I got the tape of the cast recording as soon as I could after seeing it the first time,
and it brought back all of the wonderful scenes. The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber seems to either
captivate or irritate, but not a lot in between. And, in fact, I find some of his music which falls
into each camp for me. Phantom is one of those for me in which there are no weak songs.

Perhaps
the best song of all is 'Music of the Night', a haunting minor key piece with superb lyrics which
weave hopefulness and darkness together skillfully. The chord change at the end of the song, from
minor to major and back to minor, is one of the most memorable changes in modern musicals.
Crawford's strong but expressive and quivering voice exudes emotion as the lyrics work to expand
perceptions:

'Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation;
darkness stirs and wakes
imagination..
Silently the senses abandon their defenses...'

Strong songs such as the title
piece, 'Phantom of the Opera', which mix traditional pipe-organ with modern electronic beats seem to
work well in getting the mood established for the power the Phantom has over Christine, played
beautifully by Sarah Brightman. Brightman became an international star in this role; she planned it
that way--some cynics might say she used Webber to get stardom and then dumped him (of course, I
would never say such a thing!). Brightman's voice was not the strongest, either on the recording or
on the stage; she has matured much since then; however, as the part of Christine was to be a
young-discovery, maturity and strength might have been misplaced in this role.

Raoul, Christine's
true love interest, is played by Steve Barton, who does a very good job, with a good vocal interplay
with Brightman on songs such as Think of Me and All I Ask of You, in addition to the interplay with
Crawford on various songs, particularly nearing the conclusion of the story.

However, my favourite
chorus piece has to be 'Notes', in which the proprietors of the opera, as well as the singers and
patrons, begin to receive notes from unknown sources, and suspect everyone save the real source, the
Phantom, who in the end comes into the scene -- this song is humourous, choral, and dramatic with
simultaneous and dissonant elements in wonderful exchange. It then spins down to a wonderful violin
strain that shows the fragile state of Christine in a beautiful musical way, hard to express in
words.

This is a fun musical, with tunes and a story which stay with one long after hearing, and
one that entices repeating over and over. Even though the 'craze' for Phantom has died down from its
height more than a decade ago, the strength of the musical shows in the strong sales and widespread
recognition that the songs from this musical generate.