Cast includes Mikael Samuelson as the Phantom, Elisabeth Berg as Christine and Bengt Nordfors as Raoul. The best line on this recording has to be "Daae? Curious name." And speaking of curious - there is curious clapping at certain places that makes me believe it is partly live but there are places where you would expect applause and it doesn't come. There are also some odd gaps at certain places, in Christine's dressing-room Meg is sent away by Mme Giry and suddenly Raoul is there, off he goes and the Phantom turns up. Perhaps it all makes sense in Swedish! In Mikael's "Phantom Testing Areas" his first mirror line isn't as strong as I would like it to be and his Angel isn't brilliant. Perros? (You can hear the pyrotechnics!) I really cannot put my finger on what is wrong with any of his sections but there is something missing. The Carlotta (Anette Stridh) can't croak (I think her frog has lodged itself in Mikael's throat for the duration of The Final Lair...) and there isn't an Il Muto ballet which is a shame. Christine sounds suitably spooked during all the "Raoul I've been there" bits. No collection is complete without it of course, but it isn't stunning.