Sir Andrew LLOYD WEBBER (b.1947)
Symphonic Suites
Evita [24.11]
Sunset Boulevard [23.54]
The Phantom of the Opera [21.23]
The Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra/Simon Lee
rec. 14-15 April 2021, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
DECCA 3819953 [69.28]
I approached this recording with a little trepidation, not because of any dislike of Lloyd Webber’s music, but because I wondered whether it would do justice to his talents. He is, as he has always insisted, a man of the theatre, with a relatively small output beyond the theatrical. Among his greatest talents is his extraordinary word-setting, in which he has gifts far beyond those of many ‘serious’ composers. An evident example is found in his song-cycle, Tell Me On A Sunday – I cannot think of how Don Black’s lyrics could be more aptly or wittily illustrated. The purely orchestral nature of the suites obviously misses that, but makes up for the omission in other ways.
Popular suites – and some not so popular – are often simply sequences of greatest hits. Not so here. Lloyd Webber takes themes from the three musicals, deftly re-weaving them into stand-alone and musically coherent pieces. Themes are recognisable, but rarely indulged for long stretches. The ear is continually tickled, sometimes caressed, and there is a logic to the development of the through-composition of each suite.
The proximate reason for these recordings was the closure of theatres during the Covid Pandemic and the need to provide work for the musicians. These performances therefore involve more musicians than one would expect to hear in a theatre pit. The Drury Lane stage allowed an orchestra of 81 players, with the extra opportunities offered by alto saxophone, pianos, celesta, organ, drums as well as percussion, and rhythm bass. The result is an enhanced depth to the sound as well as variety in orchestration. The orchestrations, but not the arrangements, are by Andrew Cottee, and highly effective. Simon Lee is very familiar as a conductor of Lloyd Webber’s music – the result is idiomatic performances which do justice to the invention.
This is a disc just to enjoy – and certainly not to dismiss. Otto Klemperer said that there was no difference between serious and light music, only between good and bad – and this is very good indeed.
Michael Wilkinson
