Les Misérables Film Soundtrack Released Digitally Dec. 21

By Adam Hetrick
December 21, 2012

The single-disc highlights album of Tom Hooper's film adaptation of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Les Misèrables is released digitally Dec. 21.

The 20-track album, titled "Les Misèrables: Highlights From the Motion Picture Soundtrack," is released byUniversal Republic. The album features live vocals recorded on set during the filming of the epic musical.

It is currently available on iTunes, as well as Amazon.com, which is offering the full digital download for only $5. 

The cast, including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Aaron Tveit, recorded all of their singing live during filming, listening to piano accompaniment through a hidden earpiece. A 70-piece orchestra later gathered in London to record the full orchestrations that are featured in the film and on the soundtrack.

The movie also includes the new song "Suddenly" for Jean Valjean (Jackman) to sing. Producer Cameron Mackintosh previously told Playbill.com that the song "was something that Alain and Claude-Michel came up with, after a passage in the book, which beautifully explains what happens when [Valjean] takes Cosette from the inn and looks after her. Herbie's written a lovely lyric to it, and we're all delighted how it seems to fit into the film version."

The film, which arrives Christmas Day, stars Jackman as Valjean; Crowe as Javert; Hathaway as Fantine; Tveit as Enjolras; Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier; Amanda Seyfried as Cosette; Eddie Redmayne as Marius; Samantha Barks as Eponine; George Blagden as student Grantaire; Sacha Baron Cohen as Thenardier; and Daniel Huttlestone as child-hero Gavroche.

The track listing follows:

"Look Down" (Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and The Convicts)
"The Bishop" (Colm Wilkinson)
"Valjean's Soliloquy" (Hugh Jackman)
"At the End of the Day" (Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, The Factory Girls and Cast)
"I Dreamed a Dream" (Anne Hathaway)
"The Confrontation" (Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway)
"Castle On a Cloud" (Isabelle Allen)
"Master of the House" (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter)
"Suddenly" (Hugh Jackman)
"Stars" (Russell Crowe)
"ABC Cafe/Red and Black" (Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit and Cast)
"In My Life"/"A Heart Full of Love" (Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks)
"On My Own" (Samantha Barks)
"One Day More" (Cast)
"Drink With Me" (Eddie Redmayne, Daniel Huttlestone and Cast)
"Bring Him Home" (Hugh Jackman)
"The Final Battle" (Cast)
"Javert's Suicide" (Russell Crowe)
"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" (Eddie Redmayne)
"Epilogue" (Amanda Seyfriend, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Anne Hathaway, Colm Wilkinson and Cast)

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PlaybillStore.com also offers numerous cast albums and theatre recordings.