: (Compilation) The Silva Screen label debuted the
first of their 2-CD "essential" sets in 1998, encompassing the careers
of James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith, and continued the series with a
John Williams entry in the summer of 1999. All three follow the same
mold, combining older performances by the City of Prague Philharmonic
(that have appeared on previous albums) with a few bright new additions.
For the Horner album, the new block of material represented
. And
now, with so much of Williams' material already re-recorded, the new
material is 18 previously unreleased minutes from the early Western
. The album was released to coincide with the mania
surrounding
score included on this
release. The performances on "The Essential John Williams Film Music
Collection" range greatly from stunningly superb to occasionally shabby.
The best performances are, as per usual, those that include the City of
Prague Philharmonic and the Crouch End Festival Chorus together.
Although beginning with a rather flat and uninspiring version of
is a delight, capturing much of the solace of
the original score. The two
tracks are adequate, though the
concert suite arrangement of themes from that score has never been
satisfactory. Williams essentially broke the epic and grand prologue
from the score into three pieces and inserted lengthier portions of each
theme in between; in so doing, the majesty of that prologue music is
completely lost. The brass section has a few noticeable flubs at the
start of that suite's performance here.
The orchestral rendition of the Academy nominated song
from
Hook is the better half of the score's two representatives,
if only because its arrangement is more rare to hear. The theme from
The Cowboys is performed very well, though some of the energy was
lost due to slower pacing in its mid-section. The heavy strings in the
Born on the Fourth of July are very effective and will not
disappoint. Fans will likely be surprised by
Family Plot, with
its choral sections, and
Rare Breed, with the expansive opening
to its suite of tracks. The
JFK music runs a tad long for this
compilation; ten minutes of that solemn music is abruptly broken up by
the sudden and boisterous
Empire of the Sun, featuring the
necessary, magnificent chorus. At the start of the second CD, fans who
bought Silva's previously-released, disaster-themed compilation will
immediately recognize the City of Prague Philharmonic's standing
performance of
The Towering Inferno. Despite the recording's
previous availability, it is a noteworthy adaptation worth inclusion.
It's somewhat of a relief that Silva elected not to include the two
other Williams selections from the disaster album on this one
(
Poseidon Adventure and
Earthquake). The choral
masterpiece from
Amistad is a highlight of this set; the voices
mixed well with the underlying orchestral rhythm and the surround sound
brilliantly accentuates the light percussion in the background. The love
theme from
Superman is a classic, and it's far more enjoyable
here than the performance of the title theme, which is, like
Temple
of Doom, a bit flat due to slower pacing. Neither is as well
interpreted as the re-recordings presented by Varèse Sarabande at
roughly the same time. A heart-felt and swinging performance of
The
River expertly captures the spirit of the score and serves as
another highlight of the set.
The suite from
Black Sunday improves upon the
original recording with a vibrant sound quality that brings the
percussion in the scherzo section to life. The finale is offered with
all the expansive melodrama necessary. The title theme from
Jaws
are a bit tiresome after its constant restatement through the years, but
its performance here is decently crisp. The same could be said of the
titles of
Star Wars, which are arranged into a somewhat unique
suite with the end titles and are punctuated here by some wishy-washy
brass and an extremely exuberant flute. Of the two cues represented from
The Empire Strikes Back, the lackluster performance of "The
Imperial March" (underpowered badly in the high brass) is no match for
the beautiful "Han Solo and the Princess" arrangement. The
Close
Encounters of the Third Kind track features a prelude that mimics
the film's musical exchange between the alien mothership and the ground
control before blasting into the concert suite (with that mighty
orchestral hit that starts off the score). The
Presumed Innocent
track is excellent in performance, though the orchestra somehow missed
capturing the terror and dread behind the score's poignant piano and
timpani solos. The theme from
Schindler's List is always welcome
on any collection; rarely are subpar performances of it published. The
violinist lacks some of the refined elegance necessary to truly allow
the yearning theme to take flight, but it is nevertheless a gorgeous
rendition. The set returns to
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
to wrap it up, and the sound quality suddenly jumps a level higher for
this last performance. There is an equally sudden dip in ambient
reverberation when the primary theme resumes with two minutes remaining
in the track, though... a curiosity. Overall, the set will certainly be
a worthy purchase for those of you who are new to the Silva series of
composer compilations. If you have purchased two or three albums from
Silva prior to this one, you might be disappointed to see much of the
same material included once again. While a few of Williams' modern
classics are missing (
Jurassic Park and
Far and Away, most
notably), the set ranks above the matching Horner product and slightly
below the Goldsmith one.
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