Julian Lloyd Webber Plays Andrew Lloyd Webber

Apparently Julian and Andrew Lloyd Webber's first collaboration occurred when the latter was nine and the former six; it took place on the stage of a toy theatre, and Julian's role was then limited to operating the collection of tiny plastic soldiers which made up the cast of Andrew's latest musical. More than 40 years have passed since then but, as Lloyd Webber Plays Lloyd Webber proves, the brothers still enjoy a remarkable familial and musical relationship. Julian first recorded a series of arrangements of hits from Andrew's musicals in 1990, and this disc updates the enterprise with six new tracks from Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game and Sunset Boulevard. The orchestral arrangements are deliciously soupy (especially "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera, "Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love and "God's Own Country" from The Beautiful Game) and suit Julian's appropriately swoony and uninhibited approach to the music. Fans of the Lloyd Webbers shouldn't be disappointed. --Warwick Thompson