CD Reviews: Kiss of the Dragon and Alfred Newman Compilation

Kiss of the Dragon: Symphony for Isabelle ****

CRAIG ARMSTRONG

Delabel 7243 8110362 3

20 tracks - 72:39

Kiss of the Dragon, a Paris-based Jet Li cop thriller, proved to be a proficient action flick, and until now we've had to settle for Virgin's "Music from and inspired by..." album, which had a single Craig Armstrong track, "As if you Said Nothing." The song is reprised here on this score album, and features ethereal vocals by Laurence Ashley, accompanied by the occasional French chanting of Lesley L'anson. It's a strong intro, underlined by typical Armstrong flourishes of soaring strings and heavy dance grooves.

It would be a perfect song for a Bond movie (as would the entire score), and this isn't the only connection with the Bond series. At times, the music is reminiscent of Serra's Goldeneye; perhaps a nod towards' Serra's regular director, Luc Besson, who co-wrote and produced Kiss of the Dragon. And then there are echoes of the oriental electronica of Arnold's Tomorrow Never Dies.

Thematically, it's more akin to The Bone Collector than Moulin Rouge, and presumably has been sequenced so that the sound is progressive, building up from the basic earlier tracks to the more complex latter ones. As to what the music represents at any given point -- it's your guess. Unless you have an encyclopedic knowledge of the movie, it's difficult to navigate what tracks comes from where in the movie, as they are merely titled "Symphony for Isabelle" (Parts 01 to 19). It's a curious concept, because it makes navigation difficult, and is a frustrating device for those who haven't seen the film. On the flipside, it stops you from trying to make associations with the movie and forces you to treat the music as a suite of work, or a stand-alone symphony, as alluded to in the title.

The underscore as a whole plays to Armstrong's forte of fusing traditional orchestral strings with modern techno beats, but the composer adds a new twist to this popular formula by juxtaposing some "East meets West" rhythms. With some trademark solo piano, and the always-welcome chorals of the Metro Voices, this release is not groundbreaking, but is still a solid selection of funky synthesized action cues. In the absence of a symphonic release for the composer's Moulin Rouge, this is a more than adequate fix for Armstrong junkies until he releases his new compilation disc early next year.  -- Nick Joy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Man of Galilee: The Essential Alfred Newman ****

ALFRED NEWMAN

Silva America SSD 1122

Disc One: 14 tracks - 57:23 Disc Two: 13 tracks - 57:02

Those who hunger for "original" soundtracks are likely already sneering at this latest Silva compilation. Well, these people may miss some great music that, in most all of these rarely heard score excerpts, is beautifully performed. Silva's compilations are never the greatest performances or recordings, but they make excellent introductions to great music and this release in particular is a success.

Even though my suspicion is that these recordings are heavily edited at times, this new collection seems to have more musical breadth to its interpretations, falling more along the lines of Silva's superlative Barry recordings and compilations. This Alfred Newman set is like having the "ultimate" Newman concert in your hands.

The infamous "Fox Fanfare" kicks off disc one rather slowly, the recessed sound of the percussion doesn't help things. This leads into "Street Scene," a studio favorite. I doubt that anyone would expect Nic Raine to beat the original, especially since its recent release on Film Score Monthly's Golden Age collection is so easy to jump to for comparison. But somehow the Czech ensemble manages to make this piece their own, and the listener is soon caught up in the joy of their music making. (To those who dislike the tempo variations, it's called "interpretation"!) As a "pops" performance it works, and is a bit livelier than the version appearing in a previous John Mauceri recording with the Hollywood Bowl (on Phillips).

An album highlight is the 13 minute section of music from Newman's amazing score to The Diary of Anne Frank. The standout track here is the beautifully performed "The First Kiss," but the entire Frank suite reminds us that this is another score deserving of a full release. Anastasia's "Main Theme" and the "Overture" from The Song of Bernadette also receive fine renditions here. The "Overture" from The Mark of Zorro, which has appeared on earlier Silva incarnations, finds a new home on this release. The first disc finishes up with about 27 minutes of music from How the West Was Won, another that has appeared in some form on earlier Silva releases. It makes a great close to this disc, bringing diversity and providing a mirror image of Old West Americana that balances the 20th Century jazz style that opened the first half of the "program."

With the exception of the oft-recorded "Cathy's Theme" from Wuthering Heights, disc two features music rarely appearing on album or in concert. The CD opens with one of my personal Newman chestnuts: "Conquest" from Captain From Castile. John Williams recorded a memorable performance with the Boston Pops a few years ago. Silva's new version should do nicely, although there are some string problems in the higher passages (which appeared in Newman's own recording with the Hollywood Bowl, previously on EMI/Angel). An engineering trick minimizes this problem by pushing the strings back in the mix. Other strong points of this disc include a substantial "Overture" to The Keys of the Kingdom and the "Main Title" from Nevada Smith (which turns out to bare resemblance to Airport). There are also 10-plus minutes of strong music from The Razor's Edge.

The "premiere" recording of the symphonic cantata, Man of Galilee concludes disc two. This piece is basically Ken Darby's adaptation of Newman's music for The Robe and The Greatest Story Ever Told. It provides an interesting conclusion to this "concert" album. Since both scores are currently available, this recording is more of a musical curiosity or a quick way to sample these works. It receives a fine performance, but there are occasional intonation problems in the highest range of the sopranos (this may be a compositional problem in some cases). Also a small irritant: the choir seems like it's mixed as though it's standing in front of the orchestra, instead of in back where they'd be in concert. I don't think the text is the focal point here for this piece -- so it would have been better to more equally blend the chorus into the orchestra. This strangely mixed approach does, however, allow you to examine Newman's choral writing -- or is it Darby's choral writing?

While many would argue over the "essential-ness" of several of the choices here, you cannot deny the savvy and care of the selections overall. This is the kind of collection that your average film music browser might pick up and try out -- It's what some might call a "gateway" release, opening the door to an appreciation and potential interest in other great music by the composer. In fact, this kind of marketing technique may be why Silva repackages many of their releases into different compilations. Those of us who love film music just get stuck with repeated recordings -- but we are the exception, no doubt. This CD makes an excellent companion to the Gerhardt recording and would also make a great gift to introduce someone to Alfred Newman's music. Of the music included here the selections from The Diary of Anne Frank, Anastasia, The Keys of the Kingdom, Nevada Smith and The Razor's Edge were surely worth the price of the set.

The album's booklet continues in the style of previous Silva compilations, with picture title and year of release, chief stars and a brief synopsis. There is, unfortunately, less musical commentary than in some earlier releases. But texts for Man of Galilee are helpfully included.  -- Steven A. Kennedy

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