Customer Reviews

Phantom of the Opera and Other Broadway Hits

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

 

 

The main reason I bought this CD was to experience Claire Moore in the role of Christine. She was the original understudy for Sarah Brightman in the Original London Cast and took over when the original three stars transferred to Broadway. Her interpretation is wonderful and very different from the way she sounded on the original cast recording of "Miss Saigon", as an operatic score would demand. John Barrowman is very good as Raoul and this recording shows why he is one of the rising stars in London Theatre. But Graham Bickley as the Phantom. . .come on!!! He sings the role with clinical precision, but no passion, and hasn't a thing to lose since he never played the Phantom on stage. Luckily, the producers of this album realized their mistake pretty quickly and re-recorded it with Ethan Freeman in the role of the Phantom. Mr. Freeman has had a distinguished run in London on stage as the Phantom and it's good to have his interpretation recorded for posterity. A great improvement. If you want to buy Graham Bickley's recording for a complete collection of Phantom memorabilia: go for it--it's not too expensive and Claire Moore is worth having. But the Ethan Freeman recording features exactly the same Claire Moore/John Barrowman cuts as the original, plus the song "Phantom of the Opera" duetted much more competently by Claire and Ethan. Your call.

I totally agree with another reviewer that it's a great CD, but Graham Bickley as the Phantom wasn't the greatest choice they could've made. There are only two of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals that I really enjoyed; this and CATS. The music is beautiful and Claire Moore does a fantastic job taking over Sarah Brightman's place as Christine! It's all beautiful! If you haven't heard any of the music from Phantom of the Opera and you're curious, this is the CD to buy! It costs...well..not much; and if you've heard the songs and you like them, go ahead and spend the money for the 2 CD set, that's what I did, and it's worth it! ENJOY!

Many people have heard of "The Phantom of the Opera" and most of them have seen it. It is a beautiful story which is only excelled by the music in it! Your Broadway collection is incomplete with out this CD!!

I love this CD. I can dance to it, sing to it, and it really has a lot of emotion in it. "Music of the Night" is my absolute favorite song, and I wish I could hear more of it.

This CD contains music from Phantom of the Opera AND OTHER BROADWAY HITS, performed by the Orlando Pops Orchestra. Singing is by Marguerite Krull and Justin White.

These are NOT the singers mentioned in the majority of reviews for this item. I am sure that those reviews reflect reasonable opinions for performances not on this CD, but their appearance here do a great injustice to great songs which are well sung.Phantom of the Opera and Other Broadway Hits

I first discovered this CD hidden well beneath the depths of my father's collection. after seeing the play on broadway, i decided to pop it in. that was my mistake.

THIS WILL NEVER COMPARE TO THE ORIGINAL RECORDING!!! who picked Graham Bickley to be the Phantom? i mean, come on! he's a singing joke next to Michael Crawford, anyone would understand that. I mean, sure, the guy can sing, but simply being able to pull off a few notes does NOT make you one of the most immortal charecters of all time. this is something that Michael Crawford does, and pulls it off with perfection. BUUUT, unfortunately, Graham is not a strong candidate. there's no interest in his singing. it's all wooden and boring.

claire moore, on the other hand, i rather liked. i read what some people have said before, but i slightly disagree. i thought that she had a wonderfully passionate voice. she actually has charecter to it that even sarah brightman could never have. i'm sorry, but sarah is suffering a simmilar affliction that graham is unfortunate to be influenced by. both are good singers, with all the technicalities correct. but when it comes to a truly passionate performance, moore and crawford have it right.

so buy this, if you wish. it's a good cd, though the orchestrations are not that "WOW" either. the rest of the cast is adequate. but i would recommend the highlights of the original recording. sorry, i'm a purist.

FYI: The version of this CD that I have is all Phantom songs.

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!

Am I the only one not enjoying Claire Moore? I find her voice stiff and operatic, and not excactly enjoyable on the very high and very low notes. And her vibrato on the high notes is very un-natural. When I hear Christines, I want to be seduced by their nightingale voices. Well. Claire Moore is NOT a nightingale...
And why is Graham Bickley casted as the Phantom? He would make the greatest Raoul - but the Phantom? No. He's never played the part, and he's not got the haunting voice the Phantom should have. I have really enjoyed Mr. Bickley before, in Miss Saigon, Which Witch and other demanding musicals, and he was actually the reason why I bought the CD. But boy, did he disappoint me. He's doing an OK version of "Music of the night" and "Past the point of no return", but as I mentioned, he's a lot more "Raoul-material".
I would love to hear more of Gay Soper as Madame Giry, but unfortuneately, she's barely hearable in "Primadonna".
The other main roles is doing more than fine. It's nice to hear a Meg with a voice. It took me some time to get used this records Raoul, but now I even enjoy him.... And the Carlotta is hitting the notes.
This CD has got the newer lyrics, for example on "Think of me" and "Wishing....again". I, of course, are more fond of the original texts...
The orchestra is doing fine, although the pipe organ-like sound which is in "Overture" and the title duet, sounds really, really fake!
All in all, you can hear that this is a cheaper CD than the other cast CD's, but it's worth it's money. I would give it 3,5. And if you are a fan, you simply ought to own this. At least just to compare Graham Bickley and Claire Moore to Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman...

Well, I was looking up my favorite Phantom music when I found this CD. I listened to the samples of music they gave, and was entranced by the lovely Phantom and the voice of Christine. I bought it without a second thought.

Though I assumed that it was a mistake that the song 'Memory' from Cats played as 'Music of the Night' I assumed that was simply a mistake and dismissed it.

However, I got the CD today, and eagerly put it into my walkman. Out came a Christine and Phantom duet I had never heard before. And was eager to avoid!!!

They were horrid singers!! Definetly NOT the Angels I had anticipated....

Let the buyer beware... I'm terribly disappointed.

I know i'm really young but when I first heard the Phantom of the opera i was fasinated. i never really heard the cd but i used to own the tape and it was great