The cimbalom is a particularly intriguing element in Arsène Lupin, for its presence throughout the score roots the work in both the appropriate time and place, with easily distinguishable tones as it is mixed at the forefront of each cue in which it performs. Its most notable contributions exist in the two pronouncements of the title theme, in both "Arsène Lupin" and "Secret Passage." Backing a relatively simple brass fanfare for the title character is a waltz that carries the elegance of the character while romantic string interludes cover all sides of his personality. All the while, Wiseman's score squeezes every last drop of glory out of each minor-key chord progression, often relying on the assistance of a choir to elevate the fantasy aspect while broadening the soundscape even further. In "Countess Cagliostro," we hear tragedy of almost a Nino Rota twist of theme yielding to brass and choral assaults as wicked as John Barry's opening to The Lion in Winter. Another intriguing choral cue is "Le Grand Café," arguably the hidden highlight of the initial album, with ominous rumblings of timpani, tolling bells, and an epic choral crescendo over alternating strings and light cymbal rolls. Interestingly, the mood and style of "Le Grand Café" for some reason seemed like a perfect match for the subsequent The Da Vinci Code at the time, and the same could be said about several other cues. Another strength of Wiseman's score is her ability to involve every member of the orchestra without allowing the density to become so thick that you end up with a John Williams Star Wars prequel or Howard Shore The Lord of the Rings score. An organ opens "The Blue Lupin" and is overtaken by one of the many ripping rhythms on solo drums; "Arsène Escapes" gives the snare a significant solo workout. In "The Needle of Etretat," Wiseman opens with a solo piano motif that would make any modern thriller film director envious. Softer moments of Arsène Lupin do exist, but their length in between swelling string melancholy or angry explosions of brass is often short. Not even comedy is lost in this work, with a cimbalom and lightly prancing violins evolving into almost parodies of motifs blown with vicious force by brass in the rest of the score.

In the end, it's the ferocious performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Crouch End Festival Chorus that really bring Arsène Lupin to life. Wiseman had conducted the group in concert, and the knowledge of how to orchestrate and conduct the group herself pays off with a score vibrant with personality at every turn. It's difficult to find detractions in the score's primary narrative, though the opening song on the initial album, with its electric guitar and other obvious period-busting elements, is perhaps unnecessary despite its adaptation of one of Wiseman's themes. The strictly period pieces, including the classically inclined "Casino" and "The Ballroom" don't convey much of the same sense of potentially impending doom around the corner that most of the score embodies. The film employs a significant amount of such source-like material, and it doesn't really mingle with the composer's thematic base. Also of slight disappointment is the lack of more interpretations of the main theme in the ambitious action cues throughout the score; that theme is certainly catchy, and its absence in many of the large-scale action cues is curious. That said, Arsène Lupin is a delight to behold in nearly every cue. Few scores deserve such an unequivocal recommendation. Very rarely do orchestral action and thriller scores produce such phenomenal mayhem while sounding genuine and novel in the digital era, though Dario Marianelli offered roughly the same kind of refreshing take on the genre in The Brothers Grimm during the same year. At a time when American composers, and the establishment that creates many of them, churns out the schlock that passed for action film music, the Europeans reminded us that sophistication can indeed coexist with simple, tonal, kick-ass orchestral force. Patrick Doyle, Alexandre Desplat, Ennio Morricone, Marianelli, and Wiseman have given film music listeners plenty to chew on in the mid-2000's, and their American counterparts could not help but take notice. As mentioned before, parts of this score seem as though they could have used as a brilliant temp score for the subsequent The Da Vinci Code with great effect, and Hans Zimmer in particular would have been well served giving this approach a listen. (He didn't, of course, to his and his team's detriment.)

During its entire existence, the score for Arsène Lupin has presented availability issues for those living outside of the core of Western Europe, its two albums long elusive for Americans in particular. The film debuted in widespread release first in France in 2004 and then spread across the world in 2005. Notably absent from the movie's release, however, was the United States, never showing in America in even an arthouse festival. The only album existing at the time of the film's distribution was a commercial release from the French branch of EMI, with packaging in French except for cue titles and notes about the score, both provided by the English-speaking Wiseman. Unavailable from even online soundtrack specialty outlets during those years, international listeners could only purchase the score from either Amazon.com UK or France. Despite the great length of this 2004 album, Music Box Records presented a significantly expanded set in 2024 for the twentieth anniversary of the picture, adding more than an hour of score but subtracting the song. A fair chunk of this running time consists of padding via source cues and the impressive variety of original ragtime, polka, and waltz tunes that mingle at the periphery of the score. But the fuller chronological ordering of the score proper allows more breathing space to the movie's narrative, expanding the depth of themes for secondary characters and the concept of witchcraft. Even the main theme for Lupin and his affair is exercised with lighter renditions in the first half of the score. Most astonishing is the immense volume of sizable music that Wiseman wrote for this film, the only disappointment coming in the artificially edited end credits music that went unused in the movie. Casual listeners will be able to appreciate the score's action and melodic highlights, including the biggest Gothic choral parts, on the shorter product. But the 2024 set, despite needing some culling to remove source-like material, provides compelling additions and is worth its cost and, like Lupin, is destined to slip suddenly into the darkness with only a pressing of 500 copies. Undoubtedly, Arsène Lupin should join Lesbian Vampire Killers as a necessary representation of Wiseman's most immense triumphs in any film music collection. While such music may not be representative of her larger body of work, one cannot help but marvel at Wiseman's powerful and elegant symphonic ideas for the Leblanc character and his universe.  *****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download