Track Listing

1. Happiness
2. First Letter
3. Second Letter
4. Third Letter
5. Fourth Letter
6. Fosca's Entrance
7. Garden Sequence
8. Transition
9. Fifth Letter
10. Scene Seven, Part One
11. Scene Seven, Part Two (Clara's Letter)
12. I Wish I Could Forget You
13. Soldiers' Gossip
14. Flashback
15. Sunrise Letter
16. Is This What You Call Love?
17. Soldiers' Gossip (reprise)
18. Nightmare
19. Forty Days
20. Loving You
21. Scene Twelve
22. Scene Thirteen (Farewell Letter)
23. Just Another Love Story
24. No One Has Ever Loved Me
25. Scene Fourteen
26. The Duel
27. Finale

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #117775 in Music
• Released on: 1997-01-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Cast Recording, Import

Amazon.com
Based on the 1981 Italian film Passione d'amore, Stephen Sondheim's multiple Tony Award-winning musical/chamber opera Passion follows a self-centered soldier, Giorgio (Michael Ball), whose idyllic happiness with a married woman, Clara (Helen Hobson), is interrupted by his transfer to another post. There, he meets Signora Fosca (Maria Friedman, best known these days for the video production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), a homely and ill woman who soon falls in love with Giorgio and pursues him relentlessly. Giorgio believes he would never leave the beautiful Clara, but he underestimates the power of Fosca's passion. "Loving you is not a choice, it's who I am," she tells him, in Sondheim's rich tapestry of a score that is less individual numbers than a constant flow of gorgeous melodies, dialogue, letters between the characters, and a group of soldiers that serves as a Greek chorus.

After a 1996 London revival, the same cast recorded the score live in concert at the BBC Hippodrome in 1997. Ball is perfectly cast as Giorgio, and Friedman and Hobson excel, even if they can't quite match Tony-winner Donna Murphy and Marin Mazzie of the original Broadway cast. It's almost a moot point, though, because the original Broadway cast recording is currently out of print (although a video version is available). So if you want Passion, this is your only option, and it's a good one. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

No Passion Here
No, No, No, Absolutely AWFUL. I am a huge fan of Passion and it is my favourite Sondheim score. Please do not waste your money on this garbage. Maria Friedman is terrible and after listening to her ridiculous over acting I am happy to throw this CD in the bin. NO feeling, NO Passion. I would give this no stars if I could.

Excellent, and more complete, interpretation
I own the DVD and CD of the original Broadway cast performance. Jere Shea, Marin Mazzie and Donna Murphy are al great. I bought this recording to see what new actors could bring to the musical. The performances are as good as the original cast and, more importantly, there's more dialogue on the CD (this is a concert version, I believe). The additional material adds depth to the recording and the CD is a must for any Sondheim fan. As an aside, the extended version of "No One Has Ever Loved Me" that was cut from the U.S. production (the audio is available on the DVD) is included in the London recording. It doesn't sound as awful as it does on the CD.

For musical lovers everywhere
I have not seen either the broadway or London version of this show. There is not a song that really stands out but it has moved up to my second favourite musical of all time. As I said there are no catchy numbers but it is addictive. It was like reading a book and not wanting to put it down. Michael Ball, Helen Hobson and Maria Friedman are excellent. I wish with all my heart that I could have seen this on the London stage. If you like musicals you will love this.