Search - Riccardo Cocciante :: Notre Dame De Paris

Italian Version of this Musical Phenomenon!

Robert Lopez | California | 09/25/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not the best, but a fine recording of the Musical Phenomenon NOTRE DAME DE PARIS.The Cast consists of
Lola Ponce as ESMERALDA,
Gio Di Tonno as QUASIMODO,
Vittorio Matteucci as FROLLO,
Matteo Setti as GRINGOIRE,
Marco Guerzoni as CLOPIN,
Graziano Galatone as PHEOBUS,
and Claudia Galatone as FLOR DE LIS.Track list is:
1)Age of the Cathedrals
2)The Refugees
3)Bohemienne
4)Belle
5)Your Love Will Kill Me
6)Court of Miracles (With new lyrics, Esmeralda sings more & Gringoire sings too!)
7)Ave Maria
8)Florence
9)The Bells (With short duet by Gringoire and Frollo!)
10)I'm A Priest
11)Torn Apart
12)My Heart If You Will Swear
13)God You Made The World All Wrong
14)Live (Sung beautifully by Lola Ponce!)
15)Moon
16)Dance My Esmeralda
All sung in ItalianIt was fun to get this cd and compare the singing styles from the other cds out there. Sad there was no "Birds In Cages" though. But like I said, this isn't the best Notre Dame cd, that would be the Live double disc French version of the of the entire show. This is only a hilights cd. Esmeralda is very strong. A much better singer than Original Helene Segara, in my opinion. Others are good as well. Comes with lyric book in Italian and pictures of the actors.
Great to listen to."

Notre Dame...A Classic & Contemporary Drama

Robert J. Hammervold | Parker, CO United States | 05/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I happened upon this work through a 20-second bite on one of the cable television channels one evening. It caught my eyes and ears, as I've been really excited by the various musical themes and performances of Quebec's Cirque du Soleil for now close to ten years. It took me awhile to track it down, as there were no leads to its origin within the body of this news report, but I finally found it here on Amazon.com. This work based on Victor Hugo's story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, as we might know it in the United States, has been produced as a truly modern opera with great drama and exacting performance in a serious work of music. I found the music to be very exciting with its combination of contemporary vocals, orchestral sound, and storyline.The efforts of Luc Plamondon in writing the lyrics and Richard Cocciante in creating and scoring the music are tremendous. The empassioned performances by its artistes, Helene Segara, Daniel Lavoie, Bruno Pelletier, Garou, Patrick Fiori, Luck Mervil, and Julie Zenatti are spectacular. I would love to see this in DVD format as it would add greatly to all of our experiences of the production."

A journey with Esmeralda.

Janie Lauryn | Spain | 01/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I first saw the perfomance of Notre Dame de Paris by original francophone troupe of singers for the first time, right away I fell in love with the music of Riccardo Cocciante and the gorgeous voices of the singers.



Being lucky to be able to understand the lyrics, I was pleasantly surprised by the awesome lyrics of Luc Plamondon even though the lyrics are not necessary to understand the mood and the emotions that the songs transmit, knowing the words helps you to completely immerse into the play and feel the same emotions that the play characters, to live the story yourself.



With "Bohemienne/Zingara" appears a clear picture of a young gypsy girl wandering in the mountains and valleys of Andalusia, playful and free, a little sad because she lives only for the present, every tomorrow is a new mystery, a new journey.



"Belle/Bella" depicts a stunning woman, with sensual moves and penetrating eyes, dancing on the square while all the men are ready to do anything to be with her.



"Tu va me detruire" demonstrates the unconrolled desire of the priest towards Esmeralda, the man who dedicated all his life to sience and religion who now is ready to surpass all his beliefs, descend to hell only if she would be his. While he is discovering his dark side, Esmeralda falls in love with a beau captaine, Phoebus, who is betraying his fiancée.



Meanwhile his fiancée Fleur de Lys is reflecting on how to get her love one back : In "La monture" she makes plan of vegeance to Esmeralda, she is calling her a witch, the hatred and jelousy are overflowing her while she says to Phoebus "I will come back to you only if Esmeralda will be executed ".



As the story ends the spectator/listener is taken over by

the desperation of innocent and proud Esmeralda before being executed, the depth and the eternity of Quasimodo's feelings.



I really love all the singers and ever since I have Notre Dame de Paris I don't miss an album by any of the singers from the musical. I have discovered for myself such great artists as Garou, Bruno Pelletier, Patrick Fiori.

And what about the Italian version? It's good, maybe even great, but nothing compares to the original version, I have Notre Dame in all languages that it has been released in, and so long I stay with the fisrt one!! In the Italian version my favorite songs are : La Cavalcatura, Il prete innamorato, Mi distruggerai, Vivere per amare, Bella, Zingara and Luna. These ones are sung passionately and are very beautiful. I recommend this version if you already have the french one."