Regina Resnik - Liaisons from A Little Night Music

[1sumiresan2]

Wer ist der Komponist?

[1sumiresan2]

danke für dieses Video. Dieses Stück ist für mich völlig neu, aber Regina Resnik ist großartig wie immer!!!

[livvybee313]

The whole cast is amazing, but particularly Resnik. She's just perfection in this role.

[copperleaves]

Resnik, as always, is magnificent and bigger than life. Truly operatic! She does justice to both the music and the text.

[Robertogee]

Vocally, certainly, and perhaps dramatically, the definitive performance.

Resnik's Madame Armfelt is a compelling woman (not girlish): a demanding courtesan of a century ago, certain of her rarefied allure as a polished gem of desire and great price by equally powerful male royals, long gone too.

No word muddled or layer lost. Flawless diction, projection and timbre -- true to her character's breeding. Like a fiery diamond, hard . . . surviving . . . heartbreaking to the end.

Magnificent.

[tenorbear60]

@Robertogee I agree. The smokiness and legato of her singing compliment the orchestration. But its her concept, her restraint and her bearing that marks this as so compelling. She is in complete control of the moment. Brava! Allure and bearing for days.

[Richiesutherland]

I agree about Maureen Lipman in the London. By the way, the Desirée of the City Opera production was Sally Ann Howes.

[MMOPMusicalTheatre]

Maureen Lipman was amaaazing in last year's London revival!

[cherylzaneisinsane]

Such a rich interpretation of Liaisons--I can listen to this all day!

[sweeney60]

Regina Resnik is hysterical!

[Marvelouscortex]

This memorable recording has of course received additional views of late, in the wake of the recent revival of the musical - last public performance tonight, 1/8/10. Soon, later, now, all we will have are such recordings upon which to recollect and attach whatever feelings it brings to us and we bring to it.

[ozzian2000]

This is outstanding! The most unique version I have ever heard.

[Rugger0430]

I simply love the deep rich sound of her voice.. Chariming.....

[companythemusical]

perfection

[lillybruce]

You are so right about Ms. Resnik - just an exquisite, unmatched performance.

[fountainchain126]

Oh, Sally Ann Howes! got it

[fountainchain126]

Who plays Desirée in this video?

[companythemusical]

as a european!...this is definitive, its energy between opera , musical and indeed cabaret sublime...

[Richiesutherland]

Now THIS is an artist!! She knows exactly how to deiver a line for maximum impact. And what a musician, using her (now) baritonal voice subtly. Nothing overdrawn, everything in perfect control. Sings the right notes (!) but doesn't oversing them, and makes you believe, for once, that Mme. Armfeldt really had been a seductive femme fatale. Glorious! Vivat Regina!

[sutro77]

@Richiesutherland

very well said - I could not agree more!

[sweeney60]

@Richiesutherland she is the only opera singer on record who sang soprano, mezzo soprano, and contralto during the course of her career. Nothing stops this woman. She was very wise, many sopranos become stronger in their lower registers as they age but they dont train that part of their voice, so as their higher register weakens, they have nothing to fall back on. Regina was smart and continued to train as her voice changed. She went from a beautiful soprano to a brilliant baritone!

[Torontobears]

Do you know is this performance available on CD?

[FUNCHOMCLALA]

I have not seen any of them live, but what I get out of the videos is: I like all three ladies. Angela is too nice, Elaine is too American. Regina I could watch all day. She's got it right. Grand. Musical. Amusing, but unapproachable. A tigress.

[wien05]

regina resnik was a great operasinger. and able to play her parts.

[AIDAblu1]

Although I adore Angela Lansbury and love her deeply, after seeing this clip and the entire show here on youtube, I must say I like this version much more since Miss Resnik is more powerful, yet elegant. I bought the Broadway Cast Album last week, and it's very good, but this clip is superior as far as I can judge it being some thousand miles from the Broadway stages.

[DannyHiggs]

Impeccable acting AND impeccable singing. She is my all time favorite Madame A.

[Arkelk2010]

How nice to see Miss Resnick and hear her sing this.

I think both Gingold and Resnick do good things with this song as their vocal and acting talents compel. (I haven't heard other interpretations to comment on them.) I'm glad that we have both versions.

[TheHouseThatBuiltMe]

I just saw Elaine Stritch in this role on Broadway who acts the part fantastically but lacks the voice of this goddess...

[noahsdad61]

There's a glimpse of another interpretation on youtube--that of the legend Leslie Caron--that was also produced last year. Search on "a little night music chatelet"

[leontyneschiava]

GENIUS!

[actorguy213]

Brava. Simply perfection.

[sutro77]

Regina Resnik is the all time best in this part and the only actress to actually sing (rather than speak) Liaisons - as requested by Stephen Sondheim

[totallyactr18]

@sutro77 Angela Lansbury does a pretty fantastic job with it

[UncleCharlieOakley]

@sutro77 You've seen them all in the part and declare this performance the all time best? How very lucky you are!

And if Sondheim wanted the part sung (rather than speak) the song, why was Hermoine Gingold cast?

What utter nonsense.

That said, Regina Resnick is wonderful.

[sweeney60]

@sutro77

her voice is almost masculine its so rich, perfect for this song, its brilliant.

[0626saraf]

She's great...I hope I get to play this part in 50 years. :)

[passuoutnw]

Me thinks Mme. Armfeldt was a bit of a slut!

[QueenBoadicea]

@passuoutnw She wasn't a slut. In her day, they were called "courtesans" or "mistresses" and she managed to be a beloved attachment to some very powerful and rich men. She turned those liaisons to her financial advantage and is disgusted that her daughter refuses to share her practicality.

[Melodrama421]

her character just reeks perfectly-timed dry charm. LOVE it!

[afboyfw]

No wonder the scenery is so minimal---these two chewed it all up in rehearsals...

[OldieMusicMan]

I love Miss Resnik's "T's." I believe she pronounces every one, never pronouncing her inter-vowel "T's" as "D's." She is a study in fine diction.

[Selendomono]

I agree. Most of the time I hate hard T's because they are either nonexistent or they are overdone. I like Miss Resnik's because they finish the word wthout kiling it.

[spinto12]

i love Miss Resnik's deep, resonant voice! i could listen to her sing and talk all day.

[jamesjmertins1]

Again it's the old singers that show what can be done. Even at her age , she shows a line and wonderful diction. fabulous.

[cfronck]

cant wait to hear angie and catherine zeta jones do little night music this xmas! its official!!.....im pretty sure.

[noahsdad61]

It will sure be a change of pace from the wholesome roles Miss Lansbury is known for. Then again, she debuted in Gaslight as a saucy maid... Can't wait to see it!

[OldieMusicMan]

And let's not forget "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Sweeney Todd."

I can't wait for Miss Lansbury in "A Little Night Music." It will be unlike anything else to hear her singing this wonderful song. I can foresee hers becoming the definitive version -- at least on par with Miss Resnik's, whose version I consider greater than Hermione Gingold's.

[noahsdad61]

I bought my tickets this week!

[OldieMusicMan]

What time of day should I buy the tickets for to see Angela? I want to see her for my birthday.

[noahsdad61]

Depends on whether you're a night owl or a morning lark. When's your birthday? We're seeing a matinee.

[OldieMusicMan]

I'm a night owl. I'm hoping to see the show when it's dark (I know it doesn't make a difference, but still . . .). Will that give me a good opportunity to see Miss Lansbury after the show? I'd love to have her sign a "Mame" LP.

And my birthday is December 7th. That's why I want to see the show -- the dates coincide so well.

[noahsdad61]

Happy Birthday, then! I can't advise you on the best strategy for stage door interception, but if you see her, thank her for "Sweeney Todd," too! Do buy your ticket soon--they seem to be going fairly briskly. Have a lovely birthday!

[hoshigyo1]

@KatherineXIX - She's not bemoaning how "sleeping around" is less discreet or special, she's appalled that women no longer appreciate the art involved in turning a profit through "liasons." She trained her daughter well, and yet Desiree is still working for her money and falling into romance without reaping the financial rewards. For Madame Armfeldt, sex is "but a pleasurable means to a measurable end."

[noahsdad61]

That's exactly right. She was a professional courtesan (again, it's not immorality she objects to, merely sloppiness). With the passing of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle class, the talents of the old courtesan class are lost on the new generation, who seem drawn to the tacky & tawdry. Little noticed is a line she has elsewhere about a working-class man "who might have been the love of [her] life" and whom she rejected. So is she one of the fools for whom a summer night smiles?

[scottishphotographer]

Hermione Gingold, who originated this role, was of course sensational... but Resnik makes it her own... and how wonderful to hear Sondheim's exquisite 'Liaisons' actually SUNG!

[Scott89119]

Haha I love how snide and mannered Madame Armfeldt is. And those rolled rrrrr's kill me.

[larrylarski]

This canNOT be improved upon! Resnik is magnificent!

[heyhey88ooooo]

the little girl also played little redridinghood in into the woods which sohndhiem also wrote the music for

[scottishphotographer]

How wonderful to hear this actually sung.

[sutro77]

@scottishphotographer

Sondheim asked Resnik to sing the song - she is an opera singer and every other actress who played this part really couldn't sing! Regina Resnik is terrific.

[MikadoObsessed]

omg! im related to regina!

[Chsrles62]

I know her mostly from her amazing recording of Elektra with Nilsson. I could tell from her singing she's a fantastic actress, and it's so great to actually see that as well.

[EtrangerStranger]

Oh this is absolutely perfect.

PERFECT.

[pjcgatsby]

perfection. gingold was great in the role, but resnick is a revelation. intelligent, commanding, biting and funny as all get out.

-------

when things got rather touchy

deeded me a duchy

----

i acquire some position

plus a tiny titian.

------------

this sondheim fellow ain't bad.

deliciously clever.

[MTVMANN]

She sounds very much like Carole Burnett! Carole would be good in this role :)

[fatbob666]

i think i still prefer sian phillips version

[noahsdad61]

@fatbob666 I LOVED Sian Phillips as Livia, but I thought she frankly butchered this song. Sorry!

[fatbob666]

omg i thought she was a guy!

[leatherstud1970]

the pacing of the diologue is too qucki, but yes this is near art

[Cramnella]

Regina Resnik is a beautiful woman and a great artist at least 4 times over.

[KatherineXIX]

No, Madame Armfeldt definitely had some illicit affairs of her own! She didn't think sex was just for married people...but back in her day, it was much more dignified even when people were "sleeping around". People were discreet about it and treated it as if it were special.

[noahsdad61]

Nothing dignified about it, but she was definitely not speaking of marriage. She is singing about the aristocratic culture in which people married for political reasons, not for love. Some women maneuvered in this environment for profit ("I acquired a chateau..."). In the Bergman movie, she says she obtained her estate by promising NOT to write her memoirs. So there's a subtext to the song--she's mourning a lost world of elegant deception, but what price has she paid?

[Marvelouscortex]

@noahsdad61 How much different is it now? The aristocratic contrast has been relaxed - somewhat. All else seems unchanged, no? If changed, how so?

[noahsdad61]

Not sure what you mean. Certainly, women have a few more careers available to them now beyond teacher, nurse, actress, and courtesan. And most people expect to marry for love now.  (Just as well, since there seem to be fewer royals & nobles around...). What's universal here is the human capacity for self-deception, and the price we pay. That hasn't changed at all. But there is hope--even for fools--in the end.

[Lohengrin]

truly fantastic, so genuine is style and so vividly sung

[shotslove]

Leave it to Sondheim to rhyme "raisins" with "liaisons". So great.

[roccoh2]

Magnificent would be an understatement.

[jtcarey2]

that isn't her...Bea Arthur was in The Golden Girls

[bohemiawelcumsyou]

Didn't that little blond girl play Little Red in ITW?

[SweeneyHyde]

Yes.

[GreyEyesCrying]

blond adult ;) lol, but yupp. that's her. she's fascinatingly talented!

[pjcgatsby]

resnick is irresistible. her delivery is pitch perfect. i found gingold's rendition delightful but not particularly resonant the way resnick's is. both are great. thanks to sondheim for this wonderful piece.

[fatbob666]

u should check out sian phillips version - i got a vid of it!

[SweeneyHyde]

Ah! Danielle Ferland as Fredrieka! What a surprise! That poor girl is always living under the room of interesting Grandmothers! Haha.

[pete422188]

BRILLIANT. This woman is proof that some classically trained opera singers are in fact capable of handling musical theater well.

Polly Bergen also did an incredible rendition of this song in Baltimore this year.

[noahsdad61]

I saw that production. She must have been feeling ill, because she only did one of the 3 verses. Still, she definitely gave it her own color & nuance. Shame there's no recording of that performance!

[upstatepiano]

Desiree says clearly: I see you're in one of your bitchy moods. Which at once defines why Resnick is the way she is, and implies Madame Armfeldt chooses her moods at whim they way some women choose their outfits. Brilliant production! Saw it live!

[noahsdad61]

The writing has such economy--short phrases speak volumes about the tensions in their relationship. Also true of "Glamorous Life" (original, not the movie version).

[noahsdad61]

I disagree. She's quite fine, but Ginggold had such rich shadings--affection, humor, despair, lessons learned too late. e.g., I love the way she says "duchy," as if "how sweet of him," and the despair of "where the princes are lawyers/kings are employers." You can find her on the original London cast album, which you can find on Amazon. (She's also on the Broadway original cast album, but I like her London performance better). There can be more than one valid interpretation!

[HarleyKQuinn]

i disagree, i thought her tone was rather appropriate and very much part of that character which is in itself very over the top.

[zachary50]

gingold in my humble opinion was a complete bore doing this song. the only thing gingold had going for her was the very unique sound to her voice. gingold sang the song Resnick performs it. she understands it and acts it. resnick also gets the humor of it and is connected to what she is singing. again, ginglold just sang it, and did not really communicate anything. I think this is the definitive version of "liasons"

[jacsacrazyhorse]

where can i find the gingold version? I would love to find anything more i can on anyone who has played madame armfeldt, help pretty please!

[ThreeVees]

I do prefer Miss Gingold it has to be said but there's only a flicker in it as I also adore the divine Miss Resnik.

[berliita]

What diction! Superb interpretation!

[stutube66]

WOW! What a hard call. Gingold definately put her own spin on it. I don't think either one gets more mileage out of the jokes.  But I do think Regina Resnik captures the wistful longing. Gingold's was lighter, as if she didn't care too deeply. With Resnik, you really believe she's sorry that things have changed. THANKS FOR POSTING THIS.

[fatbob666]

check out sian philllips version on my vids!

[gsygsy]

Oh she's MUCH better than Gingold - Resnik understands all the jokes.

[DannyHiggs]

Between her brilliant comic timing and the perfectly round timbre of her voice, this is probably the perfect performance of this song.

[bassman462]

I don't like the fredricka.

[altodivo]

has anyone ever sung this song better? I think she does a better job than Gingiold.

[Dramaticmaleprano]

This woman is utterly wonderful!

[ShaelRiley]

perfect comic timing - wonderful rendition of song

[luffy210]

Oh...I see what they did...we're both right. They took clips from her dialog right before weekend in the country and then edited in Liaisons. No harm.

[luffy210]

i love her, but this is weekend in the country, not liaisons

[Jaybabe]

you are wrong.. it is LIAISONS..... i cant believe you how you could have missed it...

[luffy210]

There must be an error on my computer then, because the video that's loading on my computer is most definitely Weekend in the Country.

[Jaybabe]

I am watching it now and it is written directly above the screen it is playing on....as REGINA RESNIK - LIAISONS FROM A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.....

[porterfaulkner]

where is this from? Lovely production.

[DannyHiggs]

This is "Liaisons" from the Lincoln Center production of Sondheim and Wheeler's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

[bassman462]

amazing...

[altodivo]

What a genius. Her timing and delivery is perfection, and she knows how to use what is left of her voice to perfect effect.

[Cramnella]

This is the performance that made me fall desperately in love with Madame Resnik. Thank you for posting it.