Various Artists Les Miserables Original London Cast Digital Life Music

Les Miserables Original London Cast
by: Various Artists

List Price: $24.98

Amazon.com's Price: $22.99

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Used Price: $17.50
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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0766927336225
Format: Cast Recording, Soundtrack
Label: Red Ink
Manufacturer: Red Ink
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Red Ink
Release Date: June 01, 2004
Sales Rank: 1950
Studio: Red Ink

Disc 1:

Disc 2:

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
This recording captures the 1985 London cast that transformed an obscure French musical based on Victor Hugo's gargantuan novel of pre-Revolutionary France into a worldwide phenomenon throughout the late-'80s and '90s and became one of the best examples of the era's trend of blockbuster musical spectacles. Yes, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg's score tends to recycle its themes, but the beautiful melodies and stirring anthems rarely fail to captivate and touch its audience. Colm Wilkinson is the heroic Valjean, Patti LuPone is the tragic Fantine, Michael Ball is the love-struck Marius, and Frances Ruffelle is the despondent Eponine, with Roger Allam (Javert), Alun Armstrong and Sue Jane Tanner (the Thénardiers), Rebecca Caine (older Cosette), and David Burt (Enjolras) filling out the excellent cast. Fans will want to take note that this recording includes some material that was revised when the show crossed the pond to Broadway--'Little People' was lost altogether, while the 'Love Montage' was significantly rewritten. Les Misérables sounds especially vivid in its 1998 remastering, and a synopsis and full lyrics are included. --David Horiuchi

Digital Life Reviews

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Back to the source
I agree with most of the reviews - the London staging is the very best of the English language versions of 'Les Miserables'. Forget the New York (Broadway) production, much too polished (sanitized ?). It pales in comparison. The American version benefits from greater sophistication but at the cost of the original book.

HOWEVER, for the first production of this musical, go to the recording on the 'Anthology' (French) label, issued by FGL Productions (the complete 1980 version). It has the cast of the premier, with 'guest appearances' by some big names in yesterday's French popular music, Michel Sardou, Salvatore Adamo, and Michel Delpech. And a list of superb actor-sings, like Maurice Barrier (Valjean), Rose Laurens (Fantine), Yvan Dautin (Thenardier), and Richard Dewitte (Marius), the list is long.

Of course, it is all in French, but this IS a French musical, and this is what the composer, ... Read More

Rating:

- Les Miserables Original London Cast
Beautiful Music, Beautiful Voices. I have thouroughly enjoyed it. We saw the show when it came to Atlanta several years ago and it also was wonderful.
NKG

Rating:

- A huge disappointment
We have owned the Les Miserable music book for quite a while and play them on the piano ourselves. Some of those songs are so grand and emotional that I was looking for a great treat from the "Original London Cast". We also bought the Les Miz movie and loved Liam Neeson in it. After watching it, I was really excited to listen to the London CD. I should have saved my money and time.

The singing was like a high school musical -- Shallow, immature, Broadway Imitation voices; too rapid delivery; lacking in emotion and expression. Cosette's song, which should be a tear-jerking, plaintive plea sounded like a kindergarten kid rushing to get it over with. Jauvert's song should have been passionate and deeply emotional. Instead it had all of the emotional depth and expression of a junior high-school rock band's home-grown rant. Wait for someone to do it right.

Rating:

- I'm biased toward the Broadway cast, but...
This isn't every single musical note from the show, but it's the full cast recording from the 1985 London version, spanning 2 discs. It includes more of the songs than the Broadway highlights album and is similarly priced.

This London production was the first English-language version of Les Mis and some songs have been tweaked for the later Broadway productions.

My first exposure to the wonderful music of Les Misérables was through the Broadway cast highlights CD, so I am a little biased toward that version (although this is the original).

This version is a little different from the Broadway version. "Who Am I?" is sung a little slower and seems more thoughtful. "A Heart Full Of Love" has differnt lyrics and is incorporated into a three-song "Love Montage".

This cast includes Colm Wilkinson as Valjean (he also played that role on Broadway and in the Tenth Anniversary ... Read More

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Music : Les Miserables Original London Cast
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Music : Les Miserables Original London Cast
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