We love hosting any session with Neil Dorfsman. It's no secret that he's one of our favorite engineers to work with. Not only that, but we can always count on him to bring projects to us that are anything but predictable. This time was no different.
Neil was here in 2008 with Peter Kiesewalter to mix the last East Village Opera Company album, "Olde School". That album was nominated for a Grammy and got plenty of critical acclaim, but the large numbered EVOC crew was in need of a break at the end of their touring schedule. When they went into hiatus, Peter shifted his focus to working on a rock opera version of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein work, "The Sound Of Music" and formed a new group called the Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata (or B.R.O. for short). As he told us, he never expected this project to gain momentum like it has. ...especially when he was served with a cease and desist order directly from the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization!
Initially, the one-off production was going to be a live show to be performed around the holidays. R & H have a vast and very astute team of watchdogs on the prowl for folks attempting to capitalize off the Sound Of Music material. When they found out about Peter's project, they took immediate action to have it shut down. Once Peter explained to them what he was doing with the arrangements, played them early versions of the songs, and told them what his intentions were, not only did R & H give him permission, but they fully endorsed his project! That endorsement marks the first time that they have ever allowed anyone to rework the original arrangements into a new musical arrangement. Once the tracking phase had been completed, Peter decided that the level of excitement around what B.R.O. was doing couldn't be wasted on a low-budget mix. That's when he called up Neil and the plan was hatched to come back to Saint Claire.
The guys came down in the midst of a stretch of perfect weather in late October and stayed with us for two weeks. Walking into the building to hear rocked-out versions of "Do-Re-Mi" and "The Hills Are Alive" made for interesting atmosphere for any given morning's first cup of coffee, but there was never a dull moment and the project wrapped up ahead of schedule. We had a blast hanging with Neil and Peter while they were here and can't wait to see the final product when it rolls out in February of 2011. Be sure to watch for it! It's epic.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
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