Philharmonia Orchestra Of London - Les Miserables (Highlights) (CD 1991)

This CD was not as advertised. It does not have the L.P O. on it at all and is only highlights from the show.

I bought this CD of Les Miserables for two reasons. First was to hear how Britain's Got Talent contestants Susan Boyle and Jamie Pugh compare with the professional singers on this album. Secondly to see if there were any other songs in this musical that I could use for my hoped for appearance on Britain's Got Talent 2010. The answer to the second is very clearly NO. The songs "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Bring Him Home" are the only ones in this musical that stand out on their own. All the others are very much part of the drama and are lacking in strong melody. So, how do the BGT contestants compare? Well,Debbie Byrne's "I Dreamed A Dream" is more emotional than Susan Boyle's but, strangely, suffers as a result, so I prefer Susan Boyle. I find Jamie Pugh's "Bring Him Home" vastly preferable to Gary Morris's. Partly because of his lovely South-Walian accent but also because of his more delicate touch. I think Gary Morris overdoes it somewhat. This CD is a good value package non-the-less. You get a 20 page booklet with the words in.

This CD includes all the well-known songs from the show, including 'I Dreamed A Dream' of recent 'Britain's Got Talent' fame. I would recommend getting this CD, as some of the les mis soundtrax only feature about 5 tracks from the show: this one has 17. Also some other CDs turned out to be just an orchestra playing the songs without vocals. This CD has vocals and is the best I came across at a reasonable price.

I had heard songs from this musical and decided to get for myself- It was pretty hard to source this CD- Having received my CD - there are only actually a few songs I like on it- but still worth the money.