CDs: Learn to Be Lonely

Considering it's the most successful musical of all time, there aren't all that many English-language recordings of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. First and foremost, of course, is the best-selling, double-CD London cast recording, starring Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, and Steve Barton.

Because those three West End leads repeated their roles in New York, no Broadway cast recording was made. But there was a single disc of highlights featuring the cast of the Toronto/Livent production, starring Colm Wilkinson. Then there's a highlights disc from TER/JAY featuring as Christine and Raoul Claire Moore the original London alternate for Brightman and John Barrowman. When this disc was first released in 1993, its Phantom was Graham Bickley. For its second release in 1996, Bickley was replaced by Ethan Freeman.

Only now do we have a second full-length English-language recording, which is, of course, taken from the soundtrack of the Phantom of the Opera film that opens next month. The soundtrack recording comes in two versions, a single, sixty-three-minute disc of highlights that includes all of the principal numbers plus one new song, and a double-CD that features the complete score along with a souvenir booklet. There will also be separate soundtrack albums in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

The only principal performer whose singing is dubbed in the film is Minnie Driver, whose Carlotta is sung on the soundtrack by Margaret Preece, who also appears in the film in a small role. But Driver herself does get to sing that new, end-title song, "Learn to Be Lonely" also the title of a song from A Doll's Life, presumably heard during the final credits and obviously the film's bid for a Best Original Song Oscar. "Learn to Be Lonely" is attractive, but in an entirely different style from the rest of the score.

Needless to say, Phantom, directed and co-written with Lloyd Webber by Joel Schumacher, will be a closely watched movie. It's the first major theatrical film musical adapted from a stage hit since Chicago in 2002, and the box-office fate of Phantom is likely to have a strong effect on the future of other announced film versions of stage musicals.

On the basis of the highlights disc, the screen Phantom sounds like one of the closer adaptations of a stage musical to the screen. Indeed, aside from a few minor lyric changes, this could almost be a stage-cast recording. For a work this popular, it was probably best not to tamper too much with the material.

It's difficult to judge the merits of screen performances or of a film itself from a soundtrack album. Because I was so used to Barbra Streisand's vocals on the Broadway cast recording of Funny Girl, I was disappointed in the Funny Girl soundtrack album when I listened to it prior to the film's release, but loved the finished film. And Hello, Dolly! actually came across better on the advance soundtrack album than it did on screen.

As Christine, seventeen-year-old Emmy Rossum sings with a pretty light soprano and makes a fine impression. Broadway's Patrick Wilson is a solid, attractive Raoul. Gerard Butler's Phantom may prove more controversial, at least vocally. He lacks the lushness of a Wilkinson or a Davis Gaines in the role, nor does he possess Crawford's piercing vocal power. And he uses a somewhat scoopy, pop/rock delivery, with several rough high notes.

That said, he sounds like an effective Phantom, appropriately haunted, horrific, and agonized, with a reasonably spell-binding "Music of the Night." And his harsh sound is a plausible contrast to Wilson's smoother tones. A further assessment of Butler's performance will have to wait until one sees the entire performance. Of course, there will be diehard fans who regret that Crawford did not get to preserve his Phantom. But one suspects that Butler will fill the bill. Also present are Miranda Richardson as Mme. Giry, and Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds as the opera-house managers.

According to a note from Lloyd Webber that accompanies the highlights disc, the film features several minutes of new music. With orchestrations by David Cullen based on the stage orchestrations of Cullen and Lloyd Webber, the huge orchestral forces playing the score are naturally a principal attraction of the soundtrack recording, which is likely to be a big seller.

As for the score itself, you probably know what you think of it by now. Almost two decades since I first heard it at a London preview Claire Moore's first performance, I find that its charms hold up well.

RON RAINES: SO IN LOVE WITH BROADWAY JAY

Perhaps best known these days for his ten years playing the villainous Alan Spaulding on the CBS daytime soap "The Guiding Light," singer-actor Ron Raines' most recent Broadway appearance was as Billy Flynn in Chicago. Other Broadway appearances include Show Boat 1983 and Teddy and Alice, and tours include The Unsinkable Molly Brown with Debbie Reynolds and Can-Can with Chita Rivera.

He's also been a regular on the JAY label, taking leading roles on its Man of La Mancha, The Pajama Game, 110 in the Shade, Wonderful Town, and Guys and Dolls. Now he has a second solo LP on JAY, a follow-up to Broadway Passion.

On So in Love With Broadway, Raines displays a big, burnished baritone, very handsome in tone. It's a fine leading-man sound, perfect for such show tunes as "So in Love," "If I Can't Love Her," "Some Enchanted Evening," "They Call the Wind Maria," "I Don't Remember You," and "There But for You Go I."

In addition to the Beauty and the Beast song, contemporary Broadway is represented by "Stars" and a stirring Chess "Anthem." For "My Cup Runneth Over" I Do! I Do!, Raines is joined by Karen Ziemba, returning to a role she played in an off-Broadway revival. The CD's chief collectible is Raines' big Chicago number, "All I Care About," and on that track, he's joined by "The Criswell Girls," or the multiple voices of Kim Criswell, another JAY regular.

Several of these tracks have already appeared elsewhere, while the strong "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" offers a preview of JAY's unreleased Seven Brides for Seven Brothers recording. Full of full-bodied, robust renditions, most accompanied by the original theatre orchestrations, So in Love with Broadway succeeds.