Erich Kunzel - Andrew Lloyd Webber Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Starlight Express, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Kunzel's offering of Andrew Lloyd Webber suites is a worthwhile tribute to this modern-day titan of globalised musicals. Although this album has a different feel from the original cast albums, Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops still perform these affectionate arrangements of Lord Lloyd Webber's musicals expertly, superbly and voluptiously. The creative arrangements by Crafton Beck and Steven Reineke are tastefully and, for the most part, faithfully done, and allow Kunzel to offer a fresh perspective to these musicals in their orchestral settings. And as always Telarc provides its trademark audiophile-quality recording - surround sound quality with a sumptuous spatialiser such that you might be overwhelmed by the Phantom's laughter in the Phantom suite.Kunzel contrasts the dramatic and lyrical sides of the PHANTOM and SUNSET BOULEVARD suites as if they were written for the Pops. The Phantom suite gains from a breathtaking organ introduction of the Phantom's theme, and from the contrasts in Music of the Night that match the lyrics perfectly, even without the cast album. The tender arrangement of Think of Me cleverly weaves the Angel of Music melody as a counterpoint, while All I Ask of You, complete with some of the details of the original orchestrations, makes a calming answer to Christine's Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. The JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR suite depicts the contrasting and conflicting moods of this groundbreaking rock opera, from the contrasts in I Don't Know How to Love Him to the sheer anguish in Gethsemene (I Only Want to Say).There are some interesting arrangements on this ALW offering, especially the arrangement of Don't Cry for Me Argentina from EVITA. Although some listeners might be offended when it transmorphs itself into the Ravel Bolero after doing an about-turn from its lush, Spanish feel, it still depicts Evita's rise to power and her manipulative trait in her character, well-suiting an orchestral concert arrangement of the tune and fitting in with the spirit of the musical. Another interesting arrangement is the rousing theme-and-variation finale of Any Dream Will Do from JOSEPH, which incorporates many different musical styles throughout the variations, from ballroom waltzing to jazz, movie music (Magnificent Seven) and circus-style music. I know some listeners might be offended, but in their own inimitable and creative way, Kunzel and the Pops still pay tribute to this early ALW musical by evoking the myriad of colours on the coat and the diversity of musical styles in the original JOSEPH musical. This arrangement certainly fits the trademark style of the Pops perfectly.The only fault with this collection is in the arrangement of Memory from CATS. Here, this song is treated as a flat-out romantic ballad, rather than as the haunting anthem for respect that Grizabella sings. Nevertheless, the arrangement by Tommy Newsom (who wrote this arrangement for a Doc Severinson album) is innofensive to this well-loved ALW melody (this is the only arrangement that Crafton Beck or Steven Reineke didn't write for this album). Also, I wish that Kunzel had included Love Changes Everything and Whistle Down the Wind, but given the fact that this was a 1996 recording, ALW hadn't written Whistle down the Wind as yet. But these are minor caveats, since Kunzel offers much to savour in these infectuous and spirited performances. Lastly, this CD is a reissue of the original 1996 recording, but Kunzel and the Pops made a recording of the new Evita song You Must Love Me when they recorded the Beautiful Hollywood CD a year later. A pity that Telarc hadn't taken advantage of this reissue to include it here.Yet I still feel that Kunzel's ALW offering is a winner in its lush orchestral suite arrangements of his well-loved and great musicals, far superior to any shopping-mall synthesised arrangement. This would surely count towards another feather in Kunzel's cap and stand pride of place with his rousing offering of Rodgers & Hammerstein. I'm sure Lord Lloyd Webber would have been proud.

Our 101 FM station here in SW Florida plays great music; and from time to time, I've caught an arrangement of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina," done to Ravel's "Bolero." Now, who would have thought? Anyhow, that, wanting that particular song/arrangement, caused me to scout up the album from which it had come, and I then ordered from Amazon. Good price. Would have preferred being able to just select songs from Amazon's MP3 listings, but the album isn't available in that format. Anyhow, I'm enjoying this group of fourteen songs from the many different productions created by Andrew Lloyd Webber

I enjoy all of that music, Andrew Weber is today's greatest composer of popular music. Erich Kunzel and his orchestra are an American treasure.

I plan to use this as the bckgound music for my singing at a retirement home. It's great, perfect for me.

Enjoying, music arrangments different than what l exspected.

Good

This is a great collection! We enjoyed it so much, that when it went belly-up, we bought it again. it has selections from seven different works.

Good

I was pleasantly surprised that this CD was not just orchestral renditions of the familiar songs, but beautifully crafted (and superbly played) arrangements. Many are quiet and contemplative, reminding me of John Barry's later style. However, I found the highlight was the rousing last track, "Any Dream Will Do", which morphed between several styles: for example, at one point it seems about to turn into "The Magnificent Seven", and then becomes circus-style music. The end result definitely brings a smile to the face!

bought this for my husband for Christmas and he hasn't said much (but he doesn't !) I love it !

Andrew Lloyd WebberErich Kunzel - Cincinnati Pops OrchestraCD DDD Telarc , 1995Andrew Lloyd Webber è un compositore britannico autore di musical di grande successo quali: Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera e Sunset Boulevard, opere presenti nel CD della TELARC. Se da un lato la registrazione - del 1995 - ha tutti i caratteri della audiofilia, questo è uno dei dischi della label americana che meno mi è piaciuto. Gli arrangiamenti orchestrali, sono a mio parere, il punto debole del CD, tanto che ho fatto fatica a riconoscere la trama di Jesus Christ Superstar dove c’è troppa enfasi romantica e quasi nulla del dolore della “Vita di Cristo”. Il “Bolero” di Ravel, ripreso nella traccia 14 (“Evita”), è lontanissimo dalle grandi interpretazioni orchestrali del Novecento . Una grande delusione!IMPIANTO MONITOR DA SCRIVANIAAmplificatore Rega Elex-R”, lettore SACD Marantz SA-8005 di cui sfrutto il DAC interno (Cyrrus Logic CS4398, 24 bit/192 kHz), diffusori da scaffale Monitor Audio 100 Gold 87 dB, iMac/MacOS Sierra, TIDAL che gira su player digitali Audirvana Plus e Roon , cavo di segnale Tellurium Q Black, cavi di potenza Tellurium Q Blue, cavi ottico ed USB Audioquest Cinnamon, cavi di alimentazione Wireworld Stratus 7, stabilizzatore di tensione Vultech GS-1000 AVR.

Good quality recording but nothing special.

Erich Kunzel! Mehr muss man nicht sagen. Echt Kunzel. Top.