CD Review: New recordings and reissues from Masterworks Broadway...Liza Live at The Wintergarden 1974

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The first CD and digital release of Liza Minnelli’s “Live at the Winter Garden” concert is a real landmark. Remastered from the original master engineered by Phil Ramone, the recording marks a turning point in Minnelli’s career. Though she had been overshadowed by her parents (Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli), this month-long concert series at the Winter Garden Theater in January 1974 completely sold out within 36 hours and showed that the twenty-seven-year-old performer had truly come of age. A live album based on the concerts was released in April of the same year, but it had to be abruptly withdrawn because it contained performances from Cabaret; the contract for the latter film had stipulated that Minnelli couldn’t re-record the songs so soon and compete with the soundtrack, so the concert album never got the recognition it deserved. The show was directed by Bob Fosse – director of the film Cabaret, too, of course – and Kander and Ebb wrote some new material for the concert. The extra-special line-up was completed by the musical direction of Marvin Hamlisch, who would soon become a true Broadway legend after the premiere of A Chorus Line the following year.
This release of the concert also contains three tracks that weren’t included on the original release: “You and I”, “It Had to be You” and “My Shining Hour” – three gorgeous songs that demonstrate Minnelli’s ability with a lyric. The sound of this reissue is wonderfully vibrant, and one can sense the excitement felt by the audience at experiencing the performer’s raw talent in person, after her previous landmark appearance in the film of Cabaret (1973). Other highlights of the concert include a powerful but intimate rendition of “More Than You Know” and the poignant “Quiet Thing”. Overall, the album is a more than worthy addition to the “Legends of Broadway” series.