“Maury Yeston, the Tony-winning composer and lyricist of “Nine,” has provided a melody-rich score that draws on a wide range of influences, from the Baroque to the British poperetta craze of the 1980s. It’s a pleasure to hear, particularly as delivered by the cast of extraordinarily good singers and played by a small orchestra that manages to make a satisfyingly sumptuous sound.”
–The New York Times

“Yeston’s songs are so beautifully made. The beguiling, accessible numbers include magisterial ballads (Matt Cavenaugh is dreamy as a returning aviator singing of his lost comrade in “Roberto’s Eyes”), up-tempo toe-tappers (“Life’s a Joy”) and torchy weepers (Sirki’s “I Thought That I Could Live”). This is one of the most beautifully written and sung scores I’ve heard in a long time.”
– Bloomberg News

“That the score contains both beauty and intelligence shouldn’t be a surprise, because it comes courtesy of Maury Yeston. But, oh, Yeston’s music! Very few composers are writing for true sopranos these days, but Yeston isn’t afraid to unleash soaring melodies for them. He also gives Grazia and Death a song so intoxicating at the end of Act One that it stays in our heads all through intermission.”
– Theatermania

Two-time Tony Award-winner Maury Yeston (Nine: The Musical, Titanic) unveils his next great score with DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, which The New York Times hailed as “one lush, soaring number after another ... a gorgeously sung, melody-rich score.” Other critics concurred: Bloomberg News called it “one of the most beautifully written and sung scores [theatregoers have] heard in a long time”; Variety said the "entrancing" score “hits splendid heights”; and NY1 raved, “Yeston has written an exquisitely lush melodic score that demands extraordinary voices, which this production has in spades.” Based on the beloved Italian play that thrilled Broadway audiences in the 1920s and ’30s (and became an acclaimed 1934 film starring Fredric March), this enchanting story about the power of love to change, inspire and sustain us was adapted by Tony Award-winning librettists Peter Stone (1776) and Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes (Doubt), in a production “both elegant and comedic, serious in theme yet laced with witty jokes” (Associated Press). Performed by an illustrious cast headed by Kevin Earley, Jill Paice, Matt Cavenaugh, Simon Jones, Rebecca Luker and Michael Siberry, Maury Yeston’s brilliant score will excite and delight listeners on this wonderful original off-Broadway cast recording.

http://www.mauryyeston.com/

1. In the Middle of Your Life / Nothing Happened
2. How Will I Know?
3. Centuries
4. Why Do All Men
5. Death Is in the House
6. Alive
7. Life's a Joy
8. Who Is This Man?
9. Life's a Joy (reprise)
10. Shimmy Like They Do in Paree
11. Roberto's Eyes
12. Alone Here With You
13. Something's Happened
14. Losing Roberto
15. What Do You Do
16. More and More
17. Finally to Know
18. I Thought That I Could Live
19. December Time
20. Pavane
21. Finale: Grazie and Sirki