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Well, it's going to be a couple of weeks until I get to check out Stephen Sondheim's Road Show at the Public (you can see what my colleagues thought about it a complete digest late night and first thing tomorrow), so I figured I'd talk about the plethora of music from the composer-lyricist that's recently come into music stores around the country.

I'll start with the marvelous 4-disc, ultra-deluxe box-set "Stephen Sondheim: The Story So Far.." from Masterworks Broadway. Here, 82 tracks (33 of them previously unreleased) give an amazing snapshot of Sondheim's output. From the very first show of his which made it to Broadway (West Side Story, which of course will be returning in the spring) to his most recent Broadway outing (The Frogs at Lincoln Center Theater) and his once Broadway-bound Bounce (which has resurfaced as we all know as Road Show). "So Far…" includes copious amounts of everything that's come in between, some of it familiar, and some of it tantalizingly new or unfamiliar.

As with PS Classics two volumes (at this juncture is it too much to hope for a third or more?) of "Sondheim Sings," many of the unreleased tracks on "So Far…" come from personal audio archives that he's kept. These give fascinating glimpses into his writing process. For instance, the tracks "Prayers" and "There Is No Other Way," from Pacific Overtures, allow listeners to hear an extended sequence of music that was ultimately trimmed down for performance to simply the latter, although aspects of the former were used in a song later written for the show, "Chrysanthemum Tea." From another show from the 1970s, A Little Night Music, the "So Far…" discs include one "Night Waltz" – "Love Takes Time" – that was dropped. There's also a terrific track of Sondheim himself singing another song dropped from this show, "Silly People," and though this one has become familiar through the years, this track, and others like it on the discs, afford the listener the chance to hear the composer himself interpret his lyric and melody – always an illuminating experience.

The treasures that have been unearthed for "So Far…" go far beyond such tracks. There are also a quartet of tracks from his 1954 musical Saturday Night, which was aiming for Broadway at the time, but languished unproduced until nearly 50 years later. These tracks don't come from either the London or New York cast recordings made of the show when it did finally bow, but rather from a demo recording of the period, and feature such performers as Jack Cassidy, Arte Johnson and Alice Ghostley, who's absolutely hysterical singing portions of "At the Movies." There's also a trio of songs from "Into the Woods" that come not from cast recordings of the show, but rather from an intended television production of the musical.

Other highlights on the discs, which include some expertly (and probably to be debated for years to come) chosen selections from already released material, include both Angela Lansbury's and Patti LuPone's interpretations of Mrs. Lovett. Two tracks from the original cast recording of Passion bring back the intense emotion of that score, and who can argue with the joys of three songs from the original cast recording of Company?

Some of the most interesting material on the "So Far.." discs comes not from the stage musicals, but from Sondheim's work elsewhere. There's a track of "I Never Do Anything Twice," taken from the soundtrack of the movie The Seven Percent Solution, unreleased recordings of tunes from the movie Dick Tracy, and even five tracks from his 1967 television musical, Evening Primrose. Combined with such ephemera as Sondheim's incidental music for Arthur Laurents' The Enclave (there's more here than on the "Unsung Sondheim" disc), and older pieces like "The Two of You," which was submitted and rejected for "The Kukla Fran and Ollie Show," "So Far.." does give a grandly broad view of the work of this master artist.

The packaging for this impressive collection matches the material. For all of the previously unreleased tracks, there are not only blurbs about the music from Sondheim himself, there are also complete lyrics. Additionally, the full-color booklet includes an introduction from long-time Sondheim collaborator Hal Prince and appreciative statements from artists with whom he's worked, from Angela Lansbury to Nathan Lane, as well as some really incredible photographs, many of which are rarities and casual glimpses of the shows represented on the four discs. "So Far…" is a treasure trove to be savored by all fans of musical theater, not just Sondheim enthusiasts. There's one other important facet to "So Far…" – the impressive 27-part podcast that's available for free at iTunes. These podcasts feature some terrific interviews with the likes of LuPone, Elaine Stritch, and Paul Gemignani that are grand complements to the music on the discs.

Tracks that are included from Evening Primrose should whet listeners' appetites for the entire score and the good news is that the original television soundtrack recording of the piece was released in limited edition earlier this year by Bruce Kimmel's Kritzerland label. On this disc, 11 tracks take the listener through the entirety of Sondheim's score for this show. Not only are the songs here, but also all of the underscoring for this television musical, which starred Anthony Perkins and Charmian Carr. I've found the sound quality on the Kritzerland release of "Primrose" to be superior to what's found on the same tracks on "So Far…" also several tracks including Perkins' galvanizingly buoyant "If You Can Find Me I'm Here" feature a bit more introductory material than what's on "So Far…" Finally, given that the orchestral sections of the piece have never been released on disc – including the studio recording from a number of years ago – this is a wonderful way for listeners to hear the complexity of all of the music for this little gem.

Finally Sondheim fans and just folks who like musical theater history will want to check out Teri Ralston's I've Gotta Get Back to New York from LML Music. This truly satisfying disc is a recording of an appearance that Ralston (from the original casts of both Company and A Little Night Music) made in January 2008 at New York's intimate cabaret, The Metropolitan Room. Not only does Ralston perform some of the songs that she's associated with from these shows – one medley is hysterical, she also performs some Sondheim tunes from shows she's done regionally, notably two from Follies: "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Losing My Mind" (a song not heard at the Metropolitan). Between songs, Ralston's patter has been captured for the disc, and it in she shares some wonderful stories about working on Sondheim shows. As if her work were not enough to recommend it, there are a couple of tracks that come late on the disc when Pamela Myers, one of Ralston's Company co-stars, takes the stage, offering two numbers, including "Another Hundred People," which she introduced on Broadway. Somehow this disc seems to be a perfect companion to "The Story So Far," and as necessary for Sondheim enthusiasts.

-- Andy Propst