

 

"Lady Gaga has the vocal quality of a mezzo. It was very convincing… I would think that several million people didn't know she could sing like that."

 

"She used portamento - gliding smoothly between the notes, very romantic phrasing - which is usually the province of straight opera singers."

 

"Most people who sing musical theatre now don't know anything about that - they only know either to sing very, very loud, or very very quiet."

"It was a very endearing moment, a very generous performance because ultimately it was a tribute to Julie Andrews. Gaga had gone out on a limb in the service of a much greater voice."

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/concerts-events/oscars/news/lady-gaga-oscars-performance/#CRF3mWhHsYj89BMY.99

 

 

[Fiona Apple 13,006]

Can you people stop commenting on this thread?  I am bored of seeing it in the hot topics 

[Spock 20,290]

His opinion is very important even if people don't agree, so I don't see why people should obey you and stop posting  

[Slayer 9,227]

It's fine if he didn't like Gaga's "semi-operatic" way of singing. But to say she didn't have a relationship with the lyrics was just plain wrong. During "The Sound of Music" (the song), she sang so truthfully, as though it was her own personal ode to her love of music. Then during "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", the lyrics were so alarmingly close to everything Gaga has been telling her fans for the past 6 years, it was as if the song had been written for her, as though she were destined to sing it. So in that respect, I don't care how many credentials Stephen Sondheim has. He is wrong about her not having a relationship with the lyrics, because I bought every word she sang.

 

[Fiona Apple 13,006]

His opinion is very important even if people don't agree, so I don't see why people should obey you and stop posting  

​I don't find it that important.Afterall it's just an opinion..And I am sure he wouldn't even say anything if the performance wasn't so popular.. But ,ok let's leave it here..

[Spock 20,290]

​I don't find it that important.Afterall it's just an opinion..And I am sure he wouldn't even say anything if the performance wasn't so popular.. But ,ok let's leave it here..

He said something because the interviewer asked him, he didn't pull the opinion out of his ass. And if anybody has the authority to say something it's him because he was shadowing Oscar Hammerstein at the time of the show's creation and participated in the writing.