Charles Hart - The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast)
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Free Music Notes for The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast)
Free Music Review: The First Phantom
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the very first staged production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, which premiered in London back in 1986. Webber, who had already enjoyed success with the 70's hits Jesus Christ Superstar and Cats, began to really experience enormous fame with Phantom Of The Opera. It is still running on Broadway to this da and is now a movie directed by Joel Schumacher starring Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler. At the time of the premiere, Webber was married to singer Sarah Brightman. He wrote he role of Christine for her. Much of the lyrics and the texture of the lyric-dramatic role is suited to Sarah Brightman's talents. The original Phantom was Michael Crawford, who sings the Phantom with dynamic energy, a BIG canvas of emotions- including rage, jealousy, pain, sensitivity, madness, genius and romance. To many, this is the definative version and the best, no matter how many new singers provide their own interpretations to the parts of Christine and the Phantom, whose chemistry is at the heart of the musical.
Lloyd Webber drew inspiration from the French novel by Gaston Leroux, who wrote the Fantome De L'Opera in the late 1870's. However, one must know that the novel is different from the musical. In the novel, the theme was Gothic romance and was mostly a portrait of the haunting and tragic of the Phantom who hides from the world due to his physical/facial deformity. He is hated, feared and shunned only because of a birth defect. He is really a genius, a romantic and soulful composer. His love for the young soprano Christine is what humanizes him. Ultimately, he loves her so much that he lets her go from his lair in the cavernous lower levels of the opera so that she is free to marry Raol. Some of the themes, mostly the Phantom-Raol-Christine love triangle, as well as that of despair and tragic love are still present in the music. The finale is especially moving with those slowly dying bars of music representing perhaps the death of the Phantom years later and his broken heart.
"Angel of Music" is sublime and together with "Think of Me" provide a true showcase for the lyrical sections of Christine's songs. Sarah Brightman IS and ALWAYS will be Christine. She manages to sound youthful, passionate, conflicted, spirited, able to sing with angelic beauty as well as dramatic power. She would later make opera and classical music part of her training, as well as infusing these traditional operatic motifs into pop and contemporary music. But for Brightman, it was the part of Christine that started it all. Michael Crawford is the perfect Phantom for me. I like to think he is OLDER than Christine and is her father-figure, her mentor, teaching her to sing and to take flight on her own. He does love her passionately, sexually, and romantically, (in a way that even Raol can never love her) but the Phantom must sacrifice his own happiness so that she may live her own life. Crawford sounds intense in all the right moments, such as when he urges Christine "to sing my angel sing !". Another favorite moment is when he interrupts the Masquerade. He is a dangerous person who is not to be meddled with, for he proves that he can take a human life. Many think that like that, the Phantom is a villain or a monster but he was really simply acting out of the bitterness and damage he experienced since he was rescued by Madame Giry from a circus freak show. "The world never showed compassion to me!" he says. We both fear and pity the Phantom. Crawford and Brightman truly capture the real relationship between the two as mentor and student. The duet "The Phantom Of The Opera" is legendary.
Free Music Review: "The best musical ever made."
Hit: 5 Stars
"The Phantom of the Opera" is simply the best musical ever made. Sure, it has quite a bit of material lifted from Italian opera, but as an opera fan, I can appreciate that, and it enhances the score. No other musical equals this musically...from the complicated harmonies of "Notes" and "Wandering Child" to the vocally stunning "Phantom of the Opera" and "Music of the Night." The lyrics are beautiful, the story simultaneously eerie, mysterious, touching, and deep. The only musical that comes close is Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story." Neither Lord Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford, nor Sarah Brightman have ever equaled their work here. It is a "love it or hate it" musical, definitely, but any lover of romance, mystery and great music will appreciate this show.The original cast was also probably the greatest musical cast ever put together in one place. Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman give the performances of their lifetimes...and ours. They have real, legitimate voices, not those awful Streisand/Minelli belts that cover Broadway today. While both are flawed performers in general, each found their best role in this show.
As for Crawford, he is the definitive Phantom. No one else's dramatic interpretation is anywhere close to his. He did it first, and he did it best. His beautiful tenor voice just takes the material and soars with it...from the eerie "Wandering Child" to the powerful title song to the seductive and incomparable "Music of the Night." Anyone who doesn't weep at the heartbreaking finale ("It's over now, the music of the night...") must have a heart of a stone, or a Broadway critic. Michael Crawford is the Phantom, and that is all there is to it. I have never seen anyone become a role the way he did in this show.
Sarah Brightman is not quite as good, but she is still vocally the best Christine. This material was unmistakably written for her, and her clear, bright, silvery soprano and enormous range makes every note dramatic and perfect. While some say her voice is too thin and weak for opera and pop, her current musical directions, her voice manages to fly above the music here without being overpowered. Since Christine's role does not require much dramatic range, her limited acting skills don't hamper the material, and she manages to make her one solo character song, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," sufficiently poignant, even though it is musically the weakest song in the show.
The supporting cast is mainly strong, and any weakness here comes more from underwritten roles than lack of skill. Meg is always cast to make Christine sound good, so her voice must be a little weak. Raoul is such a boring, one-dimensional character that no actor, no matter how talented, can do much with the role. That aside, Steve Barton has a rich, gentle, and satisfying baritone that sounds good in his duets with Christine. Rosemary Ashe's Carlotta is actually cast for her own merits in this older CD, not to make Christine look good, as in the current Broadway produciton...she has by far a good enough voice to be a believable opera diva, and she has good comic timing.
I was shocked that Amazon critics, who gave favorable reviews to "Hairspray" and "Annie" of all musicals, felt the need to demean this beautiful show, definitely Lloyd Webber's best effort. Just goes to show how much quality Broadway has lost since the start of shows like "Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserables." Go with the customer reviews and buy the full version, not the highlights. It's worth it. Trust me.
Free Music Review: I go ga-ga over this cd
Hit: 5 Stars
I am a Phantom fanatic (phanatic?) and ever since I got the book I wanted to hear the music... so I was thrilled when I saw the library had it. I checked it out and kept it checked out until I got my own copy. I must say it took a long time for me to really react at all to the recording. I had to keep listening and listening until finally one day it clicked and I couldn't live without it. It was all so suddenly an emotional experience to equal no other. I dreamed of mirrors, masks, and swirling black capes and heard Erik's songs in my head all the time.
A bit about my favourite moments of the CD... the Angel of Music sequence is amazing. The Phantom's voice comes into the dressing room and immediately enfolds the listener along with Christine and from that moment anybody with any heart is bound to be hooked. The melodious dialogue between Erik and Christine is also moving as it builds up in intensity to "The Phantom of the Opera". You hear him calling her so hypnotically while that music just won't stop.
Another very intense part is the Music of the Night... I am absolutely convinced that no one can sing that song like Michael Crawford can. He put something in it that makes it twice as alluring as it was written to be. Who could keep from fainting away at such heavenly tones?
Of course the Phantom is capable of fury as we all know... and even Christine can't escape from it when she takes his mask away in the next scene. Even though she doesn't say a word during his rant, you feel her cringing backwards as he spits all his insults out at her. Then suddenly he is quieter and trying to convince her that he's not so bad after all.
The "Notes" songs (both of them) are stunningly creative, and both the writer and musician showed incredible genius and a good sense of humour as they wove all the character's lines into a seamless, harmonious web. Now that I'm a seasoned listener, I find it easier to follow everyone's train of thought, but even now I often have to focus on only one or two singers and hear what he's saying (or she)... Still, this is a brilliant moment in musical history.
I like when Carlotta is a toad as well. She's annoying anyway, so it is very satisfying to hear her as a toad.
Everyone talks about All I Ask of You so I won't, except that it would be a lovely song to have at a wedding.
The second All I Ask of You is far too overlooked. Listen to the Phantom about to cry because Christine has thoughtlessly deserted him - and who can not be moved? I don't hate Raoul as many Phantom fans do - but he does tend to be rather in the way.
I'll skip over a bunch of stuff and get to the graveyard scene which is, once again, very beautiful. I love the echo-y effect of Erik's singing as he calls Christine. Also the beginning of warfare between Raoul and Erik. Screaming at your enemies doesn't solve anything in this case... not that it ever does.
Past the Point of No Return is the most disturbing part of the CD. It seems so creepy. I suppose it was meant to be. Anyway, the END of the song is what I like, because he stops singing it and begs Christine to love him, then sweeps her off the stage with a scream from Meg.
The ending is also very moving, as it is in the book. Erik allowing Raoul to take Christine because she kissed him... not just out of obligation but because she meant it.
That, my Amazon friends, is my statement about this CD. I hope that it will help you decide to get it and after that go ga-ga.
Like me.
Free Music Review: the only review of this overly-reviewed musical you need!
Hit: 5 Stars
Why 5 stars?Those of you who are fanatics of this show (and, i admit, i DEFINATELY went through that phase myself at one point) are sitting there going "of COURSE this deserves 5 stars! It is musical genius!" and those of you who hate Phantom and the commercialistic, imported, scenery-heavy era it represents are right now scrolling down; looking for some less enthusiastic reviews to agree with.
Oh yes, I know how your minds work! Bwahahaha.
However, I'm going to be as unbiased as possible in this review to actually aid those of you considering the purchase of this album (a wise decision).
First of all, this is not the best musical ever written. I freely admit that. I don't think there IS such a thing as the "best musical ever written", and if there was, this would most certainly NOT be it. It might be something by Sondheim, but I'm not here to discuss politics.
Why IS this musical so enduring and magical? First of all, we have the lush, operatic score that has been never-quite-duplicated. The actual amount of individual melodies are very few... each character and episode in the story has been given a "lietmotif" (operatic term for those melodies we associate with given people or parts of the plot). The Phantom has his dischordant descending organ notes, Carlotta her opera-diva faux-aria, the Managers their little lilting patter song, Raoul his melodramatic violins, etc. I find this delightful, some will find it merely tiresome.
Now it's time to give credit where credit is due. This album would be less of an achievement if it weren't for the showstopping, onceinalifetime performance of Michael Crawford in the title role. His voice is impeccable and capable of wide ranges of emotion, as fits the Phantom. He rescues more than one slightly banal lyric by infusing it with depth and tragedy. Very few other actors have been able to make the Phantom's seduction of Christine both romantic and incredibly desperate.
Sarah Brightman is very talented but...i hesitate to say this...but sometimes she gets on my nerves. Her vibratto and classicaly-trained meticulous attention to diction merely gets in the way in musical theatre. She is a convincing opera singer but an unconvincing person. Her acting is less than fabulous-- sometimes, her voice sounds detached, as if she didn't know the meaning of the words she's singing, or as if English wasn't her first language.
The rest of the cast is amazing... Carlotta, Firmin, Andre... tutti bravissimi!
Raoul is a convincingly whiny, rich tenor with a nice young voice and audibly blond hair.
All in all, a worth while purchase. You will listen over and over again... the music is at turns seductive, erotic, dark and forgiving, but remains soaring throughout. Whoever orchestrated this rocks. The last few notes of the entire album are so caressing, so uplifting, they seem to absolve both the Phantom and the audience in a melody of absolute mercy.
Obviously, you have to lose yourself a little in this music. Don't try to obsess and believe this is the "Best Musical Ever"- but certainly accept it for what it is: a stunning achievement of Broadway-Meets-Opera.
Free Music Review: The most romantic version of the many "Phantoms"
Hit: 5 Stars
"The Phantom of the Opera" is not a perfect musical, although the only serious flaw turns out to be the "title" song. Written first, the song "The Phantom of the Opera" was a rock tune with a music video designed to get investors excited about the in progress Andrew Lloyd Webber musical extravaganza. By the time the show was finished, the rock opera idea was abandoned in favor of something decidedly more operatic. I always thought one of the reasons "Phantom" was so great was that Lloyd Webber lifted the best songs from the other show he was working on, "Aspects of Love." I had the opportunity to see Michael Crawford perform the role in Los Angeles, and it is sad to think that he will join the long list of legendary Broadway performers who were replaced when the musical was turned into a Hollywood movie (think of Richard Kiley replaced by Peter O'Toole in "Man of La Mancha" to know how bad such things can get in this world). Enough has been said about the music, from the thundering organ of the Phantom's "theme" to the diminishing minor chords at the end of "The Music of the Night," but I think more credit needs to go to Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber for the Book. There have been numerous versions of the Gaston Leroux novel, but Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber manage to turn it into a tragic romance. In the original novel Christine breaks the hold of Eric the Phantom by kissing him on the forehead, a small act of tenderness that is beyond anything he has ever known in his tortured life. This musical version of "Phantom" ups the ante considerably. My biggest complaint against the original CD edition of this musical, besides the fact that each disc was a single track, was the lack of a libretto, because it was not until I could get my hands of one and find out what was happening in the climatic scene near the end of Act II where the Phantom demands Christine choose between loving him or death for Raoul that I understood the stories of people leaving the theater weeping. This dramatic ending is set up perfectly in the first act when Christine unmasks the Phantom as he plays his organ. This scene has been famous ever since the Lon Chaney silent version, but they play it differently here. The audience does not see the Phantom's scarred visage at this point, only Christine, who cannot help but be touched by the pain in his voice. When she gives him back his mask, that is when this "Phantom" becomes an epic romance about a most horribly doomed love triangle. Finally, I want to add that one of my favorite little musical bits in the brief trio between the Phantom, Christine and Raoul in the "Wandering Child" segment, especially since it was reduced to a duo in the production I saw. I fully understand that is a hot/cold musical when it comes to personal tastes and since seeing it on stage was everything I dreamed it could be (I pretty much cried throughout the entire thing), I would have to admit to running hot in favor of this one.