Random Phantom of the Opera Stuff

OCR: Stockholm

 In my adventures of listening in to official cast recordings from the show (something I hardly ever bother to do, which is why my last review was three months ago), I chose to start with the earliest ones and progress from there. After covering London, Toronto and Vienna, I decided to go with Stockholm next. I had heard pieces of the recording before, but this was my first time listening to it in its entirety. 

 Of all the casts I have listened to from POTO, I would say this is one of the most beautiful ones I've heard so far. To me, it was just that good. 

 I'll start with Mikael Samuelson, who played the Phantom. He was already one of my absolute favorite Phantoms before listening to this OCR in full, and now I know he has definitely earned his spot. Mikael was nothing short of amazing when it came to the role. The duality of his voice is incredible: he sounds so sweet and romantic during 'Music of the Night', but he also sounds genuinely scary in parts like 'I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It' and the Final Lair. That kind of voice is exactly the kind I think the character should have; when I hear Mikael, I hear the Phantom. 

 Then there's Elisabeth Berg's Christine. I tend to prefer Christines with more of an operatic sound to their singing, and I think Elisabeth has a heavily operatic voice, definitely the most operatic Christine I have ever heard. But it worked for her. Elisabeth sang beautifully with a lot of emotion and passion, and I think a voice like hers is exactly the kind that's needed for Christine. 

 As for Bengt Nordfors as Raoul, I'm not sure yet how high he would among my favorites. I like him, though. He sounds very romantic but also a kind of quality to his voice that makes him sound like a nobleman, and I think someone like that would be a good fit for Raoul. 

 I think the actress playing Carlotta had a voice that was a little too whiny, and the girl who played Meg had a voice that I would have thought would be too mature-sounding for the role, but she made it sound pretty good. The rest of the supporting cast was great as well! 

 So, altogether, this was an amazing cast, and this is something I would recommend any POTO fan listen to.