Andrew Lloyd Webber Releases Symphonic Suites from EVITA, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA & SUNSET BOULEVARD

Andrew Lloyd Webber's new album, Symphonic Suites, is released today on Decca Records. Music from three of the composer's best-loved musicals - Phantom of the Opera, Evita, and Sunset Boulevard - is arranged for the 81-piece Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra and captured in a stunning recording at Lloyd Webber's own Theatre Royal Drury Lane. A filmed performance of the Suites will be released on YouTube on November 3, 2021 at 7:30pm GMT.

The music featured has a unique, enduring appeal to audiences worldwide. The Phantom of the Opera re-opened on Broadway this week and this year it celebrated its 35th anniversary on London's West End. The filmed production of Sunset Boulevard, which first opened in London in 1993 at Leicester Curve, was re-released for audiences to view this summer, and Evita has been in performance in London for 43 years.

The Symphonic Suites were recorded on the largest stage in London in Lloyd Webber's spectacular, newly-restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane by veteran producers Peter Cobbin and Kirsty Whalley, the former Abbey Road team whose credits span Prince, Kanye West, U2, the London Symphony Orchestra, Ed SHeeran, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as soundtracks for The Hobbit and Harry Potter.

Lloyd Webber's music is arranged for orchestra by Andrew Cottee, whose composition and arrangement credits include Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones, Seth McFarlane, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. The Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra is conducted by Simon Lee. For many of the orchestra's musicians, the April recording of the Symphonic Suites was their first chance to return to live recording after the Covid-19 pandemic. The recording was conducted in line with all Covid-19 protocols in place in April 2021.

"I hope that this album might now take on a new meaning: the music which represents the triumphant and hopeful return of live music, theatre and entertainment across the world," says Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This week, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera was heard in a very different setting in the composer's first ever DJ set. Phantom devotees ("Phans") and A-list guests at the show's re-opening on Broadway in New York were treated to new remixes of Lloyd Webber's music, mixed with hits from the likes of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande.

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Symphonic Suites Tracklist

1. Andrew Lloyd Webber - Evita Symphonic Suite [24:11]
2. Andrew Lloyd Webber - Sunset Boulevard Symphonic Suite [23:54]
3. Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom of the Opera Symphonic Suite [21:23]