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

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This 1993 recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera is an interesting item. It stars Claire Moore, who took over the Christine role from Sarah Brightman in the London production, and Ethan Freeman, who played the title role in Vienna in 1988, joined the London cast as M. Andre in 1991, then took over as the Phantom in 1994 and played opposite Moore for a time. Popular Scottish singer John Barrowman plays Raoul, a role he has played on stage. It's a good recording for fans of the singers, especially after having seen them in a live production, but it's not as useful for a general listening experience. Moore's voice is heavier and more operatic than we're used to for Christine (and she has a slight lisp), and there's only 44 minutes of Phantom songs. More enjoyable are the four bonus songs from Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, featuring Kim Criswell, Graham Bickley, and Catherine Porter ("With One Look," the title tune, "As if We Never Said Goodbye," and "Too Much in Love to Care." --David Horiuchi

Songs From Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera, With Bonus Songs From Sunset Boulevard (1993 Studio Cast), Music, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Musical, Musicals, Original Cast Recordings, Pop, Show Tunes, Showtunes / B'way

Average customer rating:

Good for fans of the singers featured...

Though not the most comprehensive recording, the best performed recording of ALW's best musical

Good but not the best

Not Bad...but needs a little retuning

Far exceeds Michael and Sarah

Songs From Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera, With Bonus Songs From Sunset Boulevard (1993 Studio Cast)
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Manufacturer: Jay Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
Broadway & Vocalists | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Reflections From Broadway

Swings Cole Porter

Highlights from Phantom of the Opera

Songs From Grease (1994 London Studio Cast)

The Phantom of the Opera (Highlights from the 1989 Original Canadian Cast)

ASIN: B000005BGM
Release Date: 1996-10-01

Tracks:

Overture - National Symphony Orchestra/Martin Yates
Think Of Me - Claire Moore/John Barrowman
Angel Of Music I - Megan Kelly/Claire Moore
Angel Of Music II - Ethan Freeman/Claire Moore
The Phantom Of the Opera - Ethan Freeman/Claire Moore
Music Of the Night - Ethan Freeman
Prima Donna - Mark Wynter/Michael Bauer/Ramon Remedios/John Barrowman/Sandra Dugdale/Megan Kelly/Gay Soper
All I Ask Of You - John Barrowman/Claire Moore
Entr'acte - National Symphony Orchestra/Martin Yates
Masquerade - Chorus
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - Claire moore
Point Of No Return - Ethan Freeman/Claire Moore
With One Look - Kim Criswell
Sunset Boulevard - Graham Bickley
As If We Never Said Goodbye - Kim Criswell
Too Much In Love To Care - Catherine Porter/Graham Bickley

Amazon.com

This 1993 recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera is an interesting item. It stars Claire Moore, who took over the Christine role from Sarah Brightman in the London production, and Ethan Freeman, who played the title role in Vienna in 1988, joined the London cast as M. Andre in 1991, then took over as the Phantom in 1994 and played opposite Moore for a time. Popular Scottish singer John Barrowman plays Raoul, a role he has played on stage. It's a good recording for fans of the singers, especially after having seen them in a live production, but it's not as useful for a general listening experience. Moore's voice is heavier and more operatic than we're used to for Christine (and she has a slight lisp), and there's only 44 minutes of Phantom songs. More enjoyable are the four bonus songs from Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, featuring Kim Criswell, Graham Bickley, and Catherine Porter ("With One Look," the title tune, "As if We Never Said Goodbye," and "Too Much in Love to Care." --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

Good for fans of the singers featured..........2006-01-08

Since there isn't really much information given about this album in its description, I bought this without knowing who was on the cast. Just so that you don't buy blindly, here is the cast list:

The Phantom: Ethan Freeman (from the Vienna production)
Christine: Claire Moore (from the London production)
Raoul: John Barrowman
Carlotta: Sandra Dugdale
Meg: Megan Kelly
Monsieur Andre: Mark Wynter
Monsieur Firmin: Michael Bauer
Piangi: Ramon Remedios
Madam Giry: Gay Soper

And in the SUNSET BOULEVARD section (4 songs) are Kim Criswell, Graham Bickley, and Catherine Porter.

I find the orchestrations to be much weaker than on official recordings, although that is not uncommon in studio recordings. The music is especially lacking in the title song and the overture.

Claire Moore is a fair Christine, though she does have a bit of a lisp on the s words. It's only really noticable in "Angel of Muisc 1", and of course it's not the poor woman's fault. She has a bit of a deeper voice than usual for Christine, and she hits the high E at the end of the title song but with a bit of a screechy quality. But hey, at least she can hit it- most people can't!

Ethan Freeman is good as the phantom. As I said, this is a recording for the fans of the singers, not for the general public's taste. Some may love Freeman while others cannot stand him (although isn't it so with every sing?). I think he has a good voice and he sings the phantom with sensuously.

I think that this CD should be for those who are fans of the singers and/or die hard fans of Phantom of the Opera who want every recording having anything to do with the music. While not cast recording quality, this CD is interesting in its own way. It's definitely not for everyone, though.

Though not the most comprehensive recording, the best performed recording of ALW's best musical.......2005-12-10

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.

Good but not the best.......2005-02-21

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!

Not Bad...but needs a little retuning.......2005-01-30

I want to give this 2 1/2 stars, but I'm going to be nice instead, for a first. This is a decent cast, and the symphony really does blow you away. Claire Moore is a fair Christine, but the first Angel of Music kills her when you realize she has a lisp. This new Phantom at first can't decide whether he wants to be Michael Crawford, be Colm Wilkinson, or be himself. When he finally decides, and this takes a while, he isn't too bad. Webber should get the cast back together again and re-record this, because if they get a second shot at this it might sound better. Might.

Far exceeds Michael and Sarah.......2004-12-19

...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

Music:

Music

Music