Audra McDonald - What Can You Lose?/Not A Day Goes By
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- Audra McDonald performs a medley of the Sondheim songs What Can You Lose? (from the movie Dick Tracy) and Not A Day Goes By (from Merrily We Roll Along)
Performed in honor of Stephen Sondheim's 75th Birthday on July 8, 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles.
A benefit concert for Children Will Listen, a program of the ASCAP Foundation.
I did not personally film this.
I was standing in the wings watching this next to Barbara Cook, who was humming along as Audra was singing... Bliss. When she noticed I was watching her watch Audra she said, "she's breathtaking." High praise.
Lucky you!
Stunning! As a teacher of singing if I could only get all my adolescent girls to understand that this is how you sing well! She has a top on her voice and she is not trying to belt/screech in her chest register. Put simply, she sings with great technique and commendable artistry!
Audra, please make a Sondheim album. One of those 16-track albums, OK? OK thanks.
That's just it! Audra has a ravishing, operatically trained voice, and could have sung on the world opera stages if she had wanted to. What that means is--she truly knows how to sing! Has an exquisitely honed instrument. Opera singers don't belt, they just know how to project their voices, without amplification, in a way that non-trained singers can only approximate by belting.
Audra is what singing is all about. She is an actress, singer and a giving person. She was "110 In The Shade!" I could hear her sing forever. She grabs you and does not let go. Perfection.........
she has it ALL! STUNNING
Audra is a miracle.
Audra McDonald is phenomenal. Her voice is big, booming, elegant, echanting, and passionate-- ALL at once.
The love of Bernadette Peters seems to be an American thing. She has never performed in the West End, so UK fans love her from afar. However, if you want class that outshines almost anyone (except the late Barbara Cook) Audra's the one. How thrilling she is. Please make an album of Sondheim songs. PLEASE! And PLEASE come to the UK again soon.
Why is Audra so breathtakingly amazing? Her voice makes me want to cry.
seriously, can't stop watching/listening to this, just breath taking!
What can you say? She is the greatest thing on Broadway today. Hands down. It does not get any better than this.
I adore Audra McDonald to pieces and she handled Not A Day Goes By beautifully but that Bernadette Peters still brings tears to my eyes!
I think Bernadette Peters' focus in this song is sheer emotion and she sacrifices technique to achieve a more profound interpretation of the song itself, whereas Audra McDonald, although a powerful and insanely skilled performer, just doesn't capture the pure heartbreak of this song. Audra's is beautiful to listen to and has oomph, but Bernadette's physically makes me cry with empathy.
To each their own.
I was part of the youth choir at the end of this concert. what an amazing memory!
audra is amazing...hands down...one of the best trained musical theater singers out there. She can sing classical and sing the crap out of broadway. Her acting is superb, you feel everything she feels. she emotes all of the music. perfect audra!
I said the same thing a few months ago. I've only seen her in non-singing roles and discovered that not only does she sing "a little" but that she's a world renown singer.
I can't even count the times i've sat in front of my computer watching this. her voice is just TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. i melt every time.
this is absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!
Audra reaches into my heart and squeezes it a little
with every song she sings. All that's right in the
world is present in her voice. Can't say anymore. I love her deeply. Joel B.
I've watched this like 10 million times.
I LOVE HER.
She's amazing.
the second song she sings......one of my favorites
When Audra sings it's like incense and honey......smokey and rich !
wow, thanks for putting this extended version up. i've never seen the last part. it usually cuts off after what can you lose.
Audra takes my breath away!
OH MY GOD!
even on the 1000th time, I nearly piss myself.
ahmahzing.
It's a little scary how awesome she is, LOVE!!!
Audra Audra Audra...my inspiration and joy to my heart. Perfect. And even though it is rather immature of me to say this, anyone who can look at Audra and not see that she has superior talent is just sadly ignorant.
Aya!!! Audra McDonald is INCREDIBLE I love her so much!
Nobody should be criticizing a four-time Tony-Award Winner and Julliard graduate's for voice, to put ability to put emotion into a song or how well they can sing it.
brilliant beyond all words
What planet was this goddess sent from..
Fresno California
When Audra belts out those last few notes at the end of "Not A Day Goes By", I go totally crazy.
Me love Audra McDonald LONG TIME!
Audra is a Queen!🎶
I think Audra belted in this performance. That said, I met her in person twice, and she was friendly and gracious. She is phenomenal in a Porgy and Bess. She makes a decent revival great.
I always cry watching this
Julie athertons new album - NO SPACE FOR AIR - available on 06.06.10
Only a few spaces left for her launch concert at the Delfont Room, Prince of Wales Theatre - 7pm - 6th June 2010.
Tgawron, you are right. I want to be clear that my comments take nothing away from Audra McDonald's art. I'm crazy about her. I wish people would stop giving the schools credit, and start giving the artist credit. There are thousands of brilliant voices out there that have never stepped foot inside a university studio. And I will say it again, the best voices this world has to offer are usually the ones we never hear about.
wow. that was amazing.
I think she is one of the best and she need to be back on BROADWAY!!!!!!
You guys know she is on "Private Practice" on ABC on Thursdays? She is amazing!!
Could she be any more amazing!
This is top notch. The musical suturing of the two songs (mostly by the instrumentation) is a little strange, but she emotes and sings the "s" out of this song!
Audra played The Ayah on the tour of Secret Garden RIGHT AFTER she got out of Juilliard.
LOVE HER!!
@soccerforever94 Thank goodness for youtube. Sharing the amazingness of Audra McD one gleek at a time.
I think I'm in heaven...
Doesn't matter where she graduated from. There are singers out here who can sing just as well, if not better, than Audra. Singing is subjective. It is art! I've always said the best singers are the ones who remain unknown.
Don't misunderstand me, because Bernadette Peters is still on my top 5 favorite list, but Audra McDonald's vocal technique would put Bernadette Peters to shame in the first 8 bars.
wowza.
I love when people think showing emotion is a break in the voice - which is why Bernadette has gotten to where she's at. She does it well and I love when people do it then wonder why they have trouble speaking at the end of the night. Audra is truly "breathtaking"
I don't get how anyone can criticize Audra McDonald. At all. Her pitch is PERFECT every note, every time. She nails all of them so full on and with power power that opera singers would be jealous. And he inflecton is through the roof, what else do you want?
If anyone wants to observe flawless vocal technique and delivery all they have to do is watch this video.
And it's not even a matter of one being so much better than the other, they're completely different styles, different musical purposes. I agree completely, though.
Not sold on the arrangement either, but when she sings, she commits and IT IS like milk and honey!
Great performance. I never noticed how similar the first song is to "Our Little World," it's got a very similar chord progression.
Addra's voice is not the voice that Sondheim hears when he writes, her vocal technique is simply flawless, yet she delivers his music brilliantly. The comment above that Bernadette Peter's does not have nearly the technique that Audra does is absolutely true. But, who would want to live in world that isn't big enough to have both Audra and Bernadette in it? Me, some days I reach for Bernadette's Sondheim etc, volume I or II, and sometimes I reach for one of Audra's recordings. Love them both
😊
this arrangement definitely makes more sense to me than the movie (Dick Tracy) soundtrack's.
There's only one thing wrong with this video. "What Can You Lose" is one of my favorite ballads, and I so seldom hear it alone--I would have really enjoyed hearing it without "Not a Day Goes By."
Seldom means “not often”
So exquisite.
@enolamsamoht Second that. Thank you.
OMG, i'm so surprized with the "Not a Day Goes By" part, everyone knows Audra is the legit queen, but damn, i was used to Bernadette's version, but i think i like Audra's even better.
It's just the last like... 15 seconds of the song that sound like the instrumental part in "Defying Gravity" right before the "Something has changed within me" part.
Oh lord, I'm almost sad I knew that.
Where is BILLY PORTER'S performance of this medley?? Show stopping in L.A. at "The Stage Benifit". Can anyone help,? Love to All
(Continued from below)
Yes, Bernadette Peter's London version is a terrific & moving interpretation coming from a singing actor, and is a worthy counterpart to Audra's rendition. But I've heard so many good singing actors who just can't quite realize this song's technical demands & musical promise. It is so satisfying to hear it sung by someone who has the technical chops to just completely own it, and send it soaring. Mr, Sonheim, do you agree? (Please write back.)
There are many performances of Not a day goes by not only Bernadette Peters.Have you heard the Barbara Cook Barbra Streisand and Marin Mazzie performances of Not a day goes by brilliant performances .All these singers like Audra had the pipes and the tecnique to sing it.
It definitely sounds like "No one is alone," or "No More," but it certainly was never ever performed in the show. It just sounds similar because it's the same composer.
awesome. Hey what are some other songs like this to sing? i just found out about the song What will I do from the commercial
audra was made for these power house ballads.
@conniesmarykay
And she makes it look so completely effortless...
...For the truly brutal reality of human love in classical American popular song:
Country Girl Tony Bennett 1967
To a Wild Rose Kenny Rankin 1980 --Edward MacDowell's poem from Woodland Sketches of 1896
Not A Day Goes By Carly Simon 1981 --*Merrily We Roll Along*, Sondheim 1981
The Two Lonely People Bill Evans & Tony Bennett 1977rel, 1976recorded
Honorable Mention:
Haunted Heart Dietz and Schwartz 1948 Jo Stafford Jane Monheit not bad
Not A Day Goes By Bernadette Peters early 1990s London
Not A Day Goes By Audra McDonald 2005 in LA
ON A DEEPER more philosophical level:
Don McLean - Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) released Mar1972 U.S.
Some songs are almost impossible to do anything else with, once that one flaming performance has been burned into memory. This performance is part Bernadette's and part conspicuous attempt not to be Bernadette's. Audra is so creative, so beautiful, so intelligent, so innately musical to the bone -- in many ways, although no comparison is really fair, she surpasses Bernadette -- why even go to Bernadette's song at all? This does not happen often, thankfully. Most gifted people can sing most excellent songs. But just now and then . . .
no she didn't she took a leave of absence to tour in Secret Garden and then came back and finished her degree
Is "what can you lose" from Dick Tracy? I thought it was from "into the woods".
Who did she play in "The Secret Garden"?
What good did that do anyone?
yeah I hear that Schwartz sound in there too.
Actually, I completely disagree. In my opinion, Bernadette Peters and Audra McDonald are almost polar opposites when it comes to style and tone of voice, but they have similar training and experience and they are equally talented. Obviously I love Audra more, but let's not begrudge dear Bernadette of her skill. :)
I believe she was just in the chorus...but I could be wrong
kills me.
Madonna's version with Mandy Patinkin is more emotional though.
what's she singing before "what can you loose?"
You should hear Carolyn Black Sotir sing "As The Day Goes By"!
The accompaniment really sounds like "wicked"
I was thinking the same thing. I don't question that McDonald technically has a better voice and more operatic skill. That doesn't mean she can sing every song better than anyone with a lesser voice and less skill. The operatic version doesn't work on the same level.
i had no idea that she sings!
@battlegirldeb
It's not like there's much on Broadway these days that's worthy of her...
@leflyscot
...You're kidding, right?
I think Schwartz may have been... "inspired" by What Can You Lose, considering how amazing a song it is.
mind you she dropped out of Juilliard.
Billy Porters original version of this medley is AMAAAAZING, Better than either Bernadette's or Audra's ( & that's saying something!!!)
Well thats pretty unfair to anyone who is successful. What about Streisand, Leontyne Price, etc. there are spectacular singers who remain such after they become famous. Audra is of course an example. Singing is about emotion, transmitting feeling, understanding lyrics and getting something across, Audra does that perfectly.
I always wonder when people can sing like this, why focus on acting in TV & movies? But that's the big break many are looking for, and no doubt pays much more. Regardless, I'm go glad they sing!
they take the jobs they can get.
Sshelly, I was watching Jonathan Crombie (Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables) perform on stage, and when he was giving an AIDS speech at the end of the musical, people were WALKING OUT! On Gilbert Blythe. The nerve of some people. The rudeness of today's society. ;)
Wow - what a voice. I haven't seen anything of her before - i searched for what can you lose because I really like the song. Compared to Madonna (and Mandy Patinkin) on the soundtrack, this is great singing, even with pretty ordinary sound quality.
How can anyone compare Madonna with Audra McDonald? Madonna doesn't belong on the same planet as Audra.
i disagree, the themes go along brilliantly, and the melodic themes are def seperate....but its a melody so you kinda expect that, still though i think the songs go well together, and i think her body language was great. As much as i love Bernsy, her flailing arms in a concert setting are a little bit silly
could she be any better?
Audra is a great and legit singer who chose not to sing ópera. Bernadette is a better and although She sang it beautifully there are other great performances of Not a dat5 goes by Marin Mazzie qnd the Unforgettable Barbara Cook .listen to Them too not only to Bernadette Peters
I like Audra McDonald but Bernadette Peters version of "Not a Day Goes By" is classic brilliance.