Encore

by

Elaine Paige

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I only recently heard Elaine on "Bravo's" bio. I became absorbed in the voice and music. The next day I had to see what was available on compact disc. "Encore" had most of the music I had heard the night before. I was not familiar with the music from "Sunet Boulevard". All three selections from SB are memorable. "I Know Him So Well" was also new to me. Another hidden gem. "Memory", "I Don't Know How To Love Him", and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" need no further praise. I'm just happy to hear yet another great recording of these classics. The highlight of this CD were the selections from "Piaf". These three songs blew me away. I am not a fan of Piaf's voice and style. However, "Mon Dieu" and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" took me to some enchanted place within. I found myself completely lost to the rest of the world when I pugged my headphones in. This was a total music experience. Through much persistence I finally located a copy of "Piaf" and can't wait to hear the complete collection of Piaf songs as done by Elaine Paige. There isn't song on this CD not worth having.

I really adore Elaine Paige performance especially when I saw her at the Masterpiece Concert in Beijing. (which by the way is a nice DVD) I read the reviews on this album and decided to get it for the review about it was so wonderful. Well, I can't say that I totally like it. There are some truly wonderful music and some that I don't care for. Here's my thoughts:

There are songs from 7 musicals featured in the album. Let's start with "Sunset Boulevard." There are 3 songs from it and all of them are wonderful. I can say that she has become my favourite Norma Desmond. Next are songs from "Evita," a show that made her really famous since she's the original London Evita. "Don't Cry for me" here is the live version which is quite good but I have some other better versions to be frankly. I don't like how they turn "Another Suitcase" into a pop song. It kinda ruins it for me a bit.

The third show is "Cats," another trademark of Elaine Paige. Again, "Memory" is not what I expected. I like the version from the Original London Cast Recording or the Movie version better. Then there's "I Know Him So Well" from "Chess," a duet with Barbara Dickson. There's nothing I could say about this song. It's brilliant and is a lot better than the Broadway version. Then come "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from "Jesus Christ Superstar"... Well, the song's fine, not impressive or anything.

Songs from "Les Miserables" are the ones that I have my expectation on the most. The live version of "I Dreamed a Dream" is sooooo good. I love it. I can picture her as a great Fantine but her "On My Own," on the other hand, is just so-so. I think she's a bit old for Eponine or maybe I'm just use to the Frances Ruffelle's version. And the last three songs are from "Piaf." This really surprises me! I wasn't prepared to like the songs this much since I didn't know anything about the show at all. "Mon Dieu" and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" is absolutely wonderful. But the best song goes to the English version of "Hymne a l'Amour". It's so good and so heart-wrenching. I wish she would record it in French one day.

So there you have it, my opinion on the album. There are some wonderful songs on the album but I still skip a lot of them from time to time. Get it if you're a true fan of Elaine or interested to experience some of her works. For I think this album really shows off her past experience on different musical roles.