The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection

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Music reviews of The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection

Music Review: Brightman's all-encompassing Lloyd Webber recital
Rating: 5 Stars

As mentioned before, Brightman's collection includes four excperts from Phantom. This is not surprising, since she created the role of Christine in the world-premiere performance. Brightman's ravishing duet with Cliff Richard on "All I Ask of You" is included here, together with her soaring solo recordings of "Music of the Night" and "Wishing you were Somehow Here again". Her pleasurable duet with Michael Crawford on the Phantom's title-song shows up here, for the first time in a Brightman-Lloyd Webber anthology, and it is a sheer delight, far removed from the abominable duet version with Steve Harley. Sarah also sings two excerpts from Aspects of Love, where she sang the role of Rose as part of the London and New York productions. Apart from her rueful version of the hit song "Anything but Lonely", she gives us a wonderful, mellowed version of the anthemic "Love Changes Everything" in the superior version from her "As I Came of Age" album. And I almost forgot to mention her melting reading of the "Pie Jesu" from the Lloyd Webber Requiem, where she duets beautifully with boy soprano Paul Miles Kingston.

Besided the songs associated with the musicals that were created with Brightman in mind, she gives us fresh readings of two Evita songs, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall." Although different from the cast recording versions, Brightman still sings these two songs with a keen understanding of Lloyd Webber's work. Brightman also shines in the two songs from Tell Me on a Sunday included here. She gives a heartbreaking rendition of "Tell Me on a Sunday" and a jaw-breaking rendition of the "Unexpected Song". You can imagine how your jaw would drop at the full-throated high note at the very end. The surprise, however, are the three excerpts from CATS. Sarah gives us a fresh version of the badly-abused Memory (gosh, you can be thrilled by the high notes she hits on that one), and also a sassy and saultry rendition of the jazzy "Macavity" that sounds better than on the cast recordings. She also duets with the late Sir John Gielgud on "Gus: the Theatre Cat" and sings it tenderly, like Bonnie Simmons on the original Broadway cast recording. Brightman may not have sung any major role of CATS at all, but yet this recording convinces you how superbly she sings these three excerpts.

It is a pity, though, that in these 66 minutes, this collection didn't include Sarah's tender readings of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar and the title song from Whistle Down the Wind. It is an even unfortunate pity that her touching rendition of the the neglected song, "Half a Moment" from By Jeeves, was not included here, to contrast with the well-known songs. But yet, Sarah gives a worthwhile overview of Lloyd Webber's career between Evita and Aspects of Love.

All-in-all, though, all things considered, this is definitely a worthwhile compilation of Lloyd Webber songs from one of its finest interpreters. This is a thoroughly recommendible recording on all counts for both beginners and connoiseurs alike, covering a wide cross-section of Lloyd Webber songs.

One last personal note: I wonder when Really Useful Group and Decca will allow for a release of Sarah's complete Andrew Lloyd Webber recordings to be released in a 2-CD set, complete with 24-bit remastering, lavish packaging, and rare gems such as "Half a Moment" and "Whistle down the Wind"? There surely is substantial demand for a complete 2-CD Brightman-Lloyd Webber songbook.

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