SOUND OFF: Down Once More... With Feeling!

 

This week we are talking a trip to the Paris Opera and visiting some old friends on the eve of their re-appearance in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical sequel LOVE NEVER DIES, but before that review next week (clue: it's truly phantastic, with an "f" and a "ph"!) let us take a look at the best and most notable recordings of the score of the original show, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, including the Original London Cast Recording, the Canadian Highlights recording starring Colm Wilkinson, the 2004 Film Soundtrack, as well as two solo albums by the show's original stars, Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman...

I Have Written You An Opera
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - Original London Cast Recording
SCORE: 8/10

Considering it is the most successful enterprise in the history of entertainment (including TITANIC and AVATAR), there is not much I can say that has not been said about Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Looking back on the Original London Cast Recording nearly twenty-five years later, there is a lot to like, and a few things to love, about the recording. The original performances by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman are rightfully iconic and legendary, and while both would go on to more sonorously satisfying endeavors than their vocal work here, they do bring a magic to the music that few have managed since, if any. Lloyd Webber's casting of Crawford caused a certain amount of uproar at the time, largely because Crawford was known primarily as a comedian and occasional stage creature, known far more for this loose-limbed, Gumby-like physical comedy such as in the Brit-com SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE 'EM and the West End production of BARNUM, than dramatic acting and mega-musical vocal pyrotechnics. That was all soon to change when originally-cast rock singer and theatrical neophyte Steve Hartley was let go at the eleventh hour to make way for Crawford. What Crawford wrought from this character is something akin to the myriad magical illusions he enacted onstage as The Phantom - an impressive feat in and of itself. He is merely acting or singing, or even creating a three-dimensional character: Crawford is this character. No one can or will ever come close to the portrayal of the Phantom as played by Crawford if only because his instrument is so unique and his inhabitation of the character so idiosyncratic - by turns caustic, soft and sweet as well as occasionally timorous, his real-life temerity in taking on the role informing the booming bravado of the masked man himself - it is a meta-narrative that dually created the newly-formed musical theatre maven Crawford as well as the character of the Phantom itself. The fact that his two other stage ventures since then - Count Von Krolock in the Broadway fiasco DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, written by the first announced lyricist of PHANTOM who left the project before putting pen to page, Jim Steinman, as well as a critically praised turn as Count Fosco in Lloyd Webber's most recent show prior to LOVE NEVER DIES, the critically-maligned and audience-ignored WOMAN IN WHITE - were less than satisfying only adds to the curious allure of this unforgettable, Tony and Grammy-winning performance.

Since the role of Christine was written expressly for Sarah Brightman, Lloyd Webber's wife at the time and musical muse, it goes without saying that she is perfect for the role and acquits herself well with it. While her performance onstage was met with varying criticisms, the most remembered being Frank Rich's infamous "chipmunk" comment in the New York Times' review, it is hard to find much fault with her performance of Christine on disc. While both their instruments have matured - and in Brightman's case very greatly improved - since the time of the recording, it is an invaluable resource if only because it is the only complete recording of the score in English available to this very day, with the exclusion of the film soundtrack (more on that soon). The remastered version of the OLCR, now the only new version available on the market, cleans up many of the low-sound-level issues and sonic inconsistencies of the first release of the recording on Polydor and the result sounds fresh and exciting, but very much of its time nevertheless. While one wishes the Broadway version had been recorded, at least in part, if only to showcase the Tony-winning Carlotta of Judy Kaye, it is hard to find much fault with the performance of Rosemary Ashe in that role. Since the three central roles of the Phantom, Christine and Raoul - a role played by the late, great Steve Barton who would, incidentally, go on to creating the unbeatable original characterization of Count Von Krolock in the deadly serious, German version of DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES titled TANZ DER VAMPIRE and also take on the title role in PHANTOM - were the same on both sides of the pond, the decision to have one uniform, go-to iteration of the score on disc is understandable from a marketing point of view. And what a score it is!

Lloyd Webber has not written a score as good as PHANTOM since that time, at least not until LOVE NEVER DIES, and his deep affection for the material is apparent in nearly every note of this massive and masterful composition. The strange, eerie moments of the Phantom and his trickery are still strange and shocking, the romantic highs still alluring and affecting, and the overriding message of the show at its heart still eminently prescient. There may be better scores on Broadway and beyond, but few as effective and well-known and, at this stage in the game all these years after the first fraught West End preview of the show, that is enough to warrant worthy praise. A classic, and deservedly so.

 

Warm, Unspoken Secrets
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - CANADIAN HIGHLIGHTS RECORDING
SCORE: 6/10

While the Original London Cast Recording may be the only English-language recording of the complete score as it is onstage, the Canadian Cast Album starring Colm Wilkinson and Rebecca Caine reflects the slight musical and lyrical changes made to the show in its trip across the pond, most obvious in the much-improved lyrics for "Think Of Me", the lyrics on the OLC reflecting mostly the original draft of the song as composed by Charles Hart when original lyricist Richard Stilgoe left the project. It is in Hart's sections that the wit and bite of the material is most evident, and his work on "Notes" and "Prima Donna" provide the majority of the laughs and levity to be had in what is a decidedly dramatic and relatively ruminative affair overall. Wilkinson's full-throated, full-throttle attack on the title role may be a bit much for some, but he brings a rock ‘n' roll aesthetic to the proceedings that few besides Paul Stanley of KISS, later the star of the Toronto production, have managed to do and we must remember that Lloyd Webber originally used Wilkinson in the Sydmonton workshop production of the show when the score had a lot more modern - and jarringly anachronistic - leanings. Jim Steinman's advice to Lloyd Webber that the show should be rock masquerading as opera was taken to heart by Lloyd Webber, and that element of the immediate electricity, figurative and literal, provided by rock music accoutrement carries through all the way to LOVE NEVER DIES which happens to contain Lloyd Webber's most hard-rocking and heavy-metal-ish material to date in the wildly epic, mesmerizing and undulating "The Beauty Underneath". More on that, and the entire score for LOVE NEVER DIES, next week. Caine does good work here, and some may even prefer her vocal stylings to the at-the-time airy, breathy soprano of Brightman. The other cast are also top-notch and every bit as good as their London/Broadway counterparts with the exception of this Carlotta who is a bit screechy.

The incompleteness of the recording robs it of any overwhelming praise and if one merely wishes to experience how Wilkinson essayed the role one need look no further than his excellent take on the character ten years later on the HEY! MR. PRODUCER DVD in which he performs a truncated version of the title song, "The Music of the Night" and a spine-tingling take on the over-the-top (or is that "top-tearing-down?") Act One Finale. What Wilkinson lacks in subtlety he more than makes up for with his truly electric and tangibly emotional performance. He may very well be the best sung Phantom on record besides Crawford, and Caine second-best only to Brightman. A good effort by all, but too short to fully recommend.

 

Paper Faces On Parade
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
SCORE: 6.5/10

For the purposes of this review round-up, I think it is definitely best to focus exclusively on the soundtrack itself for the 2004 film version of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA directed by Joel Schumacher as opposed to the problematic film. With an orchestra of over 100 members, the music itself has never sounded more romantic, rapturous and resplendent than it does here and the new orchestrations and new instrumental material are all top-notch. I particularly like the added electric guitar on the title song, sounding like a tasty Keith Richard-esque guitar lick if I ever heard one, as well as the new musical piece "The Journey To The Cemetary" which also finds its way into LOVE NEVER DIES, adding a certain continuity to the two pieces. I also quite like the new song, "Learn To Be Lonely", performed on the soundtrack by Minnie Driver who did not sing the role of Carlotta in the film, but possesses an attractive, smoky pop voice as exhibited in this track. I also think the Phantom's version of this song, titled "No One Would Listen" is a rich addition to the already slightly over-decorated score, but I can certainly understand why it was cut for the film for time reasons. The deleted scene featuring the song is available on the DVD, as performed by the film Phantom, Gerard Butler.

While he may have gone on to become one of the top stars of Hollywood, due in no small part to his blistering performance in 300, Gerard Butler was virtually unknown when Lloyd Webber cast him in the film version. Harkening back to Steinman's advice for the Phantom to be a veritable rock star in a world of opera, Butler does, indeed, posses a gruff, gritty, unrehearsed quality, though that is the best that can be said about his performance on the soundtrack. It is easy to hear why some abhor this performance, but coming after the wildly different performance of Crawford and Wilkinson I can't help but feel Butler was attempting to merge the two, at least in his vocal performance. The fact of the matter is that he lacks the chops to handle the music for this difficult role and no amount of studio trickery or over-ornamented orchestration can cover that up. He shouts and screams in places and while he may not be as bad as some may lead you to believe, he is certainly not vocally the vast re-invention of the role that he seems to be attempting to create here. All this being said, he gives it his all and I have certainly heard worse, and certainly much less effective, singing, both on Broadway and on film, even in the title role itself. The other cast members are good, if forgettable, with Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson turning in wooden, bland performances as Christine and Raoul. I wonder how much more sonically satisfying - and easier to digest, at least dramatically - Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo, the Phantom and Christine in LOVE NEVER DIES who have also been pointed-out as personal favorites by both Lloyd Webber and the show's original director, Hal Prince, themselves, would have been in the film version? I would love to hear their voices inserted in place of Butler and Rossum here. Truly, the score has never sounded better, at least instrumentally, than it does here, yet the weak vocals of Butler's Phantom do the soundtrack a major disservice and rob it of the recommendation I would be likely to give it were that not the case. Alas, it is.

Think Of Me...
Michael Crawford Sings Andrew Lloyd Webber
SCORE: 7.5/10

Both Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman have released MUSIC OF Andrew Lloyd Webber compilations since their tenure in the show, and these recordings, coming nearly ten years or more after the original, are interesting and enlightening if only because they provide the stalwart stars with the opportunity to re-visit and re-evaluate characters and songs they moved on from long ago. On Crawford's solo disc, he provides one of his best renderings of "Music of the Night" to date and his performance of the title song with Barbara Bonnie is quite good, if a bit oddly produced. It is fascinating to hear an angel-voiced tenor like Crawford take on Christine's lament, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" and Crawford acquits himself rather well with it. "All I Ask of You" is warm and rich and this album comes well-recommended if only because of the curiosity factor provided by having the Phantom himself give voice to material from the show written for Christine and/or Raoul, roles which he will not be playing in the foreseeable future. My all-time favorite performance of "Music of the Night" is undoubtedly Crawford's fifteen-years-later take on the song as the rousing Act One finale of the otherwise hit-or-miss MY FAVORITE BROADWAY: THE LOVE SONGS, and shows him vocally at his best and most powerful, even better than the original on the OLCR. If you have not seen or heard that performance, as well as the whole Carnegie Hall concert if only to hear Julie Andrews sing live alongside Crawford for the first time since her horrendous botched vocal surgery, you are surely missing out. Either way, with Crawford singing Lloyd Webber you always come up with a winning combination if you are even a tertiary fan of either and Crawford's take on the title role is unequaled for good reason: no other performer is quite capable of conveying the magisterial mystery and magic of the score like he is.

Think of Me Fondly
Sarah Brightman - The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection
SCORE: 8.5/10

Sarah Brightman's two best Andrew Lloyd Webber compilations, SURRENDER and the US edition with a slightly different track-list and title, THE MUSIC OF Andrew Lloyd Webber, contain her best versions of the PHANTOM material to date, even when taking into consideration the OLCR. Her voice has matured and grown remarkably by leaps and bounds since REQUIEM and the OLCR of PHANTOM and it is wonderful to report that she just seems to get better and better as time goes on, both in her vocal stylings and technique as well as her inimitable performance choices and idiosyncratic material. While her astonishingly affecting "Anything But Lonely" from ASPECTS OF LOVE is undoubtedly the centerpiece of the album, she does very well by the PHANTOM material which has become an essential and integral part of her eclectic concert repertoire over the years. Her "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is much more studied and polished than it was in the endearing, but slightly too breathy and eerie original iteration of the song. Her "Music of the Night", a song since claimed by Crawford, but rightfully hers since she was the first to sing the melody before PHANTOM even hit the boards, is sublime and were it not for Crawford's performance, unmatched. I will admit that my absolute favorite performance of this new standard is by Brightman but it not available on any CD or official MP3 as of yet. Brightman's Act One closer to one of the best directed, performed and produced concerts I have ever seen on video, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday Celebration, is a thrilling, high-soprano take on "The Music of the Night" and even though that performance was ten years ago and her voice has gotten even richer and more nuanced since, the power and magnetism she infuses this material with is positively breathtaking. It is a performance not to be missed, and, in my opinion, one of the most thrilling performances of any Andrew Lloyd Webber song ever. The perfect marriage of performer and material with a hearty dose of magic, as well.

 

When We've Said Goodbye

Having whet your palettes for all things PHANTOM this week, please check back next week for an in-depth rundown of the concept album of the sequel, LOVE NEVER DIES, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glen Slater, which catches us up with the characters some ten years after the events of the original tale at a Coney Island side-show attraction called PHANTASMA which is run by the elusive, alluring, entrancing figure known only as Mr. Y... I say, "Y" not? Have Webber & Co. gone beyond the point of no return or reclaimed the angel of music? We shall soon see... Stay tuned!