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

[Spock 20,290]

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​Um, he composed and wrote lyrics to Into The Woods, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Gypsy, among other American classics. He has more Grammys that Gaga, has an academy award, and 8 Tony, including one for a Life Time Achievement in Theatre. Aka awards you actually had to be good to win. 

Cameron Mackintosh described Sondheim as "possibly the greatest lyricist ever." AKA the same Cameron Mackintosh that produced Anything Goes, brought Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables to the London stage, giving all three of world-wide acclaim and popularizing them. 

Also, not you downplaying the role of composition in music.  Obviously, YOU don't know anything about music. A majority of the emotion in music relies on its composition. Secondarily by dynamics and primarily by the tension and resolutions in the score, including key and time signatures, as well as chord progressions. Composition can even control the tone of the singer, which is probably what you're thinking is more important. But even ten, tone is greatly affected by the way the music is composed. If you have a swift and soft piece, you're not going to belt and groan the **** out of it Three Non-Blondes style, for example. In some ways, I agree with Sondheim. I don't think her performance was an travesty, but there were most definitely pockets in which Gaga didn't seem connected to the song, and overall I think she could have benefited from physical movement, as she mostly stood in place besides a few arm movement. However, I don't discredit her completely. She hit almost every note right on key, had an amazing vibrato, and used portamento ingeniously.You don't have to agree with what Sondheim says, nor does he have to like Gaga's performance. Trying to downplay his relevance and expertise when he's a billion times more respected than Gaga just because you don't agree with his criticism shows how immature and ignorant you are. 

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That person does not want to listen

[Spock 20,290]

​Same thing lol. The musical isn't what it is because of the third Von Trapp child lol.

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I just meant that if the performance was a Julie tribute, then she would have a final say on the matter. However, the performance was on the Sound of Music as a whole, so Sondheim's opinion matters more. Everybody saying "Julie loved it so it doesn't matter" are wrong.

[Spock 20,290]

​He said that because him and Neil Meron are pressed that Sondheim (with reason) dragged the Peter Pan and Sound of Music live telecasts in the same interview, criticizing the acting, and calling it laughable and cheap. Everybody has been saying it for years but the fact it came from him hurts the most

[TraeumereiLPB 315]

I don't understand why so many of you feel attacked by what Mr. Sondheim said about Gagas performance. Clearly, he has a vast knowledge about music and his name is widely known. It's a fact no one can deny. Anyway, his opinion on the performance does not affect mine, nor should it affect yours. I loved it, even if he as a respected composer and lyricist did not.

[daviddarko 144]

​Sorry Admin but Why do you bring this negative thread to news? Its just a Review.

We have hundreds of positive reviews about the Oscars and we dont post it here.

Do You see the black dot on the white page? 

and you feed haters/troll like Willy Wonka in the proccess

[Spock 20,290]

That being said, Sondheim is an actual living legend and the lack of respect that Craig displays is disgusting. 

​Guess whose plays won't be on NBC anytime soon

[Bebe 16,995]

​Can you give a specific example of this? I am curious because this was  pretty much the one critique i have seen from commenters. Some people also said her phrasing wasn't good. I don't really know what that means. Is that the ability to hold out an entire sentence or section of the song without having to take a breath to early?

​That is part of it but there is more to it. Good breath control basically determines how good the phrasing will be. A singer basically needs to inhale fast and exhale slowly by singing from their diaphragm, this is hard to do and Gaga does actually do a very good job. The problem is only very slight. 

You know that story Tony tells about the taxi driver who said all these singers were hacks because in older days they projected without a microphone? It's just that, at times she relies on the microphone. She brings it in very close to her. Julie Andrews is a master at singing from the diaphragm, she is often able to powerfully hit major notes and project them with her microphone further away. If Gaga had better breath control then she would also be able to project better without the microphone.

I think some of the more a--l musical theater nuts, Stephen Sondheim included, are also just a little flawed by her phrasing. It isn't so much a theater type phrasing. In this quote when he refers to the way she sings it in a "semi-operatic way" he is referring to her use of portamento which is a technique of smoothly gliding from one note to another, it's a type of phrasing often seen in opera but not often seen in theater.

In order to really pick it out I would compare Gaga's oscars performance with a live performance of Julie.
The way she transitions into new notes is very different from the way Gaga does. I think Sondheim expected a performance with very pure theater vocals, understandable from such an iconic and brilliant theater composer, but Gaga really was fantastic and used some very impressive classical techniques.

Here is Julie performing Sound of Music: 

 

Notice the way Julie sings "my heart will be blessed, with the sound of music" (2:45) and compare it to Gaga's more operatic interpretation (2.00)

Also notice how Julie Andrews effortlessly holds that note at 4.23. That's some incredible breath control right there. At 3:53, while Gaga is hitting the last note of climb every mountain, she struggles a bit to maintain it. 

I mean, compare anybody with Julie Andrews and they are likely to fall short. Gaga really was exquisite. Like I said before , it is only slight and something I'm sure could improve if she avoids smoking and keeps training. 

I think that's Stephen's gripe with the performance, which I can certainly understand, but I think Gaga's performance was breathtaking.

[daviddarko 144]

Classical Singer praised Lady Gaga's Oscars performance
 

Classical singer extraordinaire Catherine Bott delivers the verdict on Lady Gaga:

"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."

·Gaga's technical ability was also singled out: "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."

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/concerts-events/oscars/news/lady-gaga-oscars-performance/#htlAY3iEvQfv7m5v.99

 

[Coop 15,325]

Classical Singer praised Lady Gaga's Oscars performance
 

Classical singer extraordinaire Catherine Bott delivers the verdict on Lady Gaga:

"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."

·Gaga's technical ability was also singled out: "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."

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/concerts-events/oscars/news/lady-gaga-oscars-performance/#htlAY3iEvQfv7m5v.99

 

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[AgusPop 4,109]

Classical Singer praised Lady Gaga's Oscars performance
 

Classical singer extraordinaire Catherine Bott delivers the verdict on Lady Gaga:

"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."

·Gaga's technical ability was also singled out: "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."

Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/concerts-events/oscars/news/lady-gaga-oscars-performance/#htlAY3iEvQfv7m5v.99

 

​ take that!!  from a truly Opera Singer and not from a "musicals" queer

[Spock 20,290]

​and you feed haters/troll like Willy Wonka in the proccess

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I don't know if this is directed at me too, but I wasn't hating nor trolling and I don't think Willy Wonka was either. It's not about defending what he said (personally I don't agree at all) but it's about people thinking he is an old random person, calling him all sorts of immature things, when in fact he's the one who has the most authority to say anything on the matter, not only because of his importance in the medium but because of his connection to Hammerstein, one of the Sound of Music composers. He's the most qualified person to comment on his work. They just don't want to acknowledge it because *gasp* he said something negative about Gaga and go automatically in stan mode, attempting to drag him like they would drag Perez Hilton. So everybody calling him pressed, jealous, stupid, irrelevant and not accepting the importance of his opinion, no matter how wrong, should pick up a book, learn who he is and then post.

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[TOSK 640]

At 85, dementia may be creeping in

[Weasel 12,525]

It's sad how some people are just so blinded by their hate for Gaga that they just can't even give her credit when it's due. 

[uo111 5,251]

It's sad how some people are just so blinded by their hate for Gaga that they just can't even give her credit when it's due. 

Art is subjective bb.

If he can call Gaga ****, there is no reason that other's can't call him ****. Commercial success be damned.

[Bebe 16,995]

​ take that!!  from a truly Opera Singer and not from a "musicals" queer

​But... That's what Stephen Sondheim is critiquing... The fact that she approached it from a more classical perspective and treated it in a "semi-operatic way".

"It was ridiculous, as it would be from any singer who treats that music in semi-operatic style. She had no relationship to what she was singing."

The Sound of Music is a musical not an opera. I liked the way Gaga approached it, but his criticism is valid and understandable when you acknowledge his love and devotion to musicals. He judged the performance with a very different set of criteria and from the perspective of a musical theater composer.

I mean, I object to your use of the word queer and the way you are putting down musicals when the whole point of Gaga's performance was to honor one of the greatest musicals ever made.