DVD + Blu-Ray:
Leonard Bernstein : Wonderful Town

For the 1st time on DVD & Blu-ray, and to celebrate Bernstein’s centennial, "Wonderful Town" filmed during its French premiere at the Opéra de Toulon.

With a keen sensitivity to the demands and specificities of the American “musical”, and after the triumph of Sondheim’s Follies in 2015, the Opéra de Toulon once again embarked on a Broadway adventure with the French premiere of Bernstein’s Wonderful Town, and brought back for the occasion stage director Olivier Bénézech, a major connoisseur of the genre.

A true declaration of love to the city of New York, Wonderful Town tells the tale, with a boisterous rhythm and vast amounts of jazzy tunes, of two sisters from Ohio looking for success and glory in the big city. Lighter in tone than later works like West Side Story or Candide, its smart combination of the different musical traditions one could hear when wandering in the streets of New York, its accomplished orchestral writing and colouring, and its vivid sense of comedy earned it no less than five Tony awards when it premiered in 1953.

A story of love and swing with a touch of social satire, it is here revived with all the energy and the sparkle one could hope for: From the highly effective scenography by Luc Londiveau and Gilles Papain to the authenticity and thoughtfulness of Bénézech’s precise and vigorous direction of the cast. American conductor Larry Blank, well-known by the Broadway scene and therefore no stranger to the traps this falsely naive score can set, works wonders with the in-house orchestra, filling the hearts of the audience with a contagious cheerfulness that will not be easy to forget…

Genre Opera
Recording location Opéra de Toulon
Recording date 2018
Duration 122 min.
Video format Color, 16/9, PAL (DVD), Full HD (Blu-ray)
Audio format PCM 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD), DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 (Blu-ray)
Director Andy Sommer
Composer Leonard Bernstein
Conductor Larry Blank
Orchestra / Band Orchestre et Chœurs de l’Opéra de Toulon
Stage Director Olivier Bénézech
Choreography by Johan Nus
Soloist Jasmine Roy
Soloist Rafaëlle Cohen
Soloist Dalia Constantin
Soloist Lauren Van Kempen
Soloist Alyssa Landry
Soloist Maxime De Toledo
Soloist Thomas Boutilier
Soloist Franck Lopez
Distribution DVD Naxos Distribution