Customer Reviews

Aspects Of Love (Original 1989 London Cast)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When "Aspects of love" premiered in April 1989 in London, wide audiences knew Andrew Lloyd Webber mostly by his big blockbuster musicals such as "Cats", "The Phantom of the opera" or "Evita. After the "Phantom", the composer decided to try something new, much in the same way he has done with "Cats" in the early 80-is after he decided to part ways with his lyricist Tim Rice. As the basis for his next musical he chose David Garnett's short novel of the same title.

The plot involves various love triangles and is as close to a soap opera as you can get in a musical. We follow a 17 year-old Englishman Alex, who is in love with an older French actress Rose Videle. They end up in the Spanish villa that belongs to Alex's uncle George, an elderly painter and writer. George in turn has an ongoing affair with a younger Italian sculptress Giulietta. George finds Rose and Alex in the villa and after Alex is called to the army, George and Rose begin living together, which at first Alex finds impossible to accept. Giulietta and Rose become quite friends, there is even a hint of a lesbian relationship between them. Even so, George and Rose get married. Some time has passed and Alex is out of the army and is reunited with George, Rose and their 14 year-old daughter Jenny in their villa in France. Jenny falls in love with Alex, something that a very old George, now depended solely on Jenny's love cannot agree to. Alex is torn between Rose and Jenny and soon George dies. At his funeral Alex meets Giulietta and they are instantly drawn to one another. Alex leaves with her, although Rose pleaded him not to leave her alone.

As you can see, the plot isn't quite as simple as it might appear. For this project Lloyd Webber decided to use a much smaller, almost chamber orchestra, however, that isn't a drawback. This is his most romantic score and the orchestra fits it perfectly. The music itself is full of beautiful and intimate love melodies, especially when the orchestra takes the lead in its interludes; you can almost see the nature and the scenery of the plot. The most popular songs from this show are "Love changes everything" sung by Alex and "Anything but lonely" sung by Rose. Of course, there are other catchy tunes, my favorite being "Seeing is believing", a romantic duet between Alex and Rose; "The first man you remember", sung sweetly by George to his young daughter Jenny; "Mermaid song", a shy duet between Alex and Jenny and a big ensemble number with a notable drums sequence called "Hand me the wine and the dice". It's important to note, however, that many parts of this musical is dialogue that is sung instead of being spoken, and this is the main difference between Aspects and the big Webber shows. This means that Aspects isn't meant to be played as background music while one does the dishes or cleans the house. The best way to listen it, for the first time anyway, is with headphones and paying attention to the libretto. It probably won't grab you after the first listen; it needs a bit of an effort, but after a couple of times you'll grow to like it for sure. Don Black's lyrics remain pleasing as ever.

The casting was done very well. Michael Ball, who made his name as Marius in Les Miserables, plays Alex. As always, his voice is a gem by itself. He was a perfect choice. Ann Crumb as Rose and Kathleen Rowe McAllen as Giulietta have similar voices. Kevin Colson makes you think he IS George; his voice and pronunciation sounds exactly as an elderly English gentleman should.

One of the merits of this new release is the fact that the two main problems of the previous one have been rectified: the sound quality, which was awful on the 1989 release, is superb here; due to the fact the CDs are digitally remastered. Likewise, the new libretto comes with the normal-sized font, unlike the previous one, which should also have included a magnifying glass if it was meant to be read. The CDs are also neatly packed in a slip case.

Aspects of love may not be Lloyd Webber's best known work, but a true fan of his will certainly enjoy and appreciate it.

When "Aspects of love" premiered in April 1989 in London, wide audiences knew Andrew Lloyd Webber mostly by his big blockbuster musicals such as "Cats", "The Phantom of the opera" or "Evita. After the "Phantom", the composer decided to try something new, much in the same way he has done with "Cats" in the early 80-is after he decided to part ways with his lyricist Tim Rice. As the basis for his next musical he chose David Garnett's short novel of the same title.

The plot involves various love triangles and is as close to a soap opera as you can get in a musical. We follow a 17 year-old Englishman Alex, who is in love with an older French actress Rose Videle. They end up in the Spanish villa that belongs to Alex's uncle George, an elderly painter and writer. George in turn has an ongoing affair with a younger Italian sculptress Giulietta. George finds Rose and Alex in the villa and after Alex is called to the army, George and Rose begin living together, which at first Alex finds impossible to accept. Giulietta and Rose become quite friends, there is even a hint of a lesbian relationship between them. Even so, George and Rose get married. Some time has passed and Alex is out of the army and is reunited with George, Rose and their 14 year-old daughter Jenny in their villa in France. Jenny falls in love with Alex, something that a very old George, now depended solely on Jenny's love cannot agree to. Alex is torn between Rose and Jenny and soon George dies. At his funeral Alex meets Giulietta and they are instantly drawn to one another. Alex leaves with her, although Rose pleaded him not to leave her alone.

As you can see, the plot isn't quite as simple as it might appear. For this project Lloyd Webber decided to use a much smaller, almost chamber orchestra, however, that isn't a drawback. This is his most romantic score and the orchestra fits it perfectly. The music itself is full of beautiful and intimate love melodies, especially when the orchestra takes the lead in its interludes; you can almost see the nature and the scenery of the plot. The most popular songs from this show are "Love changes everything" sung by Alex and "Anything but lonely" sung by Rose. Of course, there are other catchy tunes, my favorite being "Seeing is believing", a romantic duet between Alex and Rose; "The first man you remember", sung sweetly by George to his young daughter Jenny; "Mermaid song", a shy duet between Alex and Jenny and a big ensemble number with a notable drums sequence called "Hand me the wine and the dice". It's important to note, however, that many parts of this musical is dialogue that is sung instead of being spoken, and this is the main difference between Aspects and the big Webber shows. This means that Aspects isn't meant to be played as background music while one does the dishes or cleans the house. The best way to listen it, for the first time anyway, is with headphones and paying attention to the libretto. It probably won't grab you after the first listen; it needs a bit of an effort, but after a couple of times you'll grow to like it for sure. Don Black's lyrics remain pleasing as ever.

The casting was done very well. Michael Ball, who made his name as Marius in Les Miserables, plays Alex. As always, his voice is a gem by itself. He was a perfect choice. Ann Crumb as Rose and Kathleen Rowe McAllen as Giulietta have similar voices. Kevin Colson makes you think he IS George; his voice and pronunciation sounds exactly as an elderly English gentleman should.

I have only two complaints and they concern the CD package. The musical is almost complete, over 70 minutes on both discs and a full libretto is included in the booklet. However, the font size in it is so small that you need a magnifying glass in order to read it. I had to download it from the net and print it separately. Also, the sound quality is a big disappointment; I had to increase volume on mi Hi-fi in order to hear it properly. I wished that the publishers would be more careful about these things. Luckily, all this problems have been rectified in the new digitally remastered edition also available here at Amazon, so I would suggest buying that instead of this old release.

Aspects of love may not be Lloyd Webber's best known work, but a true fan of his will certainly enjoy and appreciate it.

I will never understand why this show was never the hit it so deserved to be. It was richly complex, deeply profound, and touched me to the core, staying with me, still, through the years. Perhaps it was too daring for the narrow, provincial American mind.

Much has been said here, but to truly appreciate the music, I think you had to have seen the original show live.

I was fortunate enough to see the original cast at the Kennedy Center in D.C. 1993 (or so) and will NEVER forget it. It is WAY up there at the top of my favorites of all Broadway shows, and I have seen almost ALL of Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows at least once-- in both D.C. and NYC-- since the beginning.

If ASPECTS OF LOVE ever comes around again, don't miss it!

During the 1980s, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a number of pieces that were, admittedly, entirely popular theatre: Cats, Starlight Express, and Phantom of the Opera. And he did Aspects of Love.

It is almost impossible to say how different Aspects of Love is from all of Andrew Lloyd Webber's other shows. The show continuously introduces a variety of themes into the mix, and almost no piece of music exists in isolation. The score is used in witty ways throughout, such that Aspects of Love does not have isolated songs, but is rather a complete work.

Aspects is a story about a young man, Alex (played by Michael Ball), who falls in love with an actress (Rose, played by Ann Crumb) as he travels through France. They break into his uncle's villa in the Pyrenees, and things begin to get complex once she meets his uncle George (Kevin Colson). We also meet a variety of characters, such as the Italian sculptress Giulietta Trapani (Kathleen Rowe McAllen) and Jenny (Diana Morrison), daughter of Rose & George. Well...ahem. Yes. The plot's complicated (spans at least 15 years), and I'm not telling you any more of it, but you'll need a road map to keep up with the relationships when you listen to this.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has done some really good and great shows-Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down the Wind, and Beautiful Game to name five-but this is his masterpiece. Aspects of Love's music is hardly the pop stylings of Phantom of the Opera (Music of the Night is based on material he didn't want to put in Aspects), but rather a set of delicate themes that carefully underscore a very dark, intimate, complex love story.

This is also the first show with lyrics that were up to the standard set by the Rice & Lloyd Webber shows of the '70s-definitely the first time that Evita's wit was matched. Don Black and Charles Hart worked the lyrics into the music perfectly, and it all seems to flow as, not a selection of songs that are programmatic, but as a single, triumphant piece of musical theatre.

The lead here is Michael Ball, better known as Marius in 3 of 4 major Les Miz English language recordings. Ball is a good romantic lead, with the voice to support a show like Aspects. You could argue that he puts a rather positive spin on the character of Alex in this recording (where the lyrics may suggest a more negative impact), but he seems very human to me especially in the second act, when he's faced with very difficult ethical decisions...in any case, I'm a Michael Ball fan.

Ann Crumb is Rose Vibert, the actress. (This role was played on Broadway by Sarah Brightman.) Ms. Crumb captures the character of Rose perfectly, as someone who seems rather afraid of being cut off from others. Kevin Colson plays a great George, Alex's uncle and overall playboy. He seems to breathe the spirit of an old man who doesn't really grow up until much later on in life. Giulietta Trapani is played by Kathleen Rowe McAllen, whose performance isn't quite at the level of Ms. Crumb's, but still has a spirit and life all its own. Diana Morrison is wonderfully naïve as Jenny, and puts a lot into the character.

This is a must-have for any ALW fan, really. Try not to judge it on one listen-take in the cleverness of the lyrics and music, more of which will come out each time you hear the recording. We're very fortunate that this is very nearly complete (some spoken dialogue and a few lines of chorus lyrics are cut), as it does flow together beautifully. It's a shame that a show like Phantom, which was most likely written largely for the money, is still on Broadway and in London's West End, whereas Aspects of Love is all but forgotten.

So, whether you're a fan or a naysayer of ALW, this is one recording you really should check out. You certainly won't come out with the same impression of Lloyd Webber as you started with...

I have some genuine complaints about Aspects. The story is bizarre to the point that it is almost unsettling. There are very few likable characters. As for the score: it is entirely true that the same few melodies repeat over and over. That's it for my complaints. The music is remarkably beautiful and moving. I actually LIKE the fact that the "Love Changes Everything" melody is repeated so often. It's subtly different every time and sung in different contexts. It's the main theme of the play and really holds it together. Michael Ball has to have the most flawless voice I have ever heard. There is one line, probably about halfway through the first cd, where he sings, "No, George, you wouldn't dare!" Hearing Michael Ball sing that line alone is worth the thirty bucks for the two cd set, I promise you. My favorite track, though, is cd 2, track 23, between Alex and Jenny... I have been listening to that track over and over again for years. I can see why a lot of people won't like Aspects. It's not all charged with energy the way Phantom and Superstar are. But I think it is just as good as those, if not better. I have to reccomend it as one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's best ever.

After the spectacular rock musical of Jesus Christ, the extravaganza of Cats, and the glorious operatic Phantom, Andrew Lloyd Webber surprised the world with his down-to-earth "Aspects of Love", a musical adapted from the novel by David Garnett. The unusualness is also reflected in the music. What we hear is an intimate and rather contrasting music score played on a smaller orchestra - a gentle and elegant chamber piece.

The show is about love. The relationships woven among the five main characters: Alex, Rose, George, Jenny and Giulietta, is complicated enough to confuse the audience, and yet, with Don Black/Charles Hart's witty lyrics and Andrew Lloyd Webber's stroke of genius, the story is unfolded methodically. The musical is opened, uniquely, with one male soloist (Michael Ball) singing "Love Changes Everything", which distills the essence of the show. While Andrew Lloyd Webber wrapped the well-knitted plot with his intertwining music, he didn't forget bringing out half dozen of enchanting songs, which can also be performed singly in concert. Besides "Love Changes Everything", there are "Seeing is Believing", "Anything But Lonely", "The First Man You Remember", "Mermaid Song", "There is More to Love"...... The melodies simply strike you to the heart the first time you hear them and will stay there for the rest of your life.

The cast is wonderful. It feels like character Alex was written for Michael Ball. I don't know if it is Michael who made Alex so charming or it is Alex who made Michael so irresistible. His fully voiced, straight from the belly B-flat at the end of Act II alone is already one magic of the show, and yet, he offers more: his vibrato and his croon, his passion and his tenderness. I think Ann Crumb is very successful in creating Rose. She has a strong and beautiful voice and her acting is convincing and truthful. Character Rose sometimes might not be likable or even hateful, but she is very human and she is real. She is a woman with desire, weakness, and sincerity. "Anything But Lonely" tells everything about her: bitterness, loss, unyieldingness, and perhaps more...

It doesn't matter what the critics had said about the show or if it enjoyed box office success, this show is an immortal work of art. It deals with the very basic emotion of human being - love. For me this is a winner because it deeply reaches the human hearts and encompasses the reality of aspects of love with an immense delicacy. After all life is real, and so is love.

I've had this album for quite a while, now, and have refrained from writing a review, and still now, I find myself nearly as speechless, but I will do my best. Firstly, I should get a brief disclaimer out of the way - Everyone has some music that gets them thru difficult times, and this is mine, so I may be perhaps just a little biased. This is why I have refrained from writing a review of «Aspects...» for so long. There. Now I can rate for you what is there on the album.

Your overall opinion of Aspects will probably hinge on two things:

1. Are you at all a fan of any of Lloyd Webber's work?
2. How romantic a mood are you in?

It's easy to pass this work off as romanticised tripe with hardly a memorable tune that isn't overplayed, as many are inclined to do. I've probably made it clear by now that I disagree. I would rate this alongside The Beautiful Game, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita as one of Lloyd Webber's finest pieces, for reasons beyond mere personal ones, and I will here make an attempt to list them:

1. Structure: This show is amazingly well crafted musically, among the best that I've heard from the couple hundred scores I've listened to. It comprises approximately forty or fifty separate themes (though it may not seem as much upon first listen), some no more than a few seconds long, some encompassing entire songs, that interweave amongst each other with a near-unimaginable fluidity. The unity of themes is as much thematic as character-based. I could probably write a hundred-page dissertation on this aspect alone, but the good people at Amazon have better sense than to allow me to do that, so I will use the example of what is undoubtedly the most well-known theme from the show - «Love Changes Everything.» If you only know the show thru this song, you will never think of the song in the same light again once you have heard the entire score. It is very much a bittersweet melody, with lyrics to match. If you think of the show as a cycle, beginning with Alex in the train station, reflecting on his past couple decades of failed romance, about to begin anew with (hopefully) the right woman, the music reflects the innocence of love's beginnings. It starts out as Alex's theme, before being passed in the most haunting fashion imaginable in Act II, to Jenny. For those who don't know the story, I won't ruin it, but just think of the timing involving her, and you'll never hear the score the same way again.

2. Completeness: Preserved on this album is the complete show as it opened in London, minus about a minute from the café scene in Act I, another minute from the circus scene in Act II, and about ten miscellaneous lines elsewhere. If all shows could be as well documented!

3. Performers: The original cast, in this case, is a perfect one. Here's a run-down - Michael Ball (of Les Misérables and just-flat-out-being-Michael-Ball ™ fame) as Alex has never had a role that suited him better. Ann Crumb's Rose needs to be heard to be believed. I can only imagine how effective her «Anything But Lonely» must have been live. Her talent as at least a vocal actress shines through in ways I rarely hear on a cast album. Kevin Colson, as George, adds a gorgeous touch as a man who grows up too late to ever mature. I've found a number of people to be unimpressed with Kathleen Rowe MacAllen's Giulietta, and I can understand their critiques, but I'm far from being in agreement. Her voice may not be of the same quality as a number of other performers on the album. It sounds to me like she's an alto. I have made this point in other reviews, and I must restate that being an alto is not a crime. I rather enjoy her performance, as a magnificent woman with an unmatchable wisdom, compassion, and overall joie de vivre, as the character seems to be written. Diana Morrison's Jenny is, again, well performed as Rose's naïve daughter. The ensemble work is magnificent as well, for what small amount there is. Overall, this is one of the strongest casts I've ever heard assembled on an album, simply because each member acts his/her way through the score without ever sacrificing a pitch - Every note is justified. Highly commendable!

4. Story: I made a point earlier that it's a story you must be in the mood for. It can be looked at in two basic lights, one being run-of-the-mill romantic fare from a ten-cent bin harlequin romance novel; the other being under the guise of the show's (and novel's) title, as aspects, a dissection and examination of love, if you will. I refuse, however, under either guise to give a plot synopsis. You really should hear it unfold for yourself.

5. Score: Quite possibly Andrew Lloyd Webber's finest - a high artistic achievement, utilising his thematic style to the finest extent. And of course, that's the whole reason to buy this album all along, now, isn't it?

"Aspects of Love" is certainly the oddest musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is hard to think of another musical in Broadway history that opens with its best song the way "Aspects" does with "Love Changes Everything" ("Comedy Tonight" from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" finally comes to mind). Apparently what happened was that Lloyd Webber was working on "Phantom" at the same time [and[ songs from "Aspect" and giving them to what would be his mega-hit. It will never ever happen, but it sure would be interesting to be able to hear the "original" versions of each show to see how both musicals, as well as their individual songs, were transformed. We should note that after the relative failure of this adaptation from David Garnett's minor novel, Lloyd Webber's next endeavor was a musical version of a classic Hollywood film. "Aspects of Love" is certainly not a great musical, but it is a solid one. The problem was that the expectations with Lloyd Webber are always a half-dozen songs the audience can hum on the way out of the theater, and you simply do not get that here.

This work of Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of his best works, if not his best. I am a romantic at heart, and am taken by every song. I saw this show when it toured the country here in Minneapolis, and fell in love with it so, that I ended up going the next night, obtaining 3rd row center seats. Had it not been the last performance, I would have gone again! The casting in this production on CD is perfect, Michael Ball is at his height, George,Rose and the other characters are enchanting, and George's daughter has a voice so innocent, it almost reminds me of the beautiful sounds of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. This is very underrated, and I only prey that there will be another tour or revival, because seeing on stage, I laughed, I cried. Listen to this score, which comes together with Webber's usual incredible orchestrations. It is worth every penny!

When my parents saw the US tour of "Aspects of Love", they absolutely hated it. They were greatly disturbed by the plot, so much so that they only remembered what they didn't like. I wasn 6 when the show debuted in '89, and heard the recording in bits a pieces. Then a miralce happened. We were at the local video rental store and we discovered the Andrew Lloyd Webber Gold Collection of music videos of his best known songs. We popped the video in and there was Michael Ball, ascot in tow, singing "Love Changes Everything". Well, if you ask me HE changes everything. Ever since that moment, I must have been 8 or 9, I have been hopelessly in love with this man. I bought the "Aspects" recording shortly after, and of course thought myself a sort of Jenny. I still sing the songs all the time, and even had my complete score signed by Michael Ball. My father and I sit at the piano and sing "The First Man You Remember", I sing "Anything But Lonely", there is not a bad song in the score. THIS is what Andrew Lloyd Webber should be known for. "Phantom" is great and all, but this is the masterpiece. There is so much emotion in the score, and Michael Ball's unique voice transfers so many feelings. You ache when he aches and laugh when he laughs. You only wish you had a cousin like him......... who's been in love with your mother and your father's ex-girlfriend......But anyway, Michael shines as always. If you like this CD, which you will...you MUST start a Michael Ball collection. The songs he chooses are not quite as "classical" sounding as Josh Groban or Andrea Bocelli, Michael tends to keep to the B'Way and Pop genres covering everyone from Robbie Williams to Celine Dion and Donna Summer. Although the rest of the cast has rather disappeared, Michael still goes strong, just ending a stint on the West End in the Dick Van Dyke role in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". I'm telling you, this man can do no wrong. Michael Ball Shines.