THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER IN CONCERT at the Auditorium Theatre October 17-22
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Oh, yes, I know many opera lovers and serious music buffs will protest that Lloyd Webber appeals to a wide public and that therefore his work represents the lowest common denominator possible. His music is commercial, to be sure, but it has a warmth, vitality, and style that are unmistakably his own. And while he certainly has an incredible nose for what the public wants, his shows never cater directly to public taste; rather, he knows exactly where to meet his audience so that he can take it on a challenging journey, which I would argue actually raises its aesthetic sensitivities.
Some might add that Lloyd Webber is shamelessly Romantic and tonal, and that he incorporates rock and pop idioms–surely no contemporary opera composer worthy of the title would do such things. Yet Lloyd Webber is certainly no more romantically manipulative than Puccini, who was writing beautiful but syrupy melodies at a time when tonality was breaking down. Nor is he more tonal than minimalist opera composers such as Philip Glass and John Adams. As for incorporating popular music and its techniques and rhythms, what was Verdi doing with all of those oompah-pahs? Sure, the situations of Cats and Starlight Express are silly, but they look like Shakespeare next to most Gilbert and Sullivan–and they don’t look too bad next to Cosi fan tutte or The Magic Flute.
Jesus Christ Superstar began as a double album, and it was only after its success that a Broadway production was planned. That totally distorted the work’s original character: not a rock opera so much as an oratorio or passion. Ray Walker sang the title song with emotion and clarity, but the ensemble was not fully warmed up, and the piece lacked its customary energy. By the time Sarah Brightman came out and sang Mary Magdalene’s “Everything’s Alright” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” songs made famous by Yvonne Elliman, things were faring much better. Brightman was amplified–as were all the singers–so her true power was impossible to gauge (I suspect she has a small to midsized voice), but her ability to clearly enunciate and to bring off the tenderness and confusion of Magdalene’s love for Jesus was extraordinary.
The Lloyd Webber Requiem–written as a memorial to his father and premiered with tenor Placido Domingo, Brightman, boy soprano Paul Miles-Kingston, and conductor Lorin Maazel in 1985–has the unusual distinction of bringing Latin to the pop charts with “Pie Jesu.” The work’s original beauty came from the unique pairing of Brightman and Miles-Kingston, both of whom sang with very straight, pure tones and sounded almost ethereal. That effect was obliterated when Brightman sang it as a solo, with a flute playing the line given to the boy soprano. A faster tempo and a synthesizer instead of an organ further marred the effect.
