icethesite - Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus news site

Comments

• Posted by Sapphie, May 18, 2009 14:17:

  What a wonderful B&B era we are going through at the moment and thanks to Ice for feeding our insatiable desire for news!
  
  A cast recording of Kristina too! We would all have been hoping that this would be inevitable but I didn't expect it so soon.
  
  I hope it lives up to the Swedish version (which I have only recently bought) as that is absolute musical perfection.
  
  I just hope Universal don't try to market it as a Mamma Mia follow-up!
  
  Lee
  

  
  
• Posted by Tony, May 18, 2009 16:01:

  "Woohoo!" (As Homer Simpson would say).
  I agree with everything that Sapphie has mentioned above.
  I feel that this will be a very zhjooshy and prestigious recording indeed. How magnificent! It's exciting to know that a wider audience is on the verge of getting to hear something very special that us fans have been privileged to have heard since the 1990s. A recording from Carnegie Hall... how very snazzy and glamorous! The treats from Benny & Björn's world just keep rolloing out. Aren't we lucky? Yay!

  
  
• Posted by Mark, May 18, 2009 17:31:

  A cast recording to follow .... not sure whether this implies a live recording or a new studio cast?
  It would be fantastic though if the live concerts were recorded for a TV broadcast, DVD and CD release.
  Really glad to hear that there will be a CD issued as this will expose the musical to a wider audience and generate enormous demand around the world. Can't think why they didn't do this years ago.
  As musch as I hate her material I always throught someone like Celine Dion would have done justice to the emotion of Du Maste Finnas.
  Can't wait to find out who's going to appear on the CD and live performances.
  Would be great to see the same perormance come over the water and be previewed at say the Royal Albert hall (yes we all know about the acoustics) but it would need to be at some major venue to give it the prestige required. Some how I don't think there'd be any problem filling a venue such as this in London for a couple of performances.

  
  
• Posted by marco, May 18, 2009 17:57:

  ..Wow!!. great Kristina news...I actually had the original version when it was first released ...as well as Fridas last swedish cd...including extented remix picture sleeve singles!!!!...Now I'm soooo behind in sooo many things, don't even have BAO's last cd!!!...ha! Oh yeah ..regarding last comment...I remember thinking Celine Dion would have done a great job with "the film I'd love to see" from Josefin Nilson... Quite frankly I had mixed feelings about her vocals on that cd "shapes"...and that song in particular since I thought the song itself is great!!!

  
  
• Posted by Ice, May 18, 2009 23:50:

  The cast album will be produced from the concerts. Both nights of the show will be recorded.

  
  
• Posted by Greg , May 19, 2009 03:34:

  it is like a dream come true!! first the DVD/CD of Chess and now Kristina!!

  
  
• Posted by Stephen UK, May 19, 2009 13:35:

  While I am ecstatic that Kristina is finally getting an English CD recording it’s a pity that it will be a live album rather than studio as you will have the drama and emotion of the song and the beautiful music and then be brought out of the moment by the applause which in likely to start before the final notes have finished.
  Either way I hope they will be faster in production than the Chess CD and it wont be June 2010 before the CD will be released. I presume depending on the reaction from the industry to the concerts there's a possibility of seeing a stage production in America or London within eighteen months or at least a concert tour. I know that the translation has been a issue but since the show already has a successful stage format already and with the continuous success of Benny and Bjorn's music it really is a mystery why producers have been so hesitant in putting this show on.

  
  
• Posted by Martin Bolton, May 19, 2009 14:22:

  A long running legal dispute, stretching back 15 years and which was only resolved in March 2008 is the main reason why Kristina has taken so long to come to fruition in English.
  
  So, a resolution in March 08 and two full scale concerts with a symphony orchesrtra at New York's Carnegie Hall in September 09 is not so bad when you think about it!
  
  And personally speaking, YAY for a live recording, which will have the atmospherics of a theatre (Kristina's ultimate home) and not a sterile recording studio. The more applause the better, I say - it is after all a musical and it needs people to enjoy it 'live'.

  
  
• Posted by Phil, May 19, 2009 16:37:

  Quite honestly I don't care whether it's a studio recording or live - or recorded in the middle of the M25 on a Friday evening!
  
  I just CAN'T WAIT to hear this superb musical performed in English, hopefully then it will become another B&B "take the world by storm" mega success!!

  
  
• Posted by Sapphie, May 20, 2009 13:52:

  I know this will be 'preaching to the converted' but I enjoyed reading the customer reviews of the original Swedish recording at Amazon:
  
  http://www.amazon.ca/product-reviews/B0000071G6
  
  and
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Kristina-Fran-Duvemala-1996-Swedish/dp/B0000071G6/
  
  (N.B. this recording is available new for much less than quoted at these Amazon sites; try Dress Circle or the Abba fan Club, for example).
  
  I have been a Abba and Benny/Bjorn fan for years and years and how on earth I have only recently purchased this 3 CD set is beyond belief. Maybe the length and Swedishness put me off.
  
  Not any longer, now not much else gets played on my ipod. I am tempted to agree with these reviewers and wonder if this is the most beautiful thing ever written and sung, by anyone.
  
  Lee

  
  
• Posted by Martin Bolton, May 20, 2009 17:12:

  @Phil - I get your point entirely!
  
  These concerts and this recording news is so exciting. I swear I've got butterflies already yet a) it's still months away and b) I don't have any guarantee of a ticket!
  
  Such is the power and potential of Kristina, I guess!

  
  
• Posted by Kristina Lover, May 21, 2009 21:37:

  So happy it is finally here! We were a part of the NY workshop and the show is fantastic. The music is beautiful and Benny and Bjorn are absolutely wonderful.I had so much fun working with them and the cast members.
  
  I hope we are a part of the cast again.
  
  Best luck!

  
  
• Posted by Sean, May 21, 2009 22:45:

  So excited about this! So, tickets go on sale May 31st at 11am - I guess that is 11am New York time? Is anyone able to confirm that please?

  
  
• Posted by Peg Hughes, May 23, 2009 19:34:

  According to the Carnegie Hall website, tickets go on sale Sunday, May 31st at 12:00 EST. Tickets range in price from $40-115.

  
  
• Posted by Jim S, May 27, 2009 20:29:

  According to Broadwayworld.com, Helen is starring, along with Russell Watson.
  
  Can't wait until Sunday!

  
  
• Posted by Lee Davis, May 28, 2009 12:31:

  I wonder how 'complete' this performance will be? I can't imagine they will go for the full 3.75 hours or so that the 3 CD set runs to, will they? It would be wonderful if they did do the whole show, though ...
  
  Lee

  
  
• Posted by Ice, May 28, 2009 12:58:

  The shows are due to start at 8PM I believe, so expect some culling.

  
  
• Posted by Lee Davis, May 28, 2009 13:08:

  I wonder how 'complete' this performance will be? I can't imagine they will go for the full 3.75 hours or so that the 3 CD set runs to, will they? It would be wonderful if they did do the whole show, though ...
  
  Lee

  
  
• Posted by Lee Davis, May 28, 2009 13:11:

  Sorry, typo alert! Obviously I meant 2.75 hours! Actually, by my calculations Act 1 is about 91 minutes, Act 2 about 75. Same question I guess, though. If I was at this concert, time would fly in both acts but I wonder if they'll try to chop something from Act 1? Here's hoping for not.
  
  Lee

  
  
• Posted by Leepy, May 29, 2009 08:50:

  if tickets go on sale at 12.00 EST is that 5pm on Sunday in the UK?