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Original London cast. This was the first recording I heard, and there are a lot of positive aspects to it. It is VERY close to being complete, and includes the trio (the Phantom, Christine and Raoul) at the graveyard scene, which was originally performed in London (and still is), but cut from many subsequent productions. The performers are really wonderful…Michael Crawford as the Phantom is great. His smooth voice shows an extremely romantic side of the Phantom, and his final scene is just heartbreaking. He is not my favourite as he is for so many others, but his performance here is still excellent, and very influential on all those that came after. Sarah Brightman is very good as Christine. My favorite song for her voice is Think of Me, while I don’t really care for it in Point of No Return. Steve Barton is a really good Raoul as far as Raouls go! 🙂 |
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Original Canadian cast. This is the other recording I’ve listened to time and time again, and in comparison with the OLC, there are many improvements and a few drawbacks. Unfortunately it’s only a highlights recording, so a lot of parts are missed. I find the orchestration a little too heavy on brass at times, although I love the overture! Colm Wilkinson is a wonderful Phantom…it took me a while to get used to his different style, but I’ve even come to prefer it in some cases. I find his Phantom more powerful, and his Phantom of the Opera and graveyard scene are fantastic. I’m not overly fond of his Music of the Night though. Rebecca Caine is great as Christine. I find she acts with her voice wonderfully. I don’t really like Byron Nease as Raoul, which would be my biggest problem with this recording. |
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Original Vienna cast. This is the first foreign language recording I heard of the show, and after getting over the intial weirdness of hearing the show in German, I really began to enjoy it! The orchestrations are very good, and the chorus and smaller cast members are wonderful. For the lead cast, I was really impressed by Carlotta, actually – her croaks in “Il Muto” are very good! 🙂 Alexander Goebel is a very good Phantom (though his maniacal laugh is a little much for me :-), and Luzia Nistler is a great Christine as well. Again, I’m not that fond of Raoul, played here by Alfred Pfeifer – his voice doesn’t seem to fit the part, although it is a lovely voice! Still, overall, I really enjoy this CD. |
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Original Hungarian cast. This is the first major production of the show that did not follow the original Broadway direction – but, of course, you can’t get much indication of that from the recording. The recording sounds quite similar to many of the others in terms of orchestrations and overall quality. It is a complete recording of the show on two discs. The thing that really sets this one apart is the cast, all of whom are excellent. Sasvári Sándor may just be my favourite Phantom on a recording, with a nuanced and emotional performance that translates very nicely to CD. Andrea Mahó has a beautiful voice, and she and Zoltan Miller sound lovely together. The trio in the graveyard scene is also included. Carlotta and Piangi are not my favourites in the roles, but now I’m getting really picky. This is my favourite foreign recording that I’ve heard so far! |
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Original Movie Soundtrack. There’s not much I can say about this other than: if you liked the film, you’ll like this recording – if not, you won’t. The soundtrack does has one major thing going for it compared to the stage recordings, and that is the depth to the music that a 100-piece orchestra adds. Although I’m a little perplexed by some of the small musical changes, in general the new orchestrations played by this huge group sound great. The London and Canadian cast recordings are, after all, more than 10 years old, so it is nice to have an updated sound on an English-language recording. As for the performances, that’s mostly covered in my review of the film itself, but suffice to say that I don’t enjoy Gerard Butler’s interpretation of the role at all, and listening to it without the film certainly doesn’t help. I disagree with most of his phrasing choices, and don’t really like his voice in general. Emmy Rossum sounds very nice, and Patrick Wilson is a wonderful Raoul. I am looking forward to hearing some of the foreign language versions of the film soundtrack (particularly the German and French ones) to see how the music works with a different cast. |