Opus Two: Celebrates Stephen Sondheim: New Chamber Music Arrangements
Bridge Records

There's no shortage of vocal-based albums of Stephen Sondheim's music from which to choose; those featuring instrumental treatments are, on the other hand, fewer in number. This largely vocals-free celebration of the late icon's work is all the more valuable as a result, and that it features world-premiere recordings of selections from a number of his beloved Broadway shows makes it all the more welcome. On the fifty-two-minute set, Opus Two members William Terwilliger (violin) and Andrew Cooperstock (piano) bookend songs from Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Company, and others with two medley-styled suites from 1973's A Little Night Music and 1979's Sweeney Todd. Enhancing the release are appearances by soprano Elena Shaddow, baritone Andrew Garland, and cellist Beth Vanderborgh. The presence of vocals on two songs adds considerably to the album's impact but doesn't prevent it from registering as a largely instrumental account of the composer's work.

Of course in focusing on instrumental versions, Sondheim's renowned verbal facility isn't present; however, as Opus Two and arranger Eric Stern assert in their liner notes, while “these miniature masterpieces cannot be completely divorced from their theatrical geneses, … it can be a rich experience to listen to them primarily as music, full of distinctive melody, poignant harmony, and artful phrasing.” All such qualities are fully accounted for in winning performances by Terwilliger and Cooperstock, who strike that perfect middle ground between hewing closely to the score and imposing their own stamp on it as improvisors. While he's not one of the performers, Stern's contribution to the project is profound. All of the arrangements are by this forty-year veteran of Broadway and the concert stage, and he brought his considerable first-hand experience working with Sondheim to the endeavour. It's also the third time he's created Broadway arrangements for the duo, with treatments of Gershwin's Girl Crazy and Bernstein's Candide the others.

The instrumentalists' well-known chemistry is in full effect throughout, and their genuine affection for Sondheim's music resonates as loudly. The two have refined their rapport over a nearly two-decade-long tenure and in engagements that have taken them across six continents. Terwilliger and Cooperstock are renowned as soloists, recitalists, and chamber and orchestral musicians, but they're educators too, with one a violin professor at the University of South Carolina and the other a piano professor at the University of Colorado. Their individual credits as performers and recording artists are long and impressive.

The expansive fifteen-minute Suite from A Little Night Music opens the set gloriously. Drawing for inspiration from Ingmar Bergman's Smiles from a Summer Night, Sondheim's treatment constellates around complicated romantic relationships and love triangles and includes the musical's oft-covered “Send in the Clowns.” The sweetly romantic tone of Opus Two's playing captivates instantly as the music flirts with sardonic and sincere passages and the music segues from effervescent to tender. Terwilliger's dexterity and vocal-like voicings are a constant delight, as is Cooperstock's sparkling, attentive accompaniment. Their gorgeous rendering of “Send in the Clowns” speaks to their maturity as performers and respect for the material. That said, little embellishment is needed when the writing's so exquisite in the first place. Tender also is the duo's disarmingly poignant cover of “Not While I'm Around” (Sweeney Todd), while charming in the extreme is “Broadway Baby” (Follies, 1971), distinguished by rather Grappelli-esque playing from Terwilliger and a performance that shows the duo as comfortable swinging freely as replicating a chart.

From Evening Primrose (1966), an hour-long musical created for TV, “I Remember” is sung by the character Ella, who's lived in a department store for much of her life and longs to experience the outside world again. A veteran of many Broadway productions, Shaddow's in stellar form, and her partners smartly support her as she traverses the song's broad emotional terrain. A lauded and experienced performer too is Garland, who, donning the persona of Georges Seurat, elevates “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George (1983) with an inspired and passionate vocal. In the third trio treatment, violin and cello are fitting duet partners in “Every Day a Little Death” (A Little Night Music) when the original's a duet between a long-suffering wife and an innocent young bride, with both learning that their husbands are having an affair with the same woman.

June 2025