Great CD. This is almost as good as the original French musical. It was very well adapted and the choice of songs really sums up the entire musical.

Notre Dame de Paris was the brainchild of Quebecois composer Luc Plamondon, author of Starmania and La Legende de Jimmy along with Celine Dion collaborations on Des Mots Qui Sonnent. A musical based on Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame, its charged soundtrack brought Quasimodo's plight to memorable life. I saw the (French) musical staged in Quebec in 2001, and although the staging did little for me (minimal abstract sets, modern costuming), the music was highly memorable.

If your first thought is Disney's animated musical adaptation of Hunchback of Notre Dame, through that preconceived notion out the window. Plamondon's version of the classic love triangle is dark, gritty, and rock in its nature; no cute singing gargoyles here.

Many of the original French-language cast reprise their roles on the English cast recording, including Garou as Quasimodo, Daniel Lavoie as Frollo, and Bruno Pelletier as Gringoire (the role was also played by Acadian singer-songwriter Jean-Francois Breau). Plamondon's original French lyrics have been translated into passable English by Will Jennings (My Heart Will Go On).

The English tracklisting is varied slightly from the original, opening with Celine Dion's recording of Live For the One I Love. Pelletier as Gringoire has a pleasant enough voice, although he sounds as though he's reaching outside his range on the lower notes on Age of Cathedrals. Luck Mervil's urgent, melancholic hoarseness works perfectly on Refugees. Tina Arena was a much-contested choice among fans of the original French-language cast recording; however, her sensual, sinuous voice is imbued with a strength that shines. On Bohemienne Song, mysterious Eastern notes flit hauntingly through the ballad, hints of sitar and derbukka drums, exotic hints of the Gypsies' Eastern origins.

We first hear from star Garou on the three-way Belle. His rough voice reminds me of Joe Cocker, and although his gritty sound may be an acquired taste, he sings with a sensuality and sense of wounded pride as Quasimodo that makes him entrancing to listen to in either language. Natasha St-Pierre shines on power ballad My Heart If You Will Swear. The next songs trace the complicated love quadrangle between Phoebus, Esmeralda, Quasimodo, and evil priest Frollo, who covets Esmeralda as his own. Garou's tortured despair is palpable on Dance, My Esmeralda, sounding as though he's being torn apart.

The English cast recording generally holds up well against the original French. A note about the diction: most French-speaking Quebecers are bilingual, so English diction is generally quite good. It was a wise decision on the part of the producers to bring over the original Quebec cast to reprise the English roles. Garou is a standout in particular, and Bruno Pelletier is a bestselling rock star in Quebec, and the extra degree of authenticity (Notre Dame de Paris was written in French, after all) lends the musical an extra shine.

Fans of the original French-language soundtrack will find much to like, although Celine Dion's cover of Live for the One I Love felt a little too convenient as she's not present on the rest of the album (it was marketed as an all-new track on All The Way...A Decade of Song).

If I want love songs, I can listen to top 40.

For musical theatre, I prefer drama, though Broadway almost inevitably throws some romance in.

This CD is dominated by love songs.

Furthermore, this CD seems like a compilation of songs, rather than the entire story, so they do seem like just love songs absent strong characterisation.

When we listen to opera, we don't really worry ourselves with the translation (although it is nice to have). So it should be here. It's really too bad this musical/modern opera just couldn't be presented here in the original French. I'm afraid this may come off as elitist, but hey, the original is SO SO SO much better than this!

Tina Arena (Esmeralda) may have a fantastic voice. Unfortunately, you won't be left with this impression when listening to this CD. There's a harsh edge to her performance that is almost unpleasant. Her phrasing is poor. To add insult to injury, the acoustics are not spectacular, and the whole performance just absolutely does NOT come alive at all. The French recording is immeasurably better than this. When you listen to the French recording, you are just drawn into the whole story. And, if you know the story (do a little reading about the musical-- it's not necessary to read the Victor Hugo novel) you will have an idea what's happening while they're singing. (If you pick up the DVD you'll get the entire libretto (in French) and English subtitles.)

Anyways, this is just flat-out not so good. I don't mind the actual lyric translation. . . I haven't listened carefully enough to find offense with the actual choice of words the translator chose. It's really the music, the performances, and the acoustics. Noa-- who is Esmeralda in the French version-- has an incredible voice. All of the cast is fantastic. The English version is just NOT GOOD.

One more thing: It is difficult to find the unabridged 2 CD complete performance in French. It is available to download at some sites. If you can find that, rather than the one-CD abridged French that is available here, try to do that. There is something amazing about listening to the entire thing in chronological order. It's just one of the most beautiful pieces of music that I've heard.

Addendum: I've listened to this a few more times. I DO think that Garou, Daniel Lavoie, and Bruno Pelletier are STILL incredible on this version. They bring their same beautiful voices to the English roles of Quasimodo, Frollo, and Gringoire. However, Tina Arena's Esmeralda is really enough to ruin the entire score. Her voice is absolutely unpleasant as Esmeralda. There is no sweetness to it. Both Noa and Helene Segara are so much better. And, Steven Balsamo as Phoebus is only okay. Patrick Fiori has a rich lush tenor when he sings Phoebus' part in the French version. Steven Balsamo-- who'll you'll hear here-- is only half as good.

Lastly, after seeing the translation of the French on the DVD version, I have to say that I don't really mind the English word translation on this English version. My husband would actually laugh a bit when reading the English translation when we were watching the show. Here, the words and melodrama are toned down a bit. Not a lot, mind you-- it is a tragedy, but a little. If you have seen the English subtitle translation on the dvd (think the song Belle, specifically), and then listen to the translation here, it's really not as bad as you might think when reading these reviews.

This mangled version of the wonderful French original demonstrates the importance of lyrics to the success of a rock opera. A production like this one, with avant-garde, minimalist sets and costumes, stands or falls on the quality of the music, lyrics and performers. While the French version was nearly flawless (brought down somewhat by the less-than-stellar performance of Helene Segara, who in any case does not sing on the cast recording), the English falls short of the mark. Sadly, even the excellent cast can't save the boring, unsubtle, and often ungrammatical lines that replace the powerful original lyrics. Rhymes of the "hell/tell/sell" sort abound, and the translator's preference for rhyme over meaning often results in completely unwarranted character changes (such as Phoebus being uncharacteristically concerned with damnation during "Belle", apparently because the word "hell" rhymes with "well"...) The translation manages two seemingly self-contradictory errors: it is both excessively literal, and insufficiently precise. The latter is a real problem, as others have noted, not only because the vagueness of meaning dilutes the power of the lyrics, but also because it makes the show sound repetitive.

Esmeralda on this recording is sung by Tina Arena; another mistake. She is a talented singer with a powerful voice, but her style and timbre do not match Garou's, nor does she have sufficient vocal expressivity to pull off this role. The music is not especially difficult in a technical sense, and relies more on the artist's ability to express emotion. Tina Arena certainly hits the notes with all she's got, but her Esmeralda lacks the charisma and tragedy intended for this character.

There is one good reason to buy this CD: it does have a slightly different song selection than the French cast recording. In particular, "The Birds They Put In Cages" is a lovely piece of music and, even in this imperfect rendition, is worth hearing. However, unless you absolutely must have this music in English, you would probably do better to get the complete Original Cast Live version of the French production.