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Posted: |
Apr 17, 2014 - 3:52 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Disc one is comprised exclusively of performances by Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra. A majority of the playlist focuses on the music of E.W. Korngold, and here is where some of the previously unavailable recordings surface. First among these is a suite of music from Of Human Bondage (1946). Gerhardt’s LP release featured only “Nora’s Theme,” but now we get a better, re-edited version that he put together shortly before his death. The suite adds the main title, “Christmas,” “Sally,” a lullaby, and the finale. Also expanded is the suite from The Sea Hawk(1940), which now runs some 15 minutes in length.
The expanded suites discussed above for OF HUMAN BONDANGE and THE SEA HAWK are rare, but they are not “previously unavailable.” All of the music was available on separate LPs, and the combined suites were both released on the 1989 Gerhardt CD “The Sea Hawk: The Classic Film Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold” (RCA Victor 7890-2-RG). This was the first CD release of that classic 1972 LP, and it included these two expanded suites.
The expanded suite for OF HUMAN BONDAGE was created by taking the cues from the 1973 LP “Elizabeth and Essex: The Classic Film Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold” and combining them with the “Nora’s Theme” cue from the 1972 LP.
The expanded suite for THE SEA HAWK was created by taking the “Sea Hawk” cues from the 1975 LP “Captain Blood: Classic Film Scores for Errol Flynn” and combining them with those of the 1972 LP.
That 1989 CD also had one other expanded suite—BETWEEN TWO WORLDS—which did include some previously unreleased music, namely the “Piano Rhapsody”,” which added two additional minutes to the suite. The 1989 CD was the first in an attempt by RCA to reconfigure the Gerhardt LPs for the CD age. But after a few more such releases, RCA discontinued this effort and decided instead to re-issue the original album configurations onto CD, and to remaster all of the albums in Dolby Surround.
Although there is nothing original on the current CD, it's nice to have those Gerhardt suites again available after being out-of-print for more than 20 years.
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