Celine Dion Music:

		List Price: $9.98		Label: Sony Salesrank: 143295 Released: February 22, 2000
		Our Price: $10.84
		Used Price: $3.00
		Media: Audio CD

Notre Dame de Paris (2000 Studio Cast) [Epic] Track Listing:
1. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Live for the One I Love
2. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/The Age of the Cathedrals
3. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/The Refugees
4. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/The Bohemienne Song
5. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Belle (Is the Only Word)
6. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/My Heart If You Will Swear
7. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Torn Apart
8. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/The Bells
9. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/The Pagan Ave Maria
10. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Your Love Will Kill Me
11. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Moon
12. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/God You Made the World All Wrong
13. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/I'm a Priest
14. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/The Birds They Put in Cages
15. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Cast Away
16. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Live for the One I Love
17. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musical Play/Dance My Esmeralda

Editorial Review:
With the British in a bit of a dry spell in the late 1990s, it's fallen to the French to produce Europe's pop-rock blockbuster musicals. Following in the footsteps of the Boublil-Schönberg spectacles is Notre-Dame de Paris, which opened in its title city in September 1998, toured through France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada, and produced two top-selling albums. This take on Victor Hugo's classic novel features music by Richard Cocciante and lyrics by Luc Plamondon (Starmania), translated into English by Will Jennings ("My Heart Will Go On," "Up Where We Belong"), and tells a tragic tale of love and lust among Quasimodo (the raspy-voiced but effective Garou), the gypsy woman Esmeralda (Australian pop singer Tina Arena, whose timbre might remind you of Lea Salonga), the priest Frollo (Canadian Daniel Lavoie), the dashing captain Phoebus (Steve Balsamo), and his fiancée Fleur-de-Lys (Natasha St-Pierre). This talented cast (different from the one that opened in Las Vegas in January 2000) will premiere in London in May 2000 and includes numerous members from the Paris companies. Making a brief appearance is frequent Plamondon collaborator Celine Dion, whose performance of the opening track was included on her greatest hits album. This disc compiles 63 minutes of the show's appealing tunes, most notably "Live for the One I Love," "The Age of the Cathedrals," "Belle (Is the Only Word)," and "My Heart if You Will Swear"--pop-rock with a slight Gallic accent and a nod to such genre landmarks as Jesus Christ Superstar and Chess. Also included are lyrics, a brief synopsis, and color photos. Incidentally, Notre-Dame de Paris might someday find itself in competition with another developing project: Disney's latest screen-to-stage translation, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a less gritty version of the same story line. --David Horiuchi

Notre Dame de Paris (2000 Studio Cast) [Epic] Reviews:
very good
2009-11-27 -
I thought that it was very good but the
Italian version was superb.
I still give this a 4 star

Quasimodo is happy
2009-11-17 - I recently purchased Notre Dame de Paris through Amazon and there was no problems what so ever. I am very pleased and happy so I have only good things to say about the way everything is handeled here. I live in Denmark but even so it only took a litle under a week for my purchase to arrive at my door. Very nice :-)

Great!
2008-05-27 - 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.

A decent translation of the original French cast recording
2008-03-14 - 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).

Too many love songs on this CD
2006-08-20 - 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.