With new clarity and a 360-degree surround sound, these iconic Broadway albums suddenly sound like they were recorded yesterday. From the article:
I have maybe never been as shocked by a remaster as when I threw on a pair of headphones and started the Into the Woods Broadway album, honestly expecting the same experience but with some new surround sound elements added in. I was scarcely a second or two into the “Prologue” track when I could immediately tell how much of an upgrade had happened here. That echoey, far-away sound? Gone. Tom Aldredge and the rest of the original Broadway cast suddenly sound like they’re right there with me.
And somehow the sound upgrade also massively impacts the energy of the recording. Listening to the new remaster honestly sounds like it’s a completely new album when it’s actually just a re-mix of the original. Suddenly what I used to find low energy and dull is just as bright, vital, and sharp as that filmed stage performance I love so dearly.
Beyond the vocal performances, there’s lots to be said to what this newfound clarity adds to Jonathan Tunick’s orchestration as well. As a former music director who has conducted productions of Into the Woods during my career, I know that orchestration pretty well. But this new remaster adds such clarity that now I’m hearing all kinds of details in the instrumentation that I’ve never heard before. Whether it’s physical things like the scratch of a bow in that iconic fairy tale sextet or woodwind lines formerly relegated to a distant background, it adds a complexity that is really refreshing. Even with more modern recordings of the score available, this 360-degree mix might just make the original the definitive.