I agree, Rice set the piece too far back. The early 80's works best for the story of Chess to take place, in my opinion...

The best year, if you're going to parade the year about, is probably 1984. It has the whole Orwell connotation, it's about the right time for "These are very dangerous and difficult times..." and it's the year that the concept album was first released. Tim Rice's thing about moving it backward in time is just as silly as the attempts to move it forward (1988 in Broadway, 1990 in Sydney and the US Tour).

88 still worked. reagan was still president.. the berlin wall handt fallen till the next year.

I strongly disagree on most opinions expressed about Menzel. She was very good vocally, I admit her actin lacked some energy, and contact with the other actors, but she was brilliant. But as you state, there is a lack of vocal chemistry between her and Groban. I point my finger at Groban. He was overall bland, and lacked energy. He also pushed all his tones up, instead of just landing them, like Pascal did. During Anthem I just sat there and looked at my watch and thought; "Will this song never end?"

Now Pascal. He was great. He has a way of reaching the tones which is so calm and easy. He land most of the tones brilliantly, and he can act. Campbell, Pascal and Peters where the only actors I actually believed in.

I would rate the DVD pretty high. It is really well done, and out of the three productions I've seen, it is my favorite. The CD on the other hand, has it's flaws. It isn't the same when they cut out these small scenes and recitatives.

My list of favorite chess recordings:

1988 - Original Broadway Cast Recording
2002 - Chess på Svenska!
2008 - Chess in Concert
1984 - Concept Album
2001 - Complete Cast Album
1994 - Chess in Concert

There's no accounting for taste, is there?

But seriously, you think Menzel was "very good" vocally? I'm honestly puzzled by that assertion. Chess is not the kind of show she was suited for in the least. The score sounds very good because it's a very rigorous, demanding piece of music. When the actors stick closely to it and meet its demands, it sounds absolutely gorgeous. That's why we like the show, after all. But if you go wandering around the notes, you can really just make the whole affair sound sloppy. I'm sorry, but there is no way that you can compare Menzel's performance in "Nobody's Side" to the Broadway or Swedish recordings. Or even to the Swedish DVD. It's a very structured song, which produces some really gorgeous harmonies when everybody, including Florence, is where they're supposed to be. With Menzel, it was a mess. She wasn't on the mark and the harmonies didn't come out. Her "You and I" was almost like she wasn't even paying attention to the other guy singing (to be fair, it was like that on both sides). Good community theater actors can make that song heartbreaking, it's so beautiful. She didn't, and I'm sorry, but that's about as strong an indictment of the performance as you can get. (That, and the odd timbre of her voice that was evidently at least in part the result of overreliance on pitch correction software.)

Like I said in the review, I was really surprised by my reaction to Menzel's performance. I thought she was great in Rent and Wicked. But for Chess, she is absolutely the wrong actress to play Florence.

I agree with most of the above postings....I was disappointed with the whole thing.

Idina Menzel....love her so much, but NOT as Florence. It sounded too high for her. There was definite evidence of pitch correction on her mic particularly near the end of the show, and she just doesn't have the legit voice development for the rangy part. Nothing against her, it's just that Emma Kersahw had it DOWN!

Josh Groban wasn't as bad as I thought. I enjoy him very much and have heard him live on several occasions, but here (as he has been doing recently) anything above the staff sounded pinched and poorly placed in the voice. His B-flat in the Interview was lovely, though for the life of me I can't figure out how he did it. His Anthem was blah. The Gs, normally not a stretch for him, lacked power and focus. I know he doesn't belt very often, but Anatoly NEEDS that extra umph from time to time, particularly in Anthem and Endgame. The rest of his performance was pretty good, but I just wanted more vocal punch.

Adam Pascal I think was the gem of the concert. It isn't often (in fact, since Casnoff) that you hear a Freddy come through the performance relatively unscathed. I was fascinated--particularly in the Interview--watching Pascal's effortless projection of those brutal high notes. I really enjoyed his performance.

I thought the giant chorus was ill-used and sloppy. The featured soloists were all terribly annoying and a little too enthusiastic. The Arbiter had the weakest voice on the stage and while pleasant, relied to heavily on the mic. I wanted some zing there. And what was that accent he was trying to put on?? Molokov was good, but laked the vocal quality of an operatic bass-baritone that I really enjoyed on the crappy 1994 recording. Walter was wasted and is a really constipated character anyway. Svetlana was an absolute treasure and I would have liked her to be singing Florence rather than Menzel.

I agree with the above posting that this is one to own for completeness. I loved having all the music, though the Danish cast has it too, and the better Florence (though between Groban and Rossen...I dunno. I don't really care for either of them.).

All in all, I liked the concert quite a bit and the trouble isn't with the production of the show, but rather with the show itself. The plot is just horrible. It seems like the authors wrote a bunch of really great songs and tried to put them together in some semblance of an order, but it never quite works out. There always seems to be something....not....quite....there.

I think, for me, I would love to see:
Anatoly: Anthony Warlow (or ME!!)
Freddy: Adam Pascal or Philip Casnoff
Florence: Emma Kershaw
Arbiter: Raul Esparza
Svetlana: Kerry Ellis

But that's just my opinion!

I believe that I like Menzel's voice so good as Florence is because her voice is similar to Lisa Stokke's, who was the first person I ever saw as Florence. She had a very nasal voice, which I then thought should be the standard for Florence.

And I do not in anyway claim that Menzel is better than Kuhn and Sjöholm. If I was to cast a dream production of Chess, Menzel would never get the part. I also agree with you on the chemistry between her and the others, and as I previously stated, she lacked both energy in her acting and the proper contact with the other actors.

My dream cast would probably be:
Florence - Helen Sjöholm (from the swedish production)
Freddie - Adam Pascal (from the concert)
Anatoly - David Carroll (from the broadway production)
Walter - Sigurd Sele (from the 2006 norwegian production)
The Arbiter - Espen Hana (from the 2006 norwegian production)
Molokov - Per Myrberg (from the swedish production)

These are the actors who I've found to fit the roles perfectly, if you don't consider age.

I just saw this on PBS. things sure evolved after the flop on Broadway. it was OK but not GREAT. i guess i've listened to the Broadway version so much that it's all iv'e known

Well, since the concert version is basically the London show, which came before the Broadway incarnation, things have actually devolved. That sounds negative though, which I don't think is the case...

Menzel was far to whiny and her voice too nasal for a whip-smart, clever woman like florence. it really annoyed me.

ah so they based the concert after the London version, no wonderI was hearing thingsI'd not heard b4.

I kind of see your point, but as I said the first Florence I ever saw play the part was Lisa Stokke, which everyone who have listened to the original Mamma Mia! recording knows have a nasal voice.

I like nasal voices. It may have much to do with the fact that I'm very nasal when I speak and sing too. What I usually dislikes in musical theatre are when roles are played by classical trained singers, because they so rarely fit. Musical theatre are for actors who can sing and dance, not those who can sing opera and classic music.

I'm thinking about people like Josh Groban. They select him because he can "sing", and they seem to forget the acting part. And as I previously said, I felt that Menzel lacked what it takes in acting, but not vocally. I would also like to say that I would pick a person like Clarke Peters, who can act, over a guy like Josh Groban, who can neither act nor sing the part.