The Story So Far...

Amazon.com Stephen Sondheim’s career is so rich that trying to encompass it on a mere four discs seems like a tall order. This satisfying set tries to please both newbies (the first three discs propose an overview of the master’s career via excerpts from all of his shows) and hardcore fans (the fourth disc sheds some light on lesser-known corners of Sondheim’s oeuvre). Of course, the individual selections won’t please everybody (Sunday in the Park with George gets one song while Evening Primrose and Into the Woods get four each?) but at least there are clear curatorial decisions. For instance, disc 2 covers only four shows—Company, Follies, A Little Night Music and Pacific Overtures—and clearly puts them up as Sondheim’s iconic works. Disc 4 is incredibly fun, maybe because a lot of the material is new to us. Highlights include "Truly Content" from 1962’s Passionella, excerpts from Sondheim’s superb Jazz Age–style score for Alain Resnais’ 1974 movie Stavisky, and not one but four previously unreleased tracks from Dick Tracy. The physical set comes with a nice booklet that includes, among other things, an essay by Sondheim expert Mark Eden Horowitz and the lyrics of the previously unreleased songs. -- Elisabeth Vincentelli