Evita: 2025 London Revival Cast Recording

What to say of the 2025 London Revival Cast Recording. We will start off with the few positives. The orchestration is gorgeous, and the quality is incredible. Do I wish the original Broadway orchestration had been used? Absolutely, but you can't win them all. Anyway, every second sounds lush, vibrant, and is immersive. Another plus. Vocals are top notch. Rachel stands out, of course, but, everyone is in top form.

Here in lies my biggest issue. Everyone sounds beautiful, but there is absolutely no emotion, with the exception of an occasional scream. There is a glaring preoccupation with perfection, that doesn't allow the power of the material to shine. As a child, one of the things that made me fall in lifelong love with this work is the gut wrenching realness, and incredible raw emotion of the original Broadway recording. I defy anyone to not get choked up listening to the closing moments. In complete contrast, this newest recording is gorgeous, but almost entirely vacant. The material deserves better. An inexcusable disappointment.

As a much less important final critique, what the living hell is with this cover art. What happened to the classic image? Could this be any lazier? Gross.