The German cast recording's main problem is the editing. For some reason, the producer decided to take up valuable space with an extended version of the Hannibal rehearsal, which shouldn't be on a highlights CD to begin with. Also, the ballet in "Il Muto" was included, along with the first Phantom letter. Normally, I wouldn't complain about them adding these not-so-essential scenes, but these additions were not without a cost. In order to include them, several scenes important to the plot were omitted, most notably the All I Ask of You Reprise, during which the chandelier is dropped. The Entre 'Act was also left out, which isn't such a big deal, because that piece sounds pretty much the same on every recording. However, they also omitted the part where the Phantom sings "Down Once More" and "Hounded out by everyone...." I consider the Chandelier dropping scene and the "Down Once More" scene as two very critical scenes to judge how good a Phantom is, and was very disappointed that they were left out. Several other segments were also mysteriously edited out, leaving the storyline full of holes (for example, the "Il Muto" ballet part ends with the screams, and moves straight to Raoul singing All I Ask of You, which to someone who doesn't know the plot may seem rather disturbing).

Peter Hofmann has a very nice voice, but it seems that he would be better as an announcer than as a Phantom. He has a resonant voice, but it is not as powerful as Henk Poort's or Peter Karrie's, nor as hypnotic sounding as that of Michael Crawford or Yuichiro Yamaguchi. His opening with the "Insolent Boy" line, was excellent, sounding both powerful and menacing. However, that turns out to be anticlimactic. Very rarely does he display that kind of power throughout the rest of the CD. In particular, he sounds very bored when singing his first line in the title song, instead of booming it out like Poort, Crawford, Ethan Freeman, and other good Phantoms. In the final lair scene, he tries to sound emotional, but it didn't work out too well. The rest of the cast sounded pretty mundane, and was not comparable to either the Dutch cast, the London cast, or even the Japanese cast.

I should also warn you not to put the volume that high on this CD. For some reason, there's a much larger difference between the louder parts of the CD and the not-as-loud parts in terms of volume. One second, the CD might be playing at a volume you are comfortable with. However, in certain places, when a character raises his or her voice, instead of getting a little louder, the CD gets a LOT louder. For example, in the first Phantom note, Hofmann speaks in a normal voice throughout most of the letter. In the last line, when he warns of the "disaster beyond your imagination," his voice seems four times louder. If you like to listen to your CD's at high volume to begin with, be warned: places like this can be damaging to your eardrums. Also, in some of the instrumental passages, such as those in the Overture, there are high pitched instruments added that were not in the other recordings. These too can cause permanent ear damage. One last notable thing is that the Phantom's trademark sequence of descending notes when Buquet's body is revealed during the ballet and when the Phantom is unmasked in Act II is unusually fast and high-pitched. Perhaps that's the German style. Who knows?

Overall, I would not recommend this CD to diehard Phantom fans. Instead, get the Dutch one. It is far superior in just about every imaginable way, and it is cheaper. The Japanese one is also excellent. This one could have been much better, but some bad editing decisions ruined it.