Music Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Orchestrated by David Cullen

Conducted by Simon Lee

Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nigel Wright

Released by  Sony Classical Records on November 24, 2004

Regular Release

01 - Overture (2:45)

02 - Think of Me (3:40)

03 - Angel of Music (2:42)

04 - The Mirror (Angel of Music) (1:59)

05 - The Phantom of the Opera (3:34)

06 - The Music of the Night (5:38)

07 - Prima Donna (3:28)

08 - All I Ask of You (4:53)

09 - All I Ask of You (Reprise) (2:15)

10 - Masquerade (5:30)

11 - Wishing You Were Somehow

        Here Again (3:42)

12 - The Point of No Return (8:00)

13 - Down Once More /

       Track Down This Murderer (12:45)

14 - Learn to be Lonely (2:26)

Special Edition Release - Disc 1

01 - Prologue (2:47)

02 - Overture / Hannibal (7:25)

03 - Think of Me (6:33)

04 - Angel of Music (2:59)

05 - Little Lotte / The Mirror

      (Angel of Music)  (4:11)

06 - The Phantom of the Opera (4:23)

07 - The Music of the Night (5:38)

08 - Magical Lasso (1:19)

09 - I Remember / Stranger Than You

     Dreamt It (3:21)

10 - Notes / Primma Donna (10:04)

11 - Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh /

       Il Muto (6:12)

12 - Why Have You Brought Me

       Here / Raoul I've Been There (3:04)

13 - All I Ask Of You (4:52)

14 - All I Ask Of You (Reprise) (2:55)

Special Edition Release - Disc 2

01 - Masquerade / Why So Silent (8:38)

02 - Madame Giry's Tale /

       The Fair Ground (3:29)

03 - Journey to the Cemetery (3:29)

04 - Wish You Were Somehow

      Here Again (3:41)

05 - Wandering Child (1:47)

06 - The Swordfight (1:48)

07 - We Have All Been Blind (3:55)

08 - Don Juan (4:00)

09 - The Point of No Return /

     Chandelier Crash (6:43)

10 - Down Once More /

       Track Down This Murder (14:32)

11 - Learn To Be Lonely (2:27)

Total Running Time: 61:48

Total Running Time: 54:34

     I have never experienced Andew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera in any incarnation, save for a few performances I’ve encountered here and there. My most striking memory would have to be back as a freshman in college, where my English composition class was in a building that was across the street from where the local high school band practiced. And during this time, their program was based on The Phantom of the Opera. Hearing a high school band rehearse those selections on a semi-nightly basis was quite an annoyance, especially during the in-class writing assignments. Later on, my involvement with the college theatre scene brought me into contact with people who absolutely loved this show. But living in the region that I do failed to bring about any performance from the local venues (we did have Cats here a while back, but I watched the videoed Broadway performance in another college class of mine and didn’t find it to appeal to my taste).

Even with my distinct lack of knowledge of this production, I was interested once I heard that Joel Schumacher would be directing the feature film version of it. His films definitely possess an interesting visual flair, even if his sensibilities were mismatched with the Batman franchise. Given the high regard of which I’ve heard it spoken of, I desired to see it in some form or another, and since I still haven’t heard of any local performances, the movie theatre could be a

respectable substitute. When I finally received the soundtrack for the film, I was delighted in that I could finally at least engage in the aural representation of it. I figured that it would give me more background and insight into the film before I went to see it.

    Then, I had to go and listen to it.

     And then again.

     And again.

     And again.

      Most of my impression of musical theatre stems from shows created back between the 30s and the 50s, and then the latter Disney films which, beginning in the early 90s, began taking a cue from Broadway shows for their animated fare. As mentioned before, I had gone through the theatre program at my university, and I always felt a bit lacking when people are bringing up their favorite musicals and citing titles of which I have no familiarity with. So in listening to the soundtrack, I felt as though I’d be knocking at least one title out of my ignorance list. But Webber’s Phantom did much more than that. Not since experiencing the talent of Beauty and the Beast have I been so captivated by a musical.

     What makes it work is the complete melding of score and song. As any enjoyable score does, Webber incorporates the melody lines from his memorable songs into other sections that aren’t directly related musically, but are tied in story-wise. This makes it easy to follow the general path of things. The Phantom’s song comes back in sections that let you know he is making an appearance. If it’s more subdued, you know he’s just lurking in the shadows. If it’s more ominous and overbearing, you know that he’s just done something of great importance. This works for the other characters in the show as well, but the Phantom’s theme is far more noticeable, and the more enjoyable, as his theme is probably the best as far as workability is concerned. The driving strings convey a force that is horrible, yet tragic at the same time. The sense of this is instantly picked up and speaks its magic at once. The music itself is enough to tell you what you need to know about his character. This is exactly what makes scores of this nature work, and Webber succeeds brilliantly with it here. About the only problem I had with the music was The Phantom of the Opera cue (which is a fuller performance of the Overture and serves as the Phantom theme), in which the more classical nature of the music is suddenly overcome with a rock style that sorely sticks out. The music is good to be sure, but the style is such a sudden departure that it’s hard to gel to it immediately. Thankfully, it’s just one cue that really receives the brunt of this contrasting style.

     While there have been many incarnations of this music about recorded over the years, the set that is most sought after is the 2-CD original cast album. For those who have loved this show since it premiered in the mid-80s, this is the first, and penultimate, performance of The Phantom of the Opera. While the orchestra is larger and the recording techniques much better on the film recording, the music as heard on the original album still possess a clean, powerful sound that is in no way completely eclipsed by the larger orchestra and modern recording techniques that the new version boasts. Unfortunately, the cast album has the tendency to clip out of the song selections right before any dialogue or other underscore creeps into the recording. Because the soundtrack album throws everything together here, it doesn’t suffer from this problem. Some of the underscore from the film is desirable though, and that gives this updated version a slight edge.

     The choice of Gerard Butler in the lead role has been a source of consternation on various Internet postings, and this was the primary concern that led me to get the original cast album. After listening to it, I would say that the biggest difference between the stage show and the film version is that the stage sees a more classical bent to the music, while the film is shaded in a more pop-oriented fashion. Michael Crawford’s vocalizations are very good, but lack the bass end that Butler has along with some of the more acting elements of the song. It has been my experience that singers are more apt to hit their notes appropriately while losing the emotional underpinning necessary to make the music work in the context of the plot. And while some actors may not be the best singers in the world, they are able to bring an emotional subtext to the songs. Since I haven’t seen the original stage version, I cannot comment on whether Crawford is part of the former, but that was my impression of the general difference between the two. Crawford’s Phantom is more saddened while Butler’s is more angered. Thus, most of the differences I found between the two were a difference in interpretation of the character. Those brought up on the original will doubtless find this a catastrophe, while others who have no such preconceived notions will be more apt to forgive the discrepancies between the two versions.

          But once you decide on getting the film version, you’re presented again with another set of choices. The soundtrack was released as a single CD “highlights” album and a double CD “Special Edition”. The normal version is no slouch by any means, and does live true to the “highlights” moniker. It has all the essentials and covers the bases nicely, though it’s best to have some inkling as to what is going on because the plot tends to be lost among it. The Special Edition is far more thorough and I actually got a good sense of how the story plays out from listening to it as opposed to the regular version. Where I would recommend the Special Edition is on the strength of some of the score moments where Webber’s thematic usage really shines through, and the climax found in tracks nine and ten on the second disc which is just incredible. It is easily the most chilling musical climax I’ve heard in recent memory. The Special Edition version also adds a bit more content to the liner notes, but this consists of some generalized text blurbs and a few behind-the-scenes photos. I’m sure that there is plenty that has been written about this score already, but for newbies like me, something more in depth would have been appreciated. This is definitely an area where the original cast album excels in that it includes the text from the show, though, admittedly, not much else.