Original Cast Recording (1987) (Remastered/Reissued)

Product Summary Label: Uni/decca UPC: 00731454392822 Release Date: 2/6/2001 Buy.com Sku: 60461675 Item#: MVT9KY Buy.com Sales Rank: 2060 Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Prologue ~ Original American/London Casts 2. Overture ~ Original American/London Casts 3. Think Of Me ~ Original American/London Casts 4. Angel Of Music ~ Original American/London Casts 5. Little Lotte / The Mirror (Angel Of Music) ~ Original American/London Casts 6. Phantom Of The Opera, The ~ Original American/London Casts 7. Music Of The Night, The ~ Original American/London Casts 8. I Remember / Stranger Than You Dreamt It ~ Original American/London Casts 9. Magical Lasso ~ Original American/London Casts 10. Notes / Prima Donna ~ Original American/London Casts 11. Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh ~ Original American/London Casts 12. Why Have You Brought Me Here / Raoul, I've Been There ~ Original American/London Casts 13. All I Ask Of You ~ Original American/London Casts 14. All I Ask Of You (reprise) ~ Original American/London Casts Disc 2 Song Title Sample 1. Entra'acte ~ Original American/London Casts 2. Masquerade / Why So Silent ~ Original American/London Casts 3. Notes / Twisted Every Way ~ Original American/London Casts 4. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again ~ Original American/London Casts 5. Wandering Child / Bravo, Monsieur ~ Original American/London Casts 6. Point Of No Return, The ~ Original American/London Casts 7. Down Once More / Track Down This Murderer ~ Original American/London Casts (P) 1987 The Really Useful Group Ltd. (C) 2000 Polydor Ltd. (UK)   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Charles Hart. Principal cast: Michael Crawford (The Phantom Of The Opera); Sarah Brightman (Christine Daae); Steve Barton (Raoul); John Savident (Monsieur Firmin); David Firth (Monsieur Andre); Rosemary Ashe (Carlotta Giudicelli); Mary Millar (Madame Giry); John Aron (Ubaldo Piangi); Paul Arden Griffith (Monsieur Reyer); Barry Clark (auctioneer); David De Van (Porter/Marksman/Fop); Janet Devenish (Meg Giry); David Jackson (Monsieur Lefervre); Janos Kurucz (Joseph Buquet); James Patterson (Don Attilio/Passarino); Peter Bishop (Slave Master); Justin Church (Flunky/Stagehand); Mostyn Evans (Policeman); Sue Flannery, Janet Howd (Page); Andrew Golder (Porter/Fireman); Peggy Ann Jones (Wardrobe Mistress/Confidante); Maria Kesselman (Princess); Patricia Richards (Madame Firmin); Jill Washington (Inkeeper's Wife). Recorded at EMI Studios & Audio International, London, England. Includes liner notes by Andrew Lloyd Webber. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1911 gothic mystery novel The Phantom of the Opera proved to be at least the composer's second-most successful project, behind only Cats, and with the potential to outdo even that blockbuster. The musical opened in London in October 1986 and in New York in January 1988, and both productions were still running (along with many others around the world) when the film version finally premiered in December 2004. Because the same starring performers, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, moved from the West End to Broadway, there was no original Broadway cast recording, the original London cast album serving to represent both stagings. In line with the success of the show, that album, a double-disc set, was also a hit, selling four million copies in the U.S. alone by 1996, with another four million copies of a single-disc highlights version as well. Although there was also an original Canadian cast album (not to mention foreign language versions from such countries as Japan and Austria), the movie soundtrack represents the first major re-recording of the score since 1986. Again, Lloyd Webber has opted to issue it in two versions, but this time, the 63-minute single CD is considered the standard release, with the double-disc set billed as the "special edition" version. Even fans of the show and the film may want to stick with the shorter one, however. The two-hour special edition is that rarity, a soundtrack album that actually contains the complete, unedited film soundtrack, including dialogue, incidental background music, and sound effects. This, of course, makes it something of an odd listening experience, especially because there doesn't seem to be any reason why some dialogue is spoken and some is rendered in singsong recitative. Lloyd Webber has written some extra background music here and there, as well as one new song, and that's an oddity, too. Minnie Driver, who plays the prima donna Carlotta, had her singing dubbed by Margaret Preece, but she turns up at the end and, over the closing credits, sings "Learn to Be Lonely," an irrelevant and musically out-of-place song clearly composed just to have a new tune that would be Academy Award-eligible. The film's other singers are adequate but no competition to Crawford, Brightman, and their colleagues, and the initial recording remains the one to buy. ~ William Ruhlmann This is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most highly acclaimed productions. The two-disc set comes with a booklet that has not only the lyrics, but also the dialog and stage directions. Sarah Brightman appears as Christine Daae (the heroine) and Michael Crawford as the Phantom. It's also available in a one-disc "highlights" version. ~ Tavia Hobart It's a testament to Andrew Lloyd Webber's crowd-pleasing compositional skills that the original cast recording of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA went on to become the biggest-selling cast album ever. So when the time came to adapt his music for the film version of the monumentally successful theatrical work, Webber enlisted the aid of longtime collaborators Nigel Wright and Simon Lee. They produced an expanded orchestral version of the score, grander and more sumptuous than the original, and assembled a 100-member ensemble to do it justice. However, the tragic story of the disfigured Phantom and Christine, the beautiful object of his desire, cannot be told without powerful performances of those roles. Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum quickly dispel any concerns regarding the adequacy of their portrayals. Butler's full-blooded renditions of "The Music of the Night" and the title song are tinged with a dark eroticism, while Rossum's account of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" skillfully conveys her character's vulnerability and conflicted feelings. The soundtrack also features a newly penned song by Webber, the poignant "Learn to Be Lonely," sung by Minnie Driver, who appears in the role of Carlotta in the film. Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber Engineer: Martin Levan   Technical Info Release Date : 02/06/2001 Original Release Date : 1987 Catalog ID : 543 928 Label : Decca (USA) Number of Discs : 2 Runtime : 100m : 30s Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : ADD UPC : 00731454392822    Product Image