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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have for any POTO fan, March 4, 2005
I'm a Sarah Brightman fan(atic), but I owe it all to the original cast recording. My love for Sarah began with the Phantom of the Opera, which I first listened to as a child. Now an adult more than a decade later, I'm still not tired of those songs.
I'll assume that if you're interested in this recording, you're already familiar with the songs and are interested in knowing how this holds up to the OLC (original London cast) recording and/or the new movie soundtrack.
Rebecca Caine is a terrific Christine. It took a little getting used to her, but her vocal prowess is commendable. She also comes from a more classical background and her voice sounds much more operatic than either Sarah or Emmy Rossum, so perhaps that is why a lot of reviewers have accused her of sounding 'old.' Sarah Brightman's strength is her tone color. Her voice has a pure, crystalline tone, which was the greatest thing she brought to the role of Christine, because just the sound of her voice could convince you she was Christine. Emmy Rossum, being a teenager, had no problem sounding like one convincingly (not to mention that she did a fine job of acting). What Rebecca Caine brings is fantastic vocal agility and control. Caine's Christine is one who could easily, easily, easily have unseated Carlotta. Whereas Sarah slides into her notes, Rebecca hits them. It's also a delight to hear the emotional 'oomph' she puts behind her performance.
I actually liked Colm Wilkinson. Colm Wilkinson is no Michael Crawford. Heck, he's no Gerard Butler. I would have to agree with other reviewers that at times, he falls behind both Michael and Gerard. Michael's a terrific lyric tenor, Gerard's got a great rock tenor thing going on, and Colm's got a nice enough voice, but. he. tends. to. sing. like. this. and. it. gets. annoying. after. a. while. Unfortunately, he over-pronounces his words, too. So why did I start off this paragraph saying that I liked Colm then proceed to bash him? Well, it's all true, but I still appreciated that he brought something new to the table. Note that I said he falls behind Michael and Gerard "at times." This isn't the case during all the other times. Both Michael Crawford's and Colm Wilkinson's phantoms have a lilting quality to their singing which is both charming and haunting. I'm listening to Colm Wilkinson's 'Music of the Night' right now and it holds its own to other versions. Why? His style of singing fits the song. It may not work for some of the other songs, but it works for Music of the Night. Basically, Colm has the goods, but his performances are hit-and-misses because of his very distinct singing style. When he's good, the man is terrific... perhaps *gasp* better than Michael Crawford! When he's a little off, however, he's still enjoyable, which is much more than I can say for the next one...
Byron Nease. He overacts, and it's downright distracting and annoying. All my criticisms for Colm are overlookable and forgivable, because all his problems are mild. I wish I could say that about Byron Nease's performance. I honestly do not know why he was chosen to play Raoul. First off, his voice is too harsh and a bit boorish. If you've seen Disney's Beauty and the Beast, imagine the character Gaston singing opera. If they had a good Raoul for this recording, I could very well see the Canadian cast being on par with the OLC cast. The two recordings would be toe-to-toe, however, without a decent Raoul, the OLC version still wins out. The biggest problem with Byron's performance is his Raoul is devoid of the earnesty, gentility, and refinement we expect from Raoul. All Byron's Raoul has is enthusiasm, and too much of it! I had to keep from laughing from his exclamations during Think of Me. His sound is also more operatic, but where it works for Rebecca, it's a hit against Byron because he needed to tone down his acting. Add overacting on top of an operatic tenor and you have an overdone character. However, when he does tone it down for All I Ask of You, he does well. Regardless, he can't compare with Steve Barton or Patrick Wilson even when he's 'on.' What you basically have is a miscast actor in the case of Byron Nease. He just wasn't Raoul material to begin with.
I'm glad I purchased this soundtrack. It was delightful to get another taste of POTO from a different perspective with different voices. Colm Wilkinson's "Music of the Night" is spellbinding and Rebecca Caine's operatic soprano and vocal control is breathtaking. I just wish Angel of Music was included on this CD, but this was still fun to listen to. While the OLC recording still ranks as my favorite (everything just came together more successfully), the Canadian cast recording is still an achievement. Though it has its hit-and-miss moments, when it shines, it shines brightly.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hey People- Try a Fresh Interpretation!, January 25, 2006
Colm Wilkinson is one of the better Phantoms that I have heard in my day (and trust me, I have heard over thirty of them). He has a gorgeous voice, and yes, it is different from some other recorded Phantoms that you may have heard. However, different does not mean bad- I find it very important that you hear lots of different interpretations of a role to fully understand all of the aspects of it that can be portrayed differently by different actors. Sorry, but that means that just hearing Michael Crawford and *shudder* Gerard Butler is NOT enough (ohhhh, I hate Gerard Butler!), and the two of them, in my opinion, are NOT the best portrayers of the role! Rebecca Caine is also a fantastic Christine- beautiful voice. By the way- if you want a really quality Phantom- Hugh Panaro (who just recently left Phantom on Broadway to star in Lestat) is absolutely FABULOUS- listen to any recordings of him that you can find.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasing to the ear, April 20, 2001
I had owned the London cast recording of Phantom for some 7 years before I bought this one, and it is very hard to say which one is better. As with all different cast recordings of musicals, both have their strong and weak points. The Canadian cast is headed up by Colm Wilkinson, who is a superb singer but often sounds like he has something in his mouth. However, he certainly brings a new depth to the role of the phantom, and one can easily imagine his strange enunciation being caused by disfiguring scars or the mask that hides them. Caine is very easy on the ear as Christine, and many prefer her voice to Sarah Brightman's. However, at the end of the title song "Phantom of the Opera" when she sings along to the Phantom's exhortations, she sounds to me as if she is struggling for the breath to reach the notes. She pauses a split second too long for breath between each phrase. This gives the impression that she's struggling. The Carlotta of this recording is exquisite. She sounds like a real opera singer, and not like a musical performer trying to sound like a diva. The only real fault with this particular recording is the fact that they have left out the duet between Meg & Christine, "Angel of Music". That's the only reason I took away the final star.
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~ Colm Wilkinson
~ Claude-Michel Schonberg
by Andrew Lloyd Webber 
