Charles Hart - The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast)
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Music Reviews of The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast)
Music Review: The Phantom Of The Opera is there, inside my mind!!
Rating: 5 Stars
Back in January 2004, I was at a friends' house and she was on the internet and I walked into the room that she was in and I heard this incredible orchestral music playing and it turned out to be The Overture from this Phantom CD and I totally loved it!!! I loved how it had this organ and then she played The Phantom Of The Opera and I knew at that moment that I had to get the whole CD of The Phantom Of The Opera.
After I got the whole Original Cast Recording, I listened to it all but my favorites were and still are The Overture and The Phantom Of The Opera! I just totally love the organ and in The Phantom Of The Opera, I love the singing and that orchestral part that plays after the very first time Sarah Brightman/Christine sings "The Phantom Of The Opera is there, inside my mind" and there is that very short break before the Phantom/Michael Crawford starts singing for the very first time in that song, it's so awesome!! Sarah Brightman sounded like a real Opera singer and I am surprised she never became one. Michael Crawford has such a powerful voice and I love that part when he sings "She is singing to bring down the chandelier!" I just love that part!
The whole CD is amazing and The Phantom Of The Opera is now my all time favorite musical because of the Operatic and Orchestral music that plays! This 2 disc version of The Original Cast Recording comes with the Libretto which has all the dialog and lyrics to everything, even some stuff that wasn't included on the CD but stuff that you would hear in the real production on Broadway. This is a wonderful CD and recommend it to anyone who likes orchestral or musicals!
Music Review: "Angel of Music..."
Rating: 5 Stars
When I first saw "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway, I immedietly was swept under its spell with it's glitzy flamboyance and its colorful characters. Only, after I saw it a second time, did I really thoroughly enjoy Webber's masterpiece of music. The recording is wonderful, and while listening to it, the chandelier begins to rise from the stage and up into the rafters, in your mind. You can hear and see the gauze lifting and the ensemble come forward "Masquerade!"
The original production was beautiful, Michael Crawford defines the role of "The Phantom of the Opera". Sarah Brightman (Webber's wife at the time) sings like an angel, and with such soft tenderness. Hats off to Steve Barton who does a fair job as Raoul.
Now, I'll be honest, the film recording of "The Phantom of the Opera" is not the greatest (yet, acceptional to say the least) It does not sound like a Lloyd Webber operetta rather than just a rock concert. But to say the least, in my opinion, if you are a newcomer or just a fan of "POTO" then I honestly would reccomend listening or going to watch the classic before watching the modern film.
Songs to look out for:
"Overture" (The Musical's theme)
"The Phantom of the Opera" (Great song!)
"Music of the Night" (The Phantom's big solo/ Crawford does a superlative job and puts us under his spell!)
"All I Ask of You" (A great romantic duet/ Yet, a bit worn out)
"Masquerade" (A colorful blend of voices)
And "The Point of No Return" (The Phantom and Christine's dramatic love song)
Enjoy a great score and a wonderful recording of Broadway's longest running musical (so far to come!)
Music Review: A wonderful musical score that won't be forgotten
Rating: 5 Stars
The "Phantom" is a great theatrical performance, but all these people calling it nothing compared to operas are wrong. Firstly "Phantom" is an operetta, so of course it can't really compare to an opera. But people shouldn't compare it to other things, but rather observe it by itself. This whole musical score will astound you. Some amazing tracks are "The Phantom of the Opera", "Music of the Night", and "Track Down This Murderer". In the "Phantom of the Opera", there is a constant, catchy rhythm of drums and cymbals with an organ. Along with this are various horns and an ensemble of strings making this a wonderful piece of music. But all of this accompanying the Phantom and Christine's lovely duet make this quite memorable. "Music of the Night" has absolutely wonderful strings and flutes going with the later additions of horns. Michael Crawford's great passion is spellbinding as he sings the great lyrics of this song. "Track Down This Murderer" has the awesome, climatic singing of the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul. Raoul's great desperation is astoundingly believable as he begs for Christine. Christine's hatred for the Phantom is performed greatly in the words of hatred she sings at him. But the performance of Michael Crawford is superb. He really shows the growing insanity and final realization of the Phantom's failure in them last scene. The entire company is passionate and really lives in the characters. Even if you aren't able to see the New York production,(which I think is the best performance ever) listen to this. It will captivate you.Music Review: Wonderful, absolutely wonderful, exept...
Rating: 4 Stars
This is certainly the best musical I have heard yet. I first listened to the music five years ago, but only recently have heard the original cast. As the title of this review says, it is wonderful with the exception of a few little things. First off, the editing. If you wanted to hear a certain song (like Prima donna, Point of no return, and Christine's version of Think of Me) you'll have to wait till a different song is over.
Other than that, the singers are fabulous. 100,000,000,000,000,000 times better than the 2004 movie cast, which was horrible! The Phantom/Gerard Butler's voice and singing were just horrid. Michael Crawford is so much more pleasant to hear. Christine/Emmy Rossum cannot compete with Sarah Brightman and win. Rossum's voice isn't powerful enough. Brightman's is way better. Even though her voice is at times too shaky, it is very clearly the best voice anybody ever had that sang Christine's part. Raoul/Patrick Wilson is horrible, terrible, awful, and abhorrent. There is no power in his voice. Steve Barton is so much better. The originals are so much better than the others.
Another problem with this is that it is two discs. You'll have to change the CD once it is over. Plus, it takes a lot of space in the place you put CD's. Something else that bothered me was the fact that they sang for dialogue. When you would talk normally, they would sing. They would sing in the same tune, or the same notes. But, maybe it's the same for a lot of other musicals. Annoying, though. Even so, it is wonderful! Fantastic! Amazing! Don't pay too much attention to the flaws or you won't enjoy it as much.
Music Review: Phantom Phan
Rating: 5 Stars
All of the actors and musicians in this musical recording are truely awesome. There is no better way to put it. I give props to Michael Crawford, without him the musical wouldn't be the same. Andrew Lloyd Webber is a great composer, the music fits the mood, passion, acting, and setting. The actual libretto itself, if you just read it without the musicality, has all of the ingredients of a wonderful love story. It has conflict and tension (Crawford), confort and hope (Barton), and a victim/direction of all this emotion (Brightman). The story sets the scene perfectly, we have the wonderous Miss Daeé sing the first passionate song in the album, after Carlotta obliterates everything with her horrid operatic signing style, a conflict of interests, conforting, a plan to help Christine, a menacing Phantom, some final tension/suspense/climax, and then, finaly, a resolve to all of this, which leaves us in mystery of where the Phantom went. In my opinion, this is the best Broadway that i've ever seen and listened to. It displays all the ranges of emotion, talent, acting skill, and perfection that the "best broadway" would need. So, if you're thinking about buying this, well, do! If you're looking at the 2004 movie, then think again and buy this instead. Those actors, in the new movie, need voice lessons, acting lessons, and the director needs to get his head out of the Disney movie stockpile.
So, i can only leave you with one finaly advise, buy this or be puerile like all the rest, as Firmin and André would have said. Therefore, go forth an purchase this original london recording.