Great orchestras, soloists comic

The musical "Chess" has a long performing and Umarbeitungsgeschichte behind. All the better that it is now once again have a new addition to the Swedish version. While in concert form, but that has proven itself obviously.
Very great are orchestra and choir. Especially the "large" ensemble scenes that lose in many recordings some momentum and excitement, here probably orchestrated balanced and accurate, thereby vividly sung.
What less convinced me, unfortunately are just the two soloists, Josh Groban and Idina Menzel. You have always feared a S *** storm unleash - but you can tell but that Groban has grown neither vocally nor presentational the role. Although he sings plenty dirty, a little less soapy than his usual crossover tender ballads, a crushed between the sporting and political parties man takes it to him but somehow not quite off. Natural sounds "nice" if you can cope with an exaggerated vibrato and some dumplings, but also no more.
Difficult I find Idina Menzel. The short dialogues that occur on the recording, are lively, nuanced, exciting - you realize that here is a good actress at work! In contrast, the vocals fall significantly from, with very unsightly, too nasal and bad tempered tones in the higher elevations. Especially the performance history of musicals like Chess makes it clear that the right (in the everyday sense) "nice" sounding voices are often less suitable as characterful originals - neither Tommy Körberg nor Elaine Paige or David Carroll (Broadway) have pleasant vocal colorations in the classical sense , But at Menzel some parts are so out of place, according uncontrollably and in some places simply sung incorrectly, that even between ascends while listening in the background and wonders if that was now truly on the CD may have been, or not yet is driven out on the street someone a cat on the tail.
Adam Pascal delivers a vocally strong, very emotional performance from that clear from the time typical 80-coolness previous role holder (Grassoff, Head, Glenmark) is different, but just so that sets new standards. It sounds somehow all a bit to "Rent" or "Gangsta's Paradise", but that's what makes the charm actually.
The "arbiter" will remain in this production, at least for me, a character I can not quite place, of which I do not understand where he wants or to what drives him, who he really is back. Marti Pellow changes that with its design does not, and I'm starting to wonder if that might be it. Then it does not matter even that he vocally comes rather thin.
When David Bedella (Molokov) reminds me more than ever that bother me fake accents, even if Bedellas "Russian" real sound than much of what else you might hear. Nevertheless, there is a risk not to take but rather sinister figure seriously - and no one would get the idea, Anatoly deface with such comedy Street accent and make a song like "Anthem" going to the dogs. Then you can also leave it there.

Overall: I am convinced by the ensemble scenes, orchestrating ... the soloists are interchangeable, but all in all it makes itself quite well in the Chess-CD collection that not is so large.