The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection

• Artist: Sarah Brightman
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 08, 1998
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Vocal Music

Review

Despite a long history of pop and musical-theater success in England, Sarah Brightman was not well known in the U.S. until her 1997 album Time to Say Goodbye became a triumph, topping the Billboard classical crossover chart for most of 1998. Really Useful Records, her former husband Andrew Lloyd Webber's label, took advantage of her sudden popularity to release this compilation of recordings of Lloyd Webber songs she'd made between 1985 and 1995, and since she had served as a real muse to the composer, many of his most popular songs were included. Several of them -- "Pie Jesu," "All I Ask of You," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," and "Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)" -- had been chart hits for Brightman in the U.K. So had "The Phantom of the Opera," the title song of a musical Lloyd Webber had written for her and in which she had starred, albeit in a different recording from the one included here, which was the Original London Cast version featuring her co-star, Michael Crawford. Also included were the most memorable songs from such Lloyd Webber shows as Evita ("Don't Cry for Me Argentina"), Song & Dance ("Unexpected Song," "Tell Me on a Sunday"), Aspects of Love ("Love Changes Everything"), and Cats ("Memory," "Gus: The Theatre Cat," "Macavity: The Mystery Cat"). Even the songs that had not been tailored specifically for Brightman had been written for her kind of voice, a full-bodied, dramatic soprano, and she sang with a thorough understanding of the composer's intentions. The result was an excellent primer for anyone who had first encountered Brightman with "Time to Say Goodbye" and was wondering where she came from. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The Phantom of the Opera	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mike Batt, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe	Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman	(4:21)
Unexpected Song	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black	Sarah Brightman	(2:56)
Chanson d'Enfance	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, Charles Hart	Sarah Brightman	(3:55)
All I Ask of You	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe	Cliff Richard, Sarah Brightman	(4:10)
Don't Cry for Me Argentina	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice	Sarah Brightman	(5:54)
Another Suitcase in Another Hall	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice	Sarah Brightman	(3:21)
Love Changes Everything	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Donald Black	Sarah Brightman	(3:34)
Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black	Sarah Brightman, José Carreras	(4:36)
Memory	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Trevor Nunn, T.S. Eliot	Sarah Brightman	(3:58)
Gus: The Theatre Cat	Andrew Lloyd Webber, T.S. Eliot	Sarah Brightman, Sir John Gielgud	(5:11)
Anything But Lonely	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black, Charles Hart	Sarah Brightman	(2:57)
Macavity: The Mystery Cat	Andrew Lloyd Webber, T.S. Eliot	Sarah Brightman	(4:46)
Tell Me on a Sunday	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black	Sarah Brightman	(3:45)
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe	Sarah Brightman	(3:31)
Pie Jesu	Andrew Lloyd Webber	Sarah Brightman, Paul Miles-Kingston	(3:55)
The Music of the Night	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe	Sarah Brightman	(5:22)

Credits

Andrew Lloyd Webber (Producer), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Orchestration), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Piano Accompanist), Larry Wilcox (Orchestration), Sarah Brightman (Main Performer), Steve Barton (Vocals), David Caddick (Choir Conductor), David Caddick (Musical Supervision), David Caddick (Vocal Conductor), David Cullen (Orchestration), Dave Hunt (Engineer), Martin Levan (Engineer), Martin Levan (?), Steve Margoshes (Orchestration), Harry Rabinowitz (Conductor), Robin Sellars (Engineer), Nigel Wright (Producer), Nigel Wright (Orchestration), Thomas Z. Shepard (Engineer), Simon Fowler (Photography), Simon Rhodes (Engineer), Lewis Mulatero (Photography), Lee McCutcheon (Assistant Engineer), Noel Harris (Assistant Engineer), David R. Murray (Producer)