CD Reviews: The Girl Most Likely and Kilar Compilation

The Girl Most Likely ** 1/2

HUGH MARTIN AND RALPH BLANE

DRG 19040

9 tracks - 35:35

DRG starts off the year with a flashback to the end of the age of Hollywood Musicals. The main title song from Hugh Martin's Girl Most Likely was actually penned by Nelson Riddle and features lyrics by Bob Russell. The score overall is filled with jaunty and jazzy numbers that were common Hollywood fare at the time. There are numerous fun little songs like "We Gotta Keep Up With the Joneses," "Crazy Horse" (with a delightful children's chorus), and "All the Colors of the Rainbow." The latter two are definitely not politically correct. These are infused with a sense of Broadway-esque drive and recall other Martin songs like "The Trolley Song" from the more familiar Meet Me in St. Louis (available on an earlier DRG release of a 1989 cast recording).

Fans of great 1950s big band music will especially enjoy this brief CD. Nelson Riddle fans will also want to hear his arrangements, the title song, and the brief instrumental "Beach Party." Still others will be taken back to the day they first viewed this film. Some people will even be amused by the singing of Jane Powell and Cliff Robertson (!). Despite all this, the music, as infectious as it is, is borderline anachronistic for its time, especially in lieu of another little musical on Broadway that year, West Side Story. The orchestrations on "All the Colors in the Rainbow" does illustrate that something was "in the air." Things were about to change on Broadway and in Hollywood, and surely the joyous music-making on Girl could not belie the last gasp of a tired genre? That said, it's still hard not to be caught up in Martin's delightful melodies and Russell's wonderfully shaped lyrics.

DRG is producing a series of Hollywood scores and Broadway albums that appear to be re-issues of the original albums. DRG has digitally remastered and transferred Capitol Records' 1958 LP release from great masters, though there is some distortion of the treble and in loud brass passages. And at less than 40 minutes, this CD could surely have included extras, or at least been coupled with music from another similar film.  -- Steven A. Kennedy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bram Stoker's Dracula and Other Film Music By Wojciech Kilar ***

WOJCIECH KILAR

Marco Polo 8.225153

18 tracks - 63:39

If readers are at all familiar with Polish composer Wojciech Kilar, it's probably due to his score to Francis Coppola's film of Bram Stoker's Dracula. And this particular score sits as the centerpiece to Marco Polo's recently released overview of his prolific film career.

Aside from Dracula, we are offered samples from some of his over 100 Polish films, as well as his collaboration with Roman Polanski on Death and the Maiden. The album is a satisfying listen marred only by some lackluster performances, a sometimes unnatural-sounding recording, and the occasional bad edit.

Highlights include "Gloria," from Konig der Ietzten Tage (The King of the last Days), with its Morricone-style Western march. Another standout is "The Confession" from Death and the Maiden, which features tortured low strings repeating their mantra of despair while the violins climb in hope. Think of Gorecki's 3rd Symphony and you'll have an idea of the sound.

There are also other influences to be found, including Holst's "Mars" from The Planets, which manifests itself in "Vampire Hunters" from Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Sonically, the disc sometimes suffers from an unnatural balance within the orchestra. This doesn't seem to be the fault of conductor Antoni Wit, but rather the use of spot microphones to record each section. Whichever section or soloist is carrying the melody seems to jump to the front of the soundstage and then move back once they've finished, like in a Big Band. Unfortunately, this jump in level often obscures the backing orchestration and sounds like an old 101 Strings recording.

Overall, this disc offers a good range of musical ideas, most of which manage to sound like Kilar despite the sometimes strong scent of his influences. Listeners drawn to this recording by the lure of Bram Stoker's Dracula may be disappointed as those are actually the weakest performances on the album. However, this is still a great introduction to Kilar's music for those unfamiliar with him.  -- Ian D. Thomas
 
 
 

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