OPUS TWO Celebrates Stephen Sondheim

While Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) is regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th Century musical theatre, and often credited with reinventing the American musical, his unique, enigmatic composing and storytelling style ensures that he’s often more regarded for his innovative and complex harmonic language (deeply influenced by classical composers like Ravel and Debussy), intricate lyrics and powerful storytelling than for creating memorable, adaptable melodies a la giants like Rodgers & Hammerstein or Lerner & Loewe.

The one grand exception to this aesthetic is, of course, is the insightful and infectiously memorable “Send in the Clowns,” a Top 40 hit for Judy Collins that has also been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Olivia Newton-John. That familiar melody comes ten minutes into “Suite (From A Little Night Music),” the epic 14 and a half minute opening piece on Opus Two Celebrates Stephen Sondheim, a prodigious collection by the award winning duo of violinist William Terwilliger and pianist Andrew Cooperstock that offers a fresh, classically minded look at a unique array of some of the composer’s very familiar (Sweeney Todd, Company, Sunday in the Park with George) and delightfully obscure (but still brilliant) works (Main Title from Stavisky, “I Remember” from Evening Primrose) via adventurous, cleverly inventive chamber music arrangements by longtime Sondheim associate Eric Stern.

Beyond the exquisite joy and fluid yet often appropriately quirky and whimsical soloing and duetting by the principals from piece to piece, the project is notable as Opus Two’s first dual release since 2014’s Gershwin: Music For Violin; in a sense, their wonderfully engaging Sondheim project makes for a cool West Side Story bookend to their 2009 Bernstein: Violin Sonata – Piano Trio collection. And of course, having Stern’s passionate and thoughtfully rendered, often exhilarating arrangements ensures a sense of continuity and intimacy.  His extensive work with Sondheim included the 1984 revival of Pacific Overtures, conducting Sunday in the Park with George in the second year of its original run, co-music directing the first production of Into the Woods, conducting productions of Follies, and conducting Merrily We Roll Along at the Kennedy Center.

Fortunately, because the opening suite from A Little Night Music was created several years ago (and originally released as a standalone track in 2021), Sondheim himself was not only hip to this arrangement but enthusiastically endorsed it. The master may no longer be in body, but there’s no doubt his enduring spirit is close at hand as Opus Two brings their own richly woven soulful magic to a slate that includes the tender ballad “Not While I’m Around,” Sondheim’s other super melodic, easier to cover song, from Sweeney Todd); the playfully perky “’Broadway Baby” from Follies; the gracefully haunting “Every Day A Little Death” from A Little Night Music, featuring one of Terwilliger’s most emotionally, affecting performances; the intensely ambivalent moods of “Sorry-Grateful” from Company; and Cooperstock’s charming, high fallutin’ piano solo of “Now You Know” from Merrily We Roll Along.

There are also grand showcases for baritone Andrew Garland (on “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George) and Elena Shaddow, who brings “I Remember” out of the shadows and into glorious new life. Opus Two bookends the set with “Fleet Street Suite,” a powerful medley/overview of the dark, foreboding yet often lyrical and charming music from Sweeney Todd.