They had already performed a suite of music from Batman Forever that was personally arranged by Goldenthal, appearing on the "Hollywood '95" album released by the same label. To fill an album with music from the opening years of the Batman franchise, Varèse Sarabande commissioned the RSNO in a effort to record pieces from Elfman's two scores and the original television theme. Despite the concurrent release of Batman & Robin, Varèse worked backwards rather than forwards and the fourth and final score is unfortunately missing from this album (a shame, considering its superiority over its predecessor and lack of availability). While, as mentioned before, the performances by the RSNO are often stellar, they do sometimes have their misses. Many film music collectors agree that the "Hollywood '95" album was the best of the label's series of yearly summary compilations, partly due to the masterful choice of material to be represented from Batman Forever and partly because Joel McNeely and the RSNO nailed the essence of Goldenthal's music (even providing an extra element of listenability to it by dropping or de-emphasizing the wavering brass effects). The same exact recording of Batman Forever appears on this album, and it is once again the highlight. Re-recordings of Batman are pretty common, though Batman Returns remains largely uninterpreted by other ensembles. Elfman fans will likely be disappointed, however, by the imprecise and clumsy performances of Elfman's two scores here. The arrangement of Batman is severely altered from the original score, and the curious part of this awkward presentation is that it doesn't always assist the listening experience as a concert suite. If you take Elfman's original "Music for a Darkened Theatre" album as an example of how he would arrange a suite from the film himself, then you begin to realize how strange the one for the RSNO is. The concert version of Batman's finale is arguably less powerful than the film version, losing the power of its concluding crescendo in its elongated form.

Some of the original score's best moments are simply omitted from the nine tracks presented here, which is awkward. The performances themselves range from adequate to nearly unlistenable, with several key brass notes missed and other motifs simply omitted. The mixing of the orchestra overemphasizes the brass and percussion and ignores some of Elfman's finer touches with the strings and particularly the woodwinds (flute accents on the top are completely swallowed up by the rest of the ensemble). The same difficulty exists with the Batman Returns selections (which at least do cover the best portions of the score), with the proper instrumentation simply missing from the equation altogether (such as the mandatory organ). Thus, the performance is stripped down and lacking in the emotional weight that Elfman used to solidify his original recordings. The mix of the xylophone is painfully loud (so much so that the instrument is almost unrecognizable in its ear-shattering tone during the "End Credits") and the choir's singing is not fluid enough to suffice. The tempo on the Elfman scores is often far too slow, conveying to two title sequences at a lethargic pace. There are a few individual highlights, including the arrangement of "Selina Transforms" and the wicked percussion in several of the performances, including the "End Credits" piece from Batman Returns. On the whole, from the point of view of a casual listener of Batman music, the RSNO simply blew it with Elfman's material. It's a rare total loss for the ensemble. The quality of the performances increases suddenly with Batman Forever, and the album offers a token, spirited performance of the original 1960's television theme (which is rearranged considerably as well). Overall, serious enthusiasts of Batman music should hesitate before purchasing this album. It's obviously incomplete in retrospect, missing some of the more popular and rare music from the franchise. Other ensembles have better performed the original Batman theme, and what exists here from Batman Returns doesn't warrant a purchase, especially if you already have the Batman Forever material from the excellent "Hollywood '95" compilation.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download