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Review of Citizen Kane: The Essential Bernard Herrmann Collection (Compilation)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek a very well-rounded and, for the most part,
superbly performed collection of re-recordings representing the career
of Bernard Herrmann.
Avoid it... if the composer's work has never at the least intrigued you, for this compilation is about the best re-introduction to his work that you can find.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Citizen Kane: The Essential Bernard Herrmann Film Music
Collection: (Compilation) Several record labels have attempted to
pay tribute to the great career of Bernard Herrmann, but few have
succeeded as well as Silva Screen. For the purpose of celebrating
anniversaries, among other reasons, the spring and summer of 1999 was a
time when a plethora of compilations of music from the careers of
Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock was produced. Most of these compilations
offered similar, stale renditions of the usual Psycho and
Vertigo variety. Silva Screen managed to avoid the pitfalls of
most of these entries by the mere depth of their albums. Very much like
the John Barry "Zulu" compilation released by Silva at about the same
time, this 2-CD "Citizen Kane" tribute to the career of Herrmann
features an excellent balance of classic themes and lesser known gems.
The most rewarding recordings on this album, though, are the inclusions
from those scores that casual fans haven't heard too often before, such
as On Dangerous Ground, The Naked and the Dead, and
Mysterious Island. While these scores won't strike any memories
for 99% of movie-goers, there exists no need to elaborate on Herrmann's
career, which stands on its own glorious, rule-breaking merits. His
unconventional rhythms and instrumentation make his music distinctly his
own, and few composers who have attempted to do the same in the years
since his death in 1975 have succeeded. On the "Citizen Kane" set, Silva
visits all the major players and ends with Taxi Driver, the score
Herrmann never had the opportunity to hear in the finished
picture.
Near the start of the album, the selections from The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest are the only average representations on the entire set. The term "average" could be misleading, for they are still good performances, though you will hear them performed with more energy and vigor on other 1999 Hitchcock compilations of re-recordings. The track from Citizen Kane, which is oddly the title of the album even though it's one of the shortest selections, suffers from an identity problem in its placement. The rather light music for Citizen Kane came at a different (and much earlier) time in his career, before his truly brilliant, dark and enticing music began gracing theatres. The highlight of the album is the ten minute suite from On Dangerous Ground, which features some of Herrmann's very best suspense music. It had been previously released at the time on an inferior bootleg, but its crystal clear performance here is a treat. The title music from Seventh Voyage of Sinbad doesn't have as much spark as the version presented by Varèse Sarabande last year, but is entertaining nonetheless. The same applies to Cape Fear; the performance here is accomplished, but one step behind the interpretation by Elmer Bernstein for the film's re-make of 1991. Part of the issue with Cape Fear is the faster pacing of the performance, which diminishes the effectiveness of the suspense inherent in the score's appropriately fluid structures. Aside from these slight blemishes, the other tracks on the first CD are all superior in sound and performance. The second CD begins with an excellent rendition of the prelude from The Naked and the Dead, followed by the composer's crowning achievement in the world of science fiction. The Day the Earth Stood Still represents the typical feel of the corny, early-1950's sci-fi flicks very well, even down to the cheesy theremine, but the package is dripping with Herrmann's heavy dramatic flair. Obsession and Mysterious Island offer a look into the more diverse side of Herrmann's talents, shedding some of his usual shades of dissonance. The tracks from Psycho and Vertigo are exactly what can be expected. Their most prominent suites have been overexposed through the years, and the performances here rank average among all their re-recordings of the era. Finishing the album is a classy tribute to Herrmann's final score, the 1976 Taxi Driver, which takes a jazzy urban theme and twists it into a dark and turbulent end. The soloists in this cue (on saxophone and muted trumpet) do an outstanding job of slurring their notes appropriately, conveying the seedy style of the score well. Overall, the album contains the necessary themes from Herrmann's career and, in these regards, functions as the best of Silva's composer series so far. Great care was taken by the album's arranger and producer to provide an intellectually sharp representation of the composer's scores. Perhaps most importantly, although Silva has released other Hitchcock and Herrmann music before, this album also doesn't dwell solely on the Hitchcock material (a tired habit by many others), offering a great diversity of genres from his four decades of work. Even though there may be individual cues here that can be found with greater intensity or accuracy on other compilations from roughly the same time, this one is the best overall package for your money. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 110:43
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert contains extensive notes about each of the tracks, as well
as thorough credits.
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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 Citizen Kane: The Essential Bernard Herrmann Collection are Copyright © 1999, Silva Screen and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/3/99 and last updated 10/21/07. |
