Customer Reviews

Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Divas

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For those of us who do not collect Broadway Soundtracks, this compilation can be a good addtion to your CD collection. It features many very well known songs written or co-written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Broadway stage.

For me this collection is at it's best when it features the "Divas" who also stared in the Broadway productions that these songs came from. Betty Buckley with Memory, Patti Lu Pone with Buenos Aires, and Yvonne Ellerman with I Don't Know How To Love Him, all feature the "Divas" who would actually sing these songs to a live audience night after night.
Yvonne Ellerman deserves a special note here, as she is best known for her Disco hit, If I Can't Have You, yet Broadway is where she got her start with her role as Mary Magdeline in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Pop and Cabaret "Divas" provide their take on these Broadway gems with
All I Ask of You, As If We Never Said Goodbye, and Another Suitcase From Hell, being the best.

An interesting track is The Heart Is Slow To Learn, this is from the Phantom Sequel that as of yet has not made it to the stage (Broadway, or otherwise).

For this reviewer my all time favorite Broadway song is Don't Cry For me Argentina, and why Madonna's read was chosen is beyond me. This timeless song has been recorded by such great vocalists as Karen Carpenter, Donna Summer,and others, not to mention Patti LuPone. This song deserved better representation on this collection.

Ken

Love him or loathe him, there's no denying Andrew Lloyd Webber's enormous success. Judging from the record-setting London and Broadway musicals he's been writing and producing for four decades, it's easy to figure out that many more people are in love with his work than not. If you want to look at it from another point of view, just take a look at who has performed his Tony, Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning songs over the years. Just because they haven't played a part in one of Webber's musicals doesn't mean any one of these fifteen divas didn't want to sing his praises. Most of this disc is comprised of the actual divas who did partake in his extravaganzas, while the others just couldn't resist adding his songs to their famous repertoires. The disc opens with one of the most recognized songs in Broadway and popular history - the dramatic and haunting "Memory," performed lusciously by the Broadway baby who sang her way to a Tony Award for Best Actress from the musical Cats, Betty Buckley. From there, this album is a who's who of the theatre and music world. On one hand, he recruits Shirley Bassey, who ranks as the most successful female recording artist in U.K. history, singing superbly on "All I Ask Of You" from the musical Phantom Of The Opera, while the most successful female recording artist in U.S. history, Barbra Streisand, takes the honors performing a sensational rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard, as she knocks it out of the ballpark for a grand slam homerun. In between these three musicals, four others are heralded on this disc, including selections from Evita, Aspects Of Love, Song And Dance and Jesus Christ Superstar. The CD is "Phantom," "Sunset" and "Evita" heavy, but that doesn't mean the selections are any less worthy. We have Madonna covering her Golden Globe award-winning turn of the screen version of Eva Peron with "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," but before Patti LuPone fans take offense, this darling diva is on hand to perform "Buenos Aires" from her Tony Award-winning performance in the same role. Whew! Broadway purists were about to spew venom. No need, as we are also treated to the U.K. diva, Barbara Dickson, who put this same musical on the map in merry ol' England playing Peron with her spectacular rendition of "Another Suitcase Another Hall" as well as the divine Elaine Paige treating us to "Rainbow High." Besides the aforementioned Streisand performance, Sunset Boulevard fans are also treated to Glenn Close's "With One Look" as well as Dina Carroll's version of "The Perfect Year," which Carroll turned into a Top Ten pop record in the U.K. Still in need of more "Phantom?" Not to worry, Katherine Jenkins does a spectacular version of the masterpiece "Music Of The Night," while Minnie Driver sings an unlikely interpretation of "Learn To Be Lonely." Before I wrap up "Phantom's" most celebrated songs, one tune that was rumored to be in the sequel to "Phantom" (if it ever materializes) is the sensational Webber song "The Heart Is Slow To Learn," which is a rarity and not found too easily. Lucky for us, we have it performed superbly on this CD by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Marti Webb, who was in the one-woman show "Tell Me On A Sunday," performs this great title tune while others may be more familiar with it from the Webber musical Song And Dance, which was performed in London and New York by Lulu and Bernadette Peters, respectively. Are you wondering if Webber wouldn't include his great former half ex-wife and one-time muse, Sarah Brightman? Wonder no more, Webber would be remiss if he excluded Brightman's brilliant performance of "Surrender," which is a recurring theme from Sunset Boulevard but expanded here as a complete song. Last but hardly least, Yvonne Elliman (most famous for her #1 song "If I Can't Have You" from the film Saturday Night Fever) delivers the song from the musical that put Webber on the map, Jesus Christ Superstar. The song I'm referring to is of course the tender and poignant ballad "I Don't Know How To Love Him," which became a Top 40 hit here in the States for Helen Reddy and Elliman herself. So, with the most famous divas performing some of the most famous and important songs from Webber's vast catalogue, what's next - Divos? If so, he has "Another Suitcase" full to release from the same shows. After all, wouldn't it be nice to have Michael Crawford, Mandy Patinkin, Ben Vereen, Antonio Banderas, Barry Manilow and Johnny Mathis all on one disc? Hey, with the success of this collection, it's just a matter of time.

I got this CD for my sixteenth birthday, since all my friends know exactly how much I love Andrew Lloyd Webber, especially "Phantom." And before I listened to it I was a little scared, since I'm being trained professionally in voice and am therefore picky when it comes to music. But I wasn't dissapointed at all! Aside from Shirley Bassey's massacre of "All I Ask of You" (she BELTED it... *shudders*) all the singers were amazing, and I loved all the songs. Many of them I did not know before, and already, after having it for a day and a half, if that, I have a good deal of them stuck in my head. "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" really surprised me - I'd heard OF it for years, but never actually heard it, and when I saw that Madonna was singing it, I was skeptical, but she proved me wrong! Katherine Jenkins' version of "The Music of the Night" surprised me as well - it was very well done, if somewhat lacking in the nuances that a male singer can add to it. "Buenos Aires" and "Rainbow High" add a nice balance of upbeat songs into it as well. "The Heart Is Slow To Learn," performed by Kiri Te Kawana, was a tad overly operatic, and sounded exactly like "Un bel di" from Madama Butterfly, but it was pretty.

All in all, this was an excellent CD, and I suggest that if you know anyone who loves Andrew Lloyd Webber (or simply musicals in general) that you get this for THEIR birthday.

I loved this album..the songs that are sung have taken me back as to when I saw them in the theatre. The only problem I have is when Patti LuPone was not singing ' Don't Cry for me Argentina ' I felt it was a song she created on Broadway and was always destined to sing..that was my only downside..very minor..otherwise I love ' THE DIVA'S '.

This is a great collection of some of the most divine ladies of the screen and stage giving their talent to ALWs most memorable tunes.
The only song I would pass over is Betty Buckleys rendition of Memory-just horrid. The highlight of this cd is the rare gem of a song that is The Heart Is Slow To Learn, one of the most dramatic performances ever by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, this song was written for a proposed sequel to Phantom Of The Opera and is hard to find anywhere else. If you want this song without buying the (IMO) severly lacking ALW Now and Forever box set-this is your only option-and well worth it.

I love anything that is Andrew Lloyd Webber, and while the music is, as always, wonderful, some of the artists that they selected to sing it were less than stellar.

Just a great CD. Picked up this "gently" used CD from amazon. Bought the CD for one song initially, but one can't help but grow to love so many of the tracks. This is a wonderful way of owning a sampling of some of Andrew Llowd Webber's greatest works sung by some of the greatest singers. Highly reccomended. As far as the purchase process, it could'nt have been easier. Got this CD very inexpensively, it arrived to my door safe n sound. Very speedy process. Overall highly reccomended. Thanks..............Steven

I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, and have most of his recordings. Although, I was disappointed in the performances & song selections by some of the divas on this album, I could never be disappointed with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's selection.

I would highly recommend "Divas" CD to any music lover. I love Andrew Lloyd Webbers's music. He is truly a talented composer.

No response to my note but it was rec'd quickly and as described. Thank you!!