The Phantom Of The Opera At The Royal Albert Hall

Now before the backlash starts I am a huge Phan and I loved every moment of the anniversary special, but I am disappointed with this cd/mp3 release. Why? Quite simply the standard of the recording. I appreciate that this was filmed live, but there are some criminally long stretches of just sheer applause (grand finale I am looking at you) and in certain places (the opening Overture) the sound quality is not up to par. Sienna Borgess and Ramin Karimiloo sound fantastic as usual, and it is wonderful to have a CD with the whole score and not just snippets of this like the original, but the most criminal thing of all, having the 3= minute introduction in the grand finale of simply applause then ALW talking, to introduce Sarah Brightman... and then immediately skip her wonderful rendition of Phantom to do the group/four phantoms music of the night.

I saw the show so know she definitely sang this and whilst I appreciate this may be for legal reasons I find the exclusion rather baffling, especially as everything else, including the long applauses have been present in their full glory. It almost makes the last track redundant as, as great as the Four phantoms singing is, it doesn't provide the full experience I was hoping for.

Never the less still a must buy for true phans, although for newcomers I would still recommend the original 1986 soundtrack, or if you must the movie soundtrack (yes I know) as they at least benefit from the production values of a studio recorded album.

One hopes that maybe ALW will reunite the cast from this and record this in the studio , but this is unlikely, maybe in another 5 years we will have the album this should have been, until then this is still a wonderful album, just disappointing.

I have read the other reviews and responses, and while I agree with the criticisms of those who only gave this wonderful CD 3 stars, I feel that there is enough there to make up for any flaws that are most likely due to the fact that this is a live CD, and most likely a rushed one. I came from the States and was there for all three performances; I ordered the CD from Amazon UK so I would not have to wait until February to get it. I love Ramin Karimloo as Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine, and there is little if any problem in this CD to take away from their glorious passion and voices, and that awesome booming organ at the Royal Albert Hall. I get cold chills every time I hear those opening chords. I have attended Phantom at Her Majesty's many times, and I certainly noticed the ensemble being so much fuller at this celebration. Of course the ensemble is better than usual; it is made up of singers like Simon Bailey (former Raoul at Her Majesty's), Killian Donnelly (current Raoul at Her Majesty's), and Sophia Escobar, (current Christine at Her Majesty's). Yes, it is most regrettable that Sarah Brightman's performance is not on the CD; I can only assume that there was a copy write problem, because it was a glorious rendition. Michael Crawford, I'm sure, chose not to sing, and there is nothing anyone could do about that. He was offered the opportunity I am sure. He did not even show up until the last performance; he was not present for the first two. Perhaps he felt he could no longer do the music justice? Who knows? Yes, I also agree that sometimes one has to adjust the sound because the music is louder than the spoken parts, but again the fuller ensemble, and the more modern orchestration (I mean I even heard an electric guitar in a number or two!) more than makes up for any flaws in the engineering. . I much prefer this rendition over the original. The applause captures the excitement of the audience. I , for one, am glad for a new CD
of "The Phantom of the Opera."

I was dearly hoping to be be able to give this a 5-star review...have seen the Blu-Ray and it is breathtaking....so I was just a mite disappointed to get this through the post and put it on to hear a poorly mixed (almost all voices come from the "centre" - no seperation at all....not to mention the frequent muddy sound) and actually extremely QUIET CD. I know the arguments for/agaionst the "loudness" wars, so please don't think I am saying that it should be deafening....but for it to be this quiet is simply not right.

A 5 Star show, turned into a 3 star CD. Not what I hoped for, and far better is possible (the soundtrack of the Blu-Ray is vastly superior in quality and mixing).