My greatest complaint about this soundtrack is that there is very little score. I particularly like the song "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" (track 11 track 4 on the second special edition disk), which she builds nicely toward the end. Emmy Rossum (Christine) is not an opera singer, but she does rather well. His voice has a gruffness to it that actually fits the character rather well, and he does achieve several powerful moments: in the reprise of "All I Ask of You" (track 9 track 14 on the first special edition disk), and in "The Point of No Return" just before the chandelier crash (track 12 track 9 of the second special edition disk). To focus again on the Phantom, Butler does sing well: he hits the notes, and though he doesn't have the flexibility to play with the songs, they still work. When casting a movie, acting ability is probably most important and voice must be further considered with camera presence and looks, because the cinematography brings the audience right up close with the actors in a way stage cannot even for the front row seats.
In all fairness, however, taken alone and without comparison to the Broadway casts, these actors do more than hold their own. To be honest, knowing the original music, I was not impressed with this cast: Butler's low range is quiet and strained, his accent comes through, and his voice often lacks the clarity and power of his predecessors. But Little and Crawford take Webber's song and play with their vocal ranges and sounds, so when Gerard Butler sings it in a fairly straightforward manner, it pales in comparison.
"The Music of the Night" is the song that best demonstrates the Phantom's voice: I first heard Brad Little's version, so even Crawford doesn't hold up to him. However, Brightman and Crawford, and such touring Phantoms as Brad Little, are exceptional singers, and I would imagine are cast for the voices before their acting abilities. Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum are no Michael Crawford or Sarah Brightman. There have been concerns about the casting of the main characters, and as much as I wanted to love this cast, I have to agree that vocally, they do not hold up to the Broadway performers. I have seen the play on stage and I know the music rather well, but it is still possible a diehard fanatic may find the new music out of place in an already extraordinary musical. Regarding the new songs Webber wrote for the movie, they are somewhat unremarkable, as the best melodies are still the classic ones from the original, but the new material also fits into the play seamlessly. This may seem slightly anachronistic for the setting of the movie, but the sound color alone is wonderful. For example, the song "Phantom of the Opera" ends with Christine singing a wordless melody for the Phantom and was originally scored with organ and strings for the movie, Webber has added an electric guitar descant (track 5 track 6 on the first special edition disk). He has also changed some of the orchestration style. His use of the song melodies as themes for the score continues, with some wonderful brass cues, most notably at the end of "The Point of No Return" when the chandelier crashes (track 12 track 9 of the second special edition disk) this was used toward the end of the theatrical trailer. Musically, The Phantom of the Opera is, of course, outstanding if anything, in the eighteen years Webber has had to think about it, he has only made it better. If you're looking for a good, smooth listen, the single disk is perfect the special addition is really only worth the money for Broadway fans who prefer to listen to the album as they would the play itself. Such dialogue, which serves to connect the songs and make the album more of a recording of the play than just the music, is somewhat distracting. The former is a typical soundtrack with all of the best moments from the musical, and if this is considered similar to a Broadway highlights album, the latter would be about equal with an original cast recording: it contains a more complete track list of the music, but has dialogue and some sound effects in addition. There are two separate commercial releases of this score: a single disk soundtrack and a two disk special edition version. Despite the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote some additional music for this cinematic release, there are therefore very few musical surprises anyone who has seen the original play will find this album quite familiar in many respects.
Phantom of the opera tracklist movie#
Why Have You Brought Me Here/Raoul I've Been Thereĭisc 2: Phantom of the Opera: Limited Edition, TheĪs a musical, The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack is different from most movie scores by the nature of its form, but like 2002's Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera has already been a popular and well renowned Broadway show for eighteen years (since 1986). Track Listing Disc 1: Phantom of the Opera: Limited Edition, The
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