Andrew Lloyd Webber is world-famous as the composer of the musicals Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, but his Requiem has also achieved international acclaim. Winner of a Grammy Award, this grand-sounding masterpiece of contemporary classical music, written in 1985, is dedicated to the memory of Webber's late father. The recording of a concert by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester on June 15, 2023, a tribute to the British composer who celebrated his 75th birthday in March 2023, is now presented on CD by BR-KLASSIK. This live recording from the Herz-Jesu Church in Munich features the Bavarian Radio Chorus accompanied by a select ensemble of soloists, under the baton of principal guest conductor Patrick Hahn.

Jesus Christ Superstar started life as a most improbable concept album from an equally unlikely label, Decca Records, which had not, until then, been widely known for groundbreaking musical efforts. It was all devised by then 21-year-old composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and 25-year-old lyricist Tim Rice. Jesus Christ Superstar had been conceived as a stage work, but lacking the funds to get it produced, the two collaborators instead decided to use an album as the vehicle for introducing the piece, a fairly radical rock/theater hybrid about the final days in the life of Jesus as seen from the point of view of Judas. If its content seemed daring (and perhaps downright sacrilegious), the work, a "sung-through" musical echoing operatic and oratorio traditions, was structurally perfect for an album; just as remarkable as its subject matter was the fact that its musical language was full-blown rock music.

This recording, featuring what amounts to virtually an all-star contingent of players - including Rod Argent, Herbie Flowers (whose playing is outstanding throughout), Jon Hiseman, and Gary Moore - is reminiscent of other rock-classical hybrids of the period, a slightly awkward fit highlighted by charming and delightful moments, along with some bracing moments for the band.
This is a genuine oddity in the career output of Andrew Lloyd Webber, growing out of a personal/familial vignette. The piece, a set of variations on Niccolo Paganini's "Caprice No. 24" (which had previously inspired adaptations by Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninov, and Boris Blacher, among others), came about because Andrew Lloyd Webber lost a bet with his cellist brother Julian Lloyd Webber…

Surrender was released five years after the end of Sarah's marriage to Andrew Lloyd Webber, a testament to their continued mutual professional respect. The description below is taken from the album's liner notes, written by Lloyd Webber: “I first worked with Sarah Brightman in 1980 when she joined the original cast of CATS. I was always very impressed by the potential of her voice and began writing for her in 1983.

Marking the triumphant return of live music to London's West End, Andrew Lloyd Webber has brought together an 81-piece orchestra to record Symphonic Suites - an album featuring three newly-orchestrated suites from his award-winning musicals Evita, Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard. This recording is the first live performance to take place at the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane, following his LW Theatres' 2-year, œ60m total restoration.

Broadcast Easter night 2018 on NBC, this electric live presentation of the Tim Rice/ Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera chronicling the final week in the life of Christ offers unforgettable performances by John Legend in the lead, as well as Sara Bareilles (Mary Magdalene), Brandon Victor Dixon (Judas), and Alice Cooper (King Herod). All the favorites from the score–“Heaven on Their Minds,” "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "Gethsemane," "Everything's Alright," and the rest–are memorably presented.

For better or worse, Andrew Lloyd Webber's adaptation of Gaston Leroux's gothic horror/romance novel has done for stage musicals what Spielberg's Jaws did for fish stories, with worldwide sales of its original cast album approaching 25 million. While director Joel Schumacher's film turns on his typically ambitious visual verve, its new film soundtrack recording has been paradoxically focused in scope, yet beefed up dynamically via the brawny presence of a hundred piece orchestra and The London Boys Choir. This double-disc version showcases all of Phantom's songs, with Gerard Butler imparting a welcome, youthful sensuality to his Phantom, making a fine foil for Emily Rossum's ever-conflicted Christine. Original show orchestrator David Cullen has fashioned compelling new contemporary arrangements to frame Webber's songs–which now conclude with the lilting, upbeat new ballad he wrote for the film, "Learn to Be Lonely," sung by Minnie Driver's Carlotta.

The 2011 London Palladium production was probably the most impressive stage production I have ever seen. This CD provides an excellent memory of the show with all the musical items. For those who haven't seen the show it is a welcome change from the Judy Garland soundtrack from the iconic film and it includes the new songs written for the stage show by Andrew Lloyd Webber…