Les Mis... What's the big deal?

[jbsegal]

So, after The Star Wars Trilogy Musical Edition ganked something like 1/2 its music from Les Mis, I decided it should actually listen to the original.

I borrowed The Complete Symphonic Recording from dancingdeer.

I'm not impressed.

Thoughts: While I'm not much of a fan of opera, so I can't really compare, it really feels to me like 50%+ of the show is recitative and I don't like it.

Related: This is the most un-lyrical musical I've ever heard. Much of the time, it sounds like it wants to be a straight play but someone decided to graft on music.

Yes, musicals often have themes or leitmotifs, it often feels like this show has, alongside the 50% recitative, another 30% made up of the same... 3? 4? songs, reused and reused and reused.

There's not a thing about the recording that evokes 'France' for me. The occasional french phrase feels forced and artificial, especially alongside the cockney accents of the lower-class characters.

The use of synthesizers in the scoring is... anachronistic, in a way I can't let wash over me.

Specific to this recording: I hate Gary Morris' voice/accent. As he's a TX? TN? born country singer, this isn't that surprising.

So, why the heque is this such a popular show? Sure, there are a couple of nice songs, but they're a very small percentage of the whole. Is it totally different live? Really?

Comments

[coraline]

FYI, les mis isn't ALW.
neither is miss saigon (they're both boubil).
phantom and cats are (but i assume you knew that -- you probably knew the preceding as well, bt it wasn't clear from how you said it.)

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

I knew 3/4 of that... not that MS and LM are by the same guy.

Even LESS interested in MS now...

[coraline]

i have never seen either of them, but i enjoy the music from MS on its own, unlike les mis. but it definitely does the same emotionally manipulativ thing, if that bugs you. but i think it's a better musical (from a purely musical standpoint) than LM.