Les Miserables Symphonic Recording Question — Page 2

I'm sure I'll get slaughtered for saying this, but I never liked Frances Ruffelle's singing in Les Mis. I know it's like blasphemy, but it didn't work with me. Lea Salonga defines the role for me. HOWEVER, while Kaho Shimada's voice takes a little getting used to, she is actually not thad bad. She also takes the optional high note in "Pretending" in "On my Own", which is the only English-language recording to feature that. I'm weird, so little things like that make me happy.

Overall, I find the CSR a refreshing take on the show. Even Philip Quast sounds different than he did in the 10th Anniversary Cast recording. I like the fact that it features very few of the other performers because as much as I love Colm Wilkinson in the role, for example, it's nice to have a different interpretation of the role on a CD.

I think Lea Salonga sounds too perfect. There's something almost not quite human about her for me. I like Frances Ruffelle's scrappiness (but I must say I liked her better on the London recording than the Broadway). Eponine is a dirty street kid, not a pop singer or gorgeous robot.

Kaho Shimada... I don't know. I'd like to hear her sing it in her native language, but her singing it in English did nothing for me.

I have both Japanese recordings with Kaho, and I'm not a big fan of her there either. I just don't like the tone of her voice.

Whoops! My bad on Philip Quast being Australian...I totally knew that too. As far as Frances Ruffelle goes, I feel like she deserves credit for establishing the role of Eponine (evidently she did something right, because she's so imitated by several of her predecessors, but I before a cleaner-voiced Eponine. Lea Salonga's voice is of the opposite extreme, but it doesn't bother me that an actress with a pretty voice should play a dirty street waif. As far as the high D on "all my life, I've only been PRETENding..." goes, I think it's a fantastic addition to any rendition of "On My Own" so long as the actress can securely hit the note. If anybody's heard Sutton Foster's "On My Own," they might agree with this.

I really do not like the "optional" higher note in OMO. When done the original way, I think the desperation comes through so much more in Eponine's voice. It sounds more like a sob that way, more anguished. Also, I think the higher version adds a premature climax to the song, whereas the climax *should* be on "known." At least imo. Oh, well ...

Updated On: 8/4/06 at 08:03 AM

Sutter Foster was so far and away the best Eponine that she's in a category all by herself.

Yeah, I think it was the Israeli Thenardier's.

The pimp's name is Bamatabois.

I thought everyone was good except for Tracy Shayne. She has a strange voice. And she was Christine in POTO at one point, too.

I like this recording quite a bit, even Kaho's odd enunciation.

BUT it is Tracy Shayne who really makes my eardrums blead. SHRILL SHRILL SHRILL. Several years ago friends riding in my car wouldn't say a word until Cossette started her piercing shrieking and then they'd say something like, "Jeez! Can we listen to something else?" And even now my

It really is painful and makes me picture her acting as being something akin to an over-caffeinated silent movie heroine being threatened by a mustaschioed (sp) villain. A major flaw on an otherwise impressive preservation of the complete score.

My two main problems with the CSR are Debbie Byrne as Fantine and, as already stated, Kaho's Eponine. I adore Debbie Byrne on other recordings, but she just rubs me the wrong way as Fantine.

I'm one of the 3 or 4 people on this planet who actually doesn't at all mind Gary Morris OR Tracey Shayne.

Who do you prefer as Fantine then?