The Phantom of the Opera (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDAudio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Soundtrack, Special Edition
CD Release Date: 2004-11-23
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Prologue
- Overture / Hannibal
- Think Of Me
- Angel Of Music
- Little Lotte / Mirror, The
- Phantom Of The Opera, The
- Music Of The Night, The
- Magical Lasso
- I Remember / Stranger Than You Dreamt It
- Notes / Prima Donna
- Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh / Il Muto
- Why Have You Brought Me Here / Raoul I've Been There
- All I Ask Of You
- All I Ask Of You (Reprise)
- Masquerade / Why So Silent
- Madame Giry's Tale / Fairground, The
- Journey To The Cemetery
- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
- Wandering Child
- Swordfight, The
- We Have All Been Blind
- Don Juan
- Point Of No Return, The / Chandelier Crash
- Down Once More / Track Down This Murderer
- Learn To Be Lonely - (featuring Minnie Driver)
Music reviews of The Phantom of the Opera (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Review: AN OPPORTUNITY THAT HAS BEEN MISSED...
Rating: 2 Stars
Phantom of the opera is the second longest running musical in the theatre history. It has been playing since it premiered in London in October 1986 and on Broadway in 1988 on both locations and around the world. Before I say anything about this movie soundtrack, I will give a few insights about the show itself, for the people who are just getting acquainted with it.
Phantom, with its operatic and lush melodies, intensive story and grandiose staging, remains one of the best and most beloved musicals of all time. That status was confirmed by the fact that the movie has finally been made after a long time of speculation, directed by Joel Schumacher and produced and worked on by Lloyd Webber himself, which premiered in December 2004.
The musical is based on the Gaston Leroux's novel of the same title. It is set in the second part of the 19th century Paris and its famous opera house. The young soprano, Christine, is discovered as a talented young opera singer in the opera house. She is noticed by an old childhood friend, Raoul, and they fall in love. However, we find out that a third person, the mysterious Phantom, hiding behind a mask, is a musical genius who had been giving Christine singing lessons and who has developed a mad passion for his young pupil. He hides in the catacombs of the opera house, lurking on the outside world. He is determined to keep Christine for himself and the story evolves from here.
Apart from this interesting plot, the audiences were swept away by Lloyd Webber's tremendous score, which probably remains his best work. It combines the beautiful love songs and sweeping operettic arias, with numerous orchestral leads and crescendos. You can't help but being charmed by this beautiful and haunting score. The large numbers, especially, the last one, will probably move you deeply. The most popular numbers are "The phantom of the opera", a vibrating duet between Christine and the Phantom; "All I ask of you", a lovely love duet between Christine and Raul; Phantom's mesmerizing voice will hold you till the end in "The music of the night", Christine in "Wishing you are somehow here again" will evoke sadness, and many more.
One of the main reasons for the success of the show was its original cast recording starring Sarah Brightman, who played Christine, was at that time married to Lloyd Webber and the role was written especially for her. Her soprano was more than adequate for this material and it ranged from low and soft to high and strong. It seems that Michael Crawford was born to play The Phantom not only because of his vocal abilities but also because there is some powerful, almost hypnotic attraction in his voice and performance, exactly how the Phantom is supposed to sound. His vocal transformations from sadness to wickedness are simply amazing. Steve Barton joined The Brightman - Crawford duo with the same power; the warmth in the voice as Raoul says it all. The other members of the cast were also noteworthy, especially Rosemary Ashe, as the snobbish primadonna Carlotta. It was a dream cast put together indeed.
The lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and Christopher Hampton are banal and week at time and so some things are left unexplained, such as the source of the Phantom's mysterious powers or what happened to Christine at the time of Raul's old days.
Having said all this about the show and its original cast recording, this musical could be made into a first-class movie, if all the things were put in their place. Sadly, this recording shows just the opposite. One of the reviewers here said that we had to keep an open mind and not to compare this recording with the ORC (Original cast recording). I did that, but to no avail.
First, the score. This is the part I'm most satisfied with. It sounds good and lush just as it is on the original recording. However, I didn't notice that a much bigger orchestra was used here, maybe because for the ORC they used a big one too; bigger than the one used in the theatre. The crescendo parts sound almost the same to me on both recordings, so there doesn't seem to be anything new here. I must say I really liked the orchestra part when Christine travels to her father's grave; it seems appropriate and works well as a part of the whole. A plus to the score.
Now, the casting. I had my doubts when it was announced and they proved right. Emmy Rossum, as you noted, is the best of the lot. I got quite used to Sarah Brightman, but Miss Rossum's voice has a touch of childish innocence that Sarah's lacked, although there were few moments I wished Emmy would be a bit louder. My biggest complaint is the casting of Gerard Butler as The Phantom. Years before it was finally confirmed that the movie is actually going to be made, there were sites and forums on the net begging Webber to use Michael Crawford in the movie version. This autumn Webber gave an interview for the BBC 2 and said he couldn't do that because of Crawford's age. I can understand that, but I must say that with today's movie technology and make up achievements, it isn't much of an excuse. There were certainly ways and means to use all that to make Mr. Crawford younger than he is, while retaining his voice. As much as he will always be the Phantom for me, I believe it wasn't paramount to cast Crawford in the role. Surely there are a dozen properly trained singers who could sing the role well. And that brings me to the question: Why would Lloyd Webber decide to cast Gerard Butler, who is not a professional theatre or any kind of singer, but has once, as it is stated in the booklet, sung in a band? When I look at his overall performance here, it isn't satisfying. For the most of the time he seems to be really struggling; unable to stretch his voice and hold it as it is intended in most of his big songs. Only in "The music of the night" he sounds to me the way he should. In other his solos he does nothing to me. The echo in the Phantom's voice is nowhere to be found here; they could have recorded it. I understand that Webber had complete control over the casting and that his word was final, so I wished he gave it more thought about whom to cast for this role. I'm sure there were better choices. Even Madonna, whom I don't like much, worked better in Evita than one would expect. Here, we don't even have a big name or a good singer. If Sunset Blvd ever becomes adapted for a film musical, I hope they won't use Glenn Close in it, who, after Patti LuPone's wonderful performance in London, ruined the role of Norma Desmond on Broadway even more than Gerard Butler did with The Phantom. Patrick Wilson, who, I understand, is a professional singer is mostly un-noted in this whole piece. In my view, his voice basically lacks the strength and I think he is supposed to be older than Christine, as it was shown by Steve Barton on the ORC. Here, obviously, that's not the case. He doesn't seem to be there. Margaret Pierce, who dubbed for Minnie Driver is ok, but a bit over the top on some occasions. The opera managers, Andre and Fermin, are strangely quiet, as if they are in the other room; separated from the other characters, when singing.
I noticed there were some minor lyrics changes, but the "Phantom of the opera" sequence is edited here, so there is one part of it missing, as you've probably noticed. Totally unnecessary. Also, some sequences were completely left out, like the part when the managers discuss what to do with the Phantom's opera and the part of the rehearsals for "Don Juan" when Piangi can't sing properly. Some parts that were originally sung are here spoken; it doesn't seem to be much reason for that as well. I must complain that the voice mixing of various characters when singing as in "Primadonna" lacks the coherence it had on the ORC; here it lacks any power and sounds out of order.
And lastly, the new song added to the score - "Learn to be lonely". Back when the movie was being made, I read somewhere that the new song was written for the Phantom to sing. Obviously, they changed that and gave us this instead. Sadly, the authors are clearly aimed at Oscar here. But the whole song sticks totally out of the context: the use of the instruments and especially the guitar is opposite from the score and the song is too short. I remember that "You must love me" from Evita had a clear point and suited well with the rest of the score. Here I think Webber wrote a song just for the sake of it and because it was expected of him to give something new. No quality here. Maybe it could work as a single, but there is still the fact that its running time is about two minutes.
I have yet to see the movie and figure out its visual side, but the soundtrack is rather disappointing. It's a fine example of a watered-down masterpiece. I can't understand why Lloyd Webber put so little effort in all this. He should appreciate his work much more. The movie version of Evita was a far more satisfying work.
Having said all that, I would recommend to all the people who want to hear The Phantom for the first time to buy the original London cast with Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford if they want to experience all the beauty and valor of this musical. Do not buy this movie soundtrack for your first listening of this score, because you will be disappointed and wonder what was all that fuss about. Only after you get introduced to the ORC, you may purchase this soundtrack only to be disappointed knowing it could have been done much better.
All in all, this soundtrack is, as I stated at the beginning, a missed opportunity.
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Description of The Phantom of the Opera (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Phantom of the Opera (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 2 CD Deluxe Collector's Edition, contains all of the music from the single disc plus other original score material featured in the film.For better or worse, Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation of Gaston Leroux's gothic horror/romance novel has done for stage musicals what Spielberg's Jaws did for fish stories, with worldwide sales of its original cast album approaching 25 million. While director Joel Schumacher's film turns on his typically ambitious visual verve, its new film soundtrack recording has been paradoxically focused in scope, yet beefed up dynamically via the brawny presence of a hundred piece orchestra and the London Boys Choir. This deluxe, double-disc version showcases all of Phantom's key songs, with Gerard Butler imparting a welcome, youthful sensuality to his Phantom, making a fine foil for Emmy Rossum's ever-conflicted Christine. Original show orchestrator David Cullen has fashioned compelling new contemporary arrangements to frame Webber's songs--which now conclude with the lilting, upbeat new ballad he wrote for the film, "Learn to Be Lonely," sung by Minnie Driver. --Jerry McCulley
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