Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you seek one of the most powerful compilations of choral film music ever produced for album. Avoid it... if the overbearing nature of most of the selections on this compilation is too wild and noisy for your taste. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Cinema Choral Classics: (Compilation) By 1997, Silva Screen Records' compilations featuring The City of Prague Philharmonic and the Crouch End Festival Chorus had begun offering some of the very best film music performances available on the market. The orchestra had been assembled from various others in the region, and the Czech players had become familiar enough with their British conductors and producers that their work often flowed without flaw. While they had been pumping out compilations of score music for several years, the "Cinema Choral Classics" albums quickly became their most successful offerings. A massive financial success, this first album would spawn a sequel the next year, and eventually a third entry many years later. There are three sins involved with any film music re-recording, and you often find compilations committing one or more of those sins. They are, in no order: lack of orchestra size, lack of choral accompaniment when the original recording featured one, and poor recording quality. It's not often that a label and performing group avoids all of these sins, but Silva has done just that over the past ten years with their magnificent compilations. When the ensemble is large, the chorus is even larger, and the sound quality is in at least Dolby Surround quality, you can forgive even the occasional performance mistake or questionable adaptation, both of which are inevitable in any compilation. The City of Prague Philharmonic had drastically reduced their mistakes in recordings by 1997, and the adaptations were often as loyal to the originals as possible (in some cases, as with Nic Raine's conducting of John Barry's work, the re-recordings are often superior). The first "Cinema Choral Classics" album, despite its share of flaws, is an outstanding achievement, surpassed only by the plethora of their two-CD compilations that often provide a more substantial amount of music for the price. One of the greatest assets of Silva products such as this one is the immense knowledge of film music carried by its producers, leading to compilations that intelligently balance popular scores with obscure ones, all the while choosing representatives from across the different ages of film music. Near the outset of the album are two source cues of great fame that often appear in (or inspire) original scores. Both Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" (the ultimate source for trailer music nowadays) and Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei" are perhaps over-exposed, especially the latter in the years after Platoon, but they exist to help sell copies of the product. The Maurice Jarre and Ennio Morricone cues, from Jesus of Nazareth and The Mission respectively, provide the product with elegance and beauty, using the size of the ensemble to accentuate the harmony of the two scores. The remaining cues on the album better represent the lightning on its cover. The performance of "Never Surrender" from Jerry Goldsmith's First Knight is the surprising highlight of the album, thanks to an ambitious performance that exceeds the quality of the original. Also eclipsing the original recording in depth is the well-arranged suite from Alan Silvestri's The Abyss. Failing to muster the same energy is Miklos Rozsa'a King of Kings and, surprisingly, Basil Poledouris' Conan the Barbarian, which suffers from a suspect mix balance between chorus and orchestra. The suite from Barry's The Lion in Winter (first, second, and last tracks of the score) is on par with Prague's usual superior performances of the composer's work. Vangelis' Conquest of Paradise is performed here without the dominant synthesizers that overwhelm its theme in the original, relying on varied percussion that may sound a bit strange to collectors of the composer. The finale to Mario Nascimbene's The Vikings features the famous three-note Vikings theme but, compared to the other selections, seems out of place. A very long suite from Goldsmith's The Omen follows, and will be a major attraction to film score collectors. Its relentless chants are well executed and are surrounded by a fair amount of Goldsmith's non-choral score. Finally, the beautiful "Non Nobis Domine" theme from the climax of Doyle's Henry V is offered without some of the overbearing zeal that other ensembles have handled it with, and its victorious tone is a very fitting end to the CD. Overall, this is a very satisfying compilation; the second "Cinema Choral Classics" album would provide a wider variety of lesser known selections, especially from the Golden Age, but it also caters to fans of Patrick Doyle, Danny Elfman, and Basil Poledouris (with multiple selections representing each). The sound quality is resounding, and will alone be worth the price of the album for some listeners. These products are an important cross-over concept to help bridge the gap between casual mainstream listeners and dedicated score collectors, and its quality is strong enough to attract repeat listens for the latter crowd. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 71:33
All artwork and sound clips from Cinema Choral Classics are Copyright © 1997, Silva Classics. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/15/97, updated 6/17/07. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1997-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
