Customer Reviews

Songs From Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera, With Bonus Songs From Sunset Boulevard (1993 Studio Cast)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This studio-cast album of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA features a brilliant cast, accompanied by the Munich Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Owen Jones as well as the National Symphony under the direction of Martin Yates.

Claire Moore gives a thrilling performance as Christine. Moore was the first replacement for Sarah Brightman in the London production, where she played opposite the Phantom's of both Michael Crawford and Ethan Freeman. Moore is especially wonderful in "Think of Me" and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again", and her erotically-charged duet with Graham Bickley (as the Phantom) in "The Point of No Return" is another highlight.

John Barrowman's beautiful voice is well-suited to the role of Christine's dashing suitor Raoul. His duet with Claire Moore in "All I Ask of You" is heartbreaking.

Rounding out the cast are Gay Soper as Madame Giry, Megan Kelly as Meg, Sandra Dugdale as Carlotta, Mark Wynter as Andre, Michael Bauer as Firmin and Ramon Remedios as Piangi.

A good recording for completists and Claire Moore fans.

...and that's saying something. I was a die-hard Crawford/Brightman fan until I heard this. Claire Moore showed me what true passion and strength is (Sarah's voice tends to lean toward cottony and light, losing much of that passion that's needed for these remarkable songs), and Barrowman knocked me off my feet with his voice. I thought Crawford was fantastic, but Barrowman is just phenomenal.

I especially like the lilting British intonations. :D

Actually got this cd because of John Barrowman (Raoul). But it's really quite good and a great addition to my other versions (stage & screen) of the POTO.

The product was outstanding and the customer service was better than outstanding. The seller even went the extra mile of playing the entire CD to ensure that there were no skips on the CD. The product arrived in a few days after I ordered it. I hope that we can do business again in the near future.

Hal Bruyere

This is a good recording, but I'm spoiled in that I compare everything with the original London cast (Crawford/Brightman). In my opinion, Crawford is the best Phantom ever. Of course, I enjoy listening to the different interpretations of the music. It's interesting. I think it will grow on me with repeated listenings.

The CD isn't bad at all, theres NO question their voices are talented, but i think Ethan Freeman has a hard time controling his voice. He took Music of the Night and did his own rendition and i just don't like the way he did it, although i LOVED Past the Point of no return. I recommend getting the original cast recording if you want Phantom of the Opera. As for Sunset Boulevard, the pieces were absolutly out of this world, I give that recording a 5+. Graham Bickley's voice as well as Kim Criswell's voice is so seducing. Cathrine Porter almost sounds like Sarah Brightman. Sunset Boulevard is the BEST!

There is only one weak link in this CD: the orchestrations could be better. But other that that, I have no problems with it. Ethan Freeman is phenomenal as the Phantom (much better than Crawford, IMO), and after seeing him on stage, I was delighted to find a POTO recording with him. The four songs and cast from Sunset Boulevard are a great added bonus, and for someone who's never heard any songs from Sunset Boulevard, this is a great introduction. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who's searching for a wonderful Phantom recording. I only wish that it was a complete, not highlights, recording!

This album is the BEST money can buy. If you love the broadway show or if you just want the music, BUY IT NOW. This is excellent, simply excellent. And that's all there is too it!!!

Being a big fan of The Phantom of the Opera, I already owned the original London cast recording, the film soundtrack, and the Canadian cast recording when I bought this one.
What needs to be said first is that the Phantom in this recording, Ethan Freeman, outperforms the three other ones. This album's "Music of the Night" was the first I could finally enjoy with some strong and passionate singing and without the pretentious and/or technique-lacking (Crawford) or even talentless (Butler, the guy in the film) singing. Indeed, Freeman is the first true "singer" of the title role in a recording. It is shameful that this is so, for the Phantom ideally should have a strong and trained voice. In Leroux's novel, he skillfully sings opera with Christine. Lloyd Webber's score appropiately gives the Phantom some beautiful and difficult things to sing (take the high B in "Music of the Night"!), but the other three have all fallen short for different reasons, which I need not mention.
Claire Moore plays Christine very well with her apparently classically trained voice. She is superior to the pretentious Sarah Brightman and to the severely technique-lacking Emmy Rossum. What is Christine supposed to be? An opera singer!! Of course I do not and will never expect Christine (or the Phantom, for that matter) to be a full pledged lyric soprano (tenor), but good singing always helps. I think Moore is equally meritorious as Rebecca Caine (also with that operatic quality) in the Canadian recording.
As I listen to "All I Ask of You," I cannot reason why they cast John Barrowman as Raoul. Though perhaps better overall than Patrick Wilson's Raoul (film), he falls short of the talents of Freeman and Moore. He has this "happy pop" quality in the beautiful and famous love duet which completely drowns the effort of Moore. Did he purposely sing it this way and hide a better controlled and bigger voice? I don't know but probably not. Byron Nease from the Canadian recording still is the best Raoul.
Another merit of this recording is the National Symphony and Munich Symphony Orchestras. "The Phantom of the Opera" intrestingly and to my delight uses less (how much less I can't tell you) electronic and percussion intruments. Again, this is much more authentic of the time period, setting (below an opera house), and legitimate musical theatre.
Yes, I am a big opera and "classical" music fan. Yes, Lloyd Webber's score deserves it attention. And yes, it is heavily "classsically" influenced among a couple of other musicals. So it deserves to be sung LIKE an opera. Again, this doesn't mean we need Luciano Pavarotti and Kiri Te Kanawa to come to Broadway and sing it, but singers who can sing (not belt, shout, speak-sing, or whatever) suffice. The creators of this album evidently understood this (more or less) and have therefore given us the most beautifully performed (though most obscure) version.

This recording of Phantom was not that great. First of all, the orchestrations were so unbelievable weak for the first 4 songs, then got better.
I really did not like Claire Moore's voice on this recording. Her voice is weak, and unemotional, besides the fact that she is not a strong soprano (at least not here), she truly sounds like a shrill mezzo-soprano. When she sings the high E at the end of POTO, she sounds like me trying to hit it anywhere but the shower. She can't compare to Rebecca Caine (Canada recording) or even Sarah Brightman (London Recording).

Graham Bickley as the Phantom was slightly better, but not as strong as Michael Crawford, and he can't even hold a candle to Phantom I saw live, Brad Little. His Music Of The Night is better than some, but not great.

John Barrowman is okay as Raoul, but I've heard much better. He has slightly more emotion than his cast mates, but loses it during All I Ask Of You.

The Good Thing About It:
1. Another Phantom CD!!!!!

2. It switches back and forth from bad to good.
3. During Prima Donna you can actually understand what someone besides Carlotta is singing!