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Review of The Classic Film Music of John Barry, Volume II (Compilation)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you enjoy hearing John Barry's more obscure scores,
and you typically enjoy the precise City of Prague Philharmonic
performances of Barry's work.
Avoid it... if you prefer the more popular, romantically lush recordings of Barry's material that Silva Screen has offered.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Classic Film Music of John Barry, Volume II:
(Compilation) In their long history of producing fine compilations of
film music re-recordings by the City of Prague Philharmonic, Silva
Screen Records has had a love affair with the music of John Barry. Part
of the significant attention Silva has given to Barry's music is
probably due in part to the easy marketability of Barry's music across
two generations. But a more likely reason is the association of
orchestrator and conductor Nic Raine with Silva and the performers in
Prague. Raine had orchestrated Barry's final two James Bond scores (as
well as Chaplin) at the outset of his employment on these Silva
sets, so his knowledge of the reproduction of Barry's sound is
unparalleled. Indeed, some of the best performances to ever come out of
the City of Prague Philharmonic have been under the wand of Raine and in
front of sheets of Barry's music. Their first compilation of Barry
themes debuted in Great Britain in 1993, spread to America in 1994, and
led to subsequent collections in 1996, 1999, and 2006, among others.
Silva also released full re-recordings of the Prague musicians tackling
entire scores for The Lion in Winter, The Last Valley,
and, most magnificently, Raise the Titanic. When you look back at
this history, the most interesting aspect of all these Barry-related
albums is that their use of recordings differs from Silva's usual
practice of endlessly recycling performances across multiple products.
In fact, each of the albums listed above includes performances that
can't be found on other Silva products. And mercifully, unlike most
other Barry compilations, Silva doesn't take up precious time with
endless regurgitations of Barry's James Bond material. Additionally, the
musicians in Prague have re-recorded some of their own performances to
improve upon their offerings of the mid-1990's. A good example of this
is Zulu, which Silva seems to like to debut their John Barry
albums with. The recording available on the 1993/1994 compilation is an
inferior one compared to the vibrant and fresh one on the "Zulu"
compilation set in 1999. And yet, the sound quality of that performance
on the 1999 set is superior to the presentation of the same recording on
the 2006 "Film Music Masterworks" series CD.
So the moral of the story when it comes to Silva's John Barry CDs is that each one is unique in its selection and perhaps even its performances. The first CD in this history was the 1993 "The Classic John Barry," a British product that would be issued with a different cover but identical musical contents in America just six months later. Both it and its 1995 sequel album would be released before Silva began issuing their recordings in stunning surround sound quality, but the quality here is still on par with other digital recordings of the era. Barry's original recordings have always featured great sound quality (going back to the 1960's), so in some cases, the quality here is not an improvement over the originals, despite 25 years difference in age. Unlike the first volume of Barry music that Silva produced, "Volume II" offered a significant array of the composer's more obscure work. Many consider High Road to China to be the companion score to Raise the Titanic, partly because of their proximity in composition, but also because of their shared elegance. Its appearance here was a debut on CD, and while the pacing may be slow across all of the themes (especially the flying theme), it's still a beautiful score. The Wrong Box, The Ipcress File, The Appointment, The Knack, The Dove Suite, and The Quiller Memorandum are representative of the possible overarching flaw of the album, which is a staggered inclusion of the jazzier, Bond-like sound of the 1960's amongst the more romantic, symphonic themes. Hearing the triumphant title theme and churning black hole theme for The Black Hole is always a treat considering that the masters for the original recording are supposedly lost and we'll never hear the original score on album. Barry's two romantically saturated scores from 1995 are centerpieces here as well, with a gorgeous flute in The Scarlet Letter and hints of Zulu in Cry, the Beloved Country (Silva just can't resist putting that Zulu theme on every Barry compilation, even if only Barry collectors know it's there!). The suite from the Western Monte Walsh is a bit out of place. A suite from Mary Queen of Scots and a shorted suite from the then-unreleased Deadfall round out the album. It should be noted that the very lengthy album was considered more attractive at the time because it contained several cues for which there had been no CD recording. It still contains important recordings not available on other well-known Silva/Barry compilations, including High Road to China, so die-hard Barry fans may want to search for this long out-of-print album. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 78:06
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive information about the scores and films.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Classic Film Music of John Barry, Volume II are Copyright © 1996, Silva Screen Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/1/96 and last updated 7/29/06. |
