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Review of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (Stephen Warbeck)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you are only a collector of restrained classical film scores for the arthouse variety of film.

Avoid it... if you expect this score to address either the gravity of war or whimsy of romance with anything more than mechanical, ethnic and symphonic efficiency.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Captain Corelli's Mandolin: (Stephen Warbeck) A rare story of World War II occupation from the perspective of the Greeks, Captain Corelli's Mandolin explores the evolving relationship between the Greeks of the island of Cephalonia and their German and Italian occupiers. As the Greeks and Italians accept each other, one of the Italian officers falls in love with a local woman who is already to be wed to a local man who has headed off to fight in the war himself. That developing relationship is aided by the fact that the Italian officer writes music on his mandolin, including a love song that plays an important role in the film. The film is yet another historical epic to use music as an integral part of the narrative, this time in a romantic application. Working together once again, composer Stephen Warbeck and director John Madden, who were awarded Academy Awards for film and score for 1998's Shakespeare in Love, set out on a rather unusual course of action when planning the production of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. The film adaptation of Louis de Bernieres' novel had been a long time in the making, and it is one of the rare cases in which the score for a film was conceived before primary shooting even began. Madden and Warbeck had arrived at the point in their work together where both were directly and equally involved in the final vision of the production. All of the music in the story of Captain Corelli's Mandolin is pivotal, and not just that of the mandolin itself; the story also includes quite a bit of dancing to guitars and the likes in addition to operatic vocals. As such, Madden decided to unleash Warbeck on the composition of the primary themes of the score first so that the editing and cinematography would correspond with the music, and not vice versa. One noteworthy aspect of the production was the fact that Warbeck's main mandolin piece had to be composed in time for actor Nicolas Cage (in the title role) to learn and perform it on screen. If only for study, the film was an interesting view for film score fans to witness how the "music first, filming later" technique worked.

Because of the music's dominant role in the production, it was no surprise that the album was initially pushed as one of the biggest releases of the late summer season of 2001. Surely, Decca and Universal hoped to duplicate the success that The Red Violin proved to be for Sony, and it is no coincidence that the main instrument of performance in the score is also in the title of the film. From only the listening experience on album, it is not readily apparent that the score was written first. Technically, only the themes and overall tone of the score were recorded first, with the majority of the work recorded after principle filming, but before editing, which allowed the length of cues to determine the length of scenes in the finished product. Therefore, the biggest difference that process causes on album is the lack of any kind of abrupt synchronization points or changes in direction. Each cue is structured like a movement in a symphony, with a distinct flow of evolution from beginning to end. This kind of concert construction causes Warbeck's music on album to be extremely smooth to the ear, and yet, without any of the trademark aspects of a traditional film score, it lacks the usual stimuli that usually keep film score fans interested in the music. It is because of this fact that the album will likely sell better to collectors of the classical or opera genres. Whether or not you (the average film score listener) will enjoy Warbeck's lengthy piece depends on how vivacious you like your scores to be. Some will be lost immediately due to the simple fact that the mandolin isn't exactly a very attractive instrument to anchor a score with. Mandolins as a supplemental tool of ethnicity for a large ensemble are fine, but presenting them on their own for entire cues is asking too much of the instrument. Additionally, the score is a very subtle and subdued work. Its themes will not reach out and grab you, with the primary idea, "Pelagia's Song," surprisingly cold in some of its performances. Instead, Warbeck relies upon the delicate emotions of the mandolin, guitar, and woodwind solos to convey the love story trying to assert itself against the string section's bleak backdrop of world war.

The darker half of Warbeck's score, usually involving scenes of army activities, is handled well enough, though it never achieves a status of fright that interrupts the continuous musical emphasis on scenery and character. On the other hand, the moments of romance don't pick up steam until "Reunion" at the very end, drawing comparisons to the introverted tone of Gabriel Yared's The English Patient. On the whole, the score for Captain Corelli's Mandolin is, frankly, uninteresting on its own. Enthusiasts of stately and slight classical listening experiences will find the work to be a delightful and refreshing presentation of consistently pleasant harmonies performed with restraint and tact. In terms of liveliness, Warbeck's music here lacks far behind the giddy happiness and fantasy of Shakespeare in Love, with a considerably slower tempo from start to finish. Not the entire album contains straight Warbeck score, though. Several tracks of traditional interpretive cues add the needed flavor to the Greek/Italian source music heard during party and dance scenes in the film. The "La Scala Songs" are necessary inclusions, but not particularly pleasant to hear in conjunction with Warbeck's surrounding music. One of the main attractions of the album are the two short, but poignant vocal performances by rising British tenor Russell Watson, and it was no coincidence that the Decca label took the opportunity here to promote his debut album, which had been performing very well on numerous charts at the time. Unfortunately, his spectacular voice is only heard on just a few minutes of this album's material. Easily a highlight is "Ricordo Ancor," during which Watson performs "Pelagia's Song," the primary theme that Warbeck wrote near the very beginning of the project. Overall, this album will be a treat to those classical and opera listeners who want to supplement the vocal and source performances with Warbeck's mellow score. If you are not in tune with mandolins, guitars, and other instruments of Mediterranean flavor, especially without dynamic accompaniment by the full orchestra, then the score for Captain Corelli's Mandolin could very easily bore you. And if you want to test the waters with your first Warbeck score, Shakespeare in Love remains a better choice.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 60:21

• 1. Pelagia's Song (4:11) • 2. The Recruiting Officer (1:30) • 3. To Albania (2:03) • 4. Horgota Beach (1:50) • 5. Albania (2:11) • 6. The Arrival of the Italians (2:36) • 7. La Scala Songs: La Donna e Mobile/Lilli Marlene (traditional) (3:08) • 8. The Tango (2:14) • 9. Santa Lucia (traditional) (3:24) • 10. The Mandolin (1:50) • 11. After the Dance (2:17) • 12. Agii Fanentes (1:35) • 13. Lemoni (1:25) • 14. The Guitar (1:45) • 15. Surrender (2:16) • 16. On the Jetty (2:09) • 17. The Battle (3:03) • 18. Senza di Te - performed by Russell Watson (3:01) • 19. Escape from the Island (1:45) • 20. The Aftermath (6:47) • 21. Iannis' Letter (1:37) • 22. Ricordo Ancor (Pelagia's Song) - performed by Russell Watson (3:47) • 23. Reunion (3:46)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The product is an "Enhanced CD," automatically loading a music video for "Pelagia's Song" on computers not set to squash such misbehavior. The insert includes extensive credits and artwork, as well as notes from director John Madden and the composer. Warbeck's note is as follows:

"The world of the novel and later, images from the film, and the island of Cephallonia itself, all provided inspiration for the composition of this score. The music was written over a period of a year, beginning with "Pelagia's Song", the mandolin tune Antonio writes for Pelagia, which became a central theme in the film. Because music is so fundamental to this story, it was an intrinsic element of the shoot: from the mandolin scenes with Nicolas Cage, through the numerous dancing sequences, to La Scala and their ebullient opera society.

We recorded some of the orchestral pieces shortly after filming was completed, which meant we were able to use thematic material during the editing process, thus enriching the final blend of music and image. The orchestra we used had at its core a group of players who were involved with the film throughout: Giovanni Parricelli, Dario Rosetti-Bonell, Eddie Hession and Alison Stevens, all provided us with wonderful continuity.

Thanks must go to Paul Englishby for training La Scala and, along with Giovanni, for helping to coach Nicolas Cage, who learnt to play the mandolin especially for this film. I would also like to thank Nick Ingman and all the musicians involved for their invaluable contribution to this project and to add that collaborating once again with John Madden made this score a pleasure to compose."

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