Reviewed by Paul Davis

It’s always difficult to review a soundtrack from a musical that you haven’t been to see, and this is the case here. I’m sure if you were there as this performance of ‘Esther, For Such A Time As This’ was being acted out this CD would have much more verve. The music no doubt is well written in an operatic way. The story is told through the songs and the odd conversation. It has light-and-shade, serious songs, fun songs, sinister songs as you’d expect. The West End cast, sound like just that – a West End cast, with big glossy, expressive vocals, and the music provided by the All Souls Orchestra is top notch. The only problem is that, without the action going on you feel compelled to read along to keep up with the story, especially as some of the recording is quiet on the vocals. I have no doubt that this musical by Paul Knight and Peter Hutchinson is great and given the opportunity I would like to see it as Esther is a fascinating often over looked story.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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