Although the soundtrack to Victor/Victoria came out before this 2002 configuration (once even in an expanded edition), this was the most complete version yet, including as it does 13 previously unreleased tracks. That might be less exciting than it sounds, as all but one of those are instrumental selections by the MGM Studio Orchestra rather than pieces with vocals by the musical's two stars, Julie Andrews and Robert Preston (though there is a previously unavailable rehearsal of "The Shady Dame From Seville" with Preston on vocals). Still, in its favor this package also boasts mastering from the original 24-track tapes; the complete version of "You and Me" (with both Preston and Andrews on vocals) that was heard on the original soundtrack album, though it wasn't sung to completion in the film; and learned liner notes on the film's production. As for the Henry Mancini-Leslie Bricusse-penned music, it's a throwback to the kinds of sounds that ruled the stage and screen a half-century prior to Victor/Victoria's release, albeit with better fidelity than you'd hear on a 1930s or 1940s film soundtrack, and with a somewhat saucier plot line than would have usually been allowed in some productions. Some might find the constant orchestral interludes on this expanded edition dilute the flow of Preston and Andrews' slyly humorous performances, but that's what you have your remote CD sequencer for. Richie Unterberger, Rovi
- Genre: Classical, Soundtrack
- Subgenre: Film Music, Easy Listening
- Category Orchestral Pop, Instrumental Pop, Mood Music, Original Score, Soundtracks
- Release Date: June 18, 2002
- Artist: Mancini Henry
- Additional Artist: Julie Andrews (Performer), Company (Performer), Lesley Ann Warren (Performer), Robert Preston (Performer)