I just got through listening to the "The Cinema Of Juliette Greco" C.D. and got through listening to the original soundtrack recording of Sir Malcolm Arnold's score for "The Roots Of Heaven". Now this leads me to a question:
Which do you prefer:
The original soundtrack on the "The Cinema Of Juliette Greco" C.D. (includes the original album cover as a bonus) or the rerecording John Morgan did with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra on "Sir Malcolm Arnold Classic Film Scores: "The Roots Of Heaven/"David Copperfield"? (I like the sonics on the rerecording, though the one on the original album has held up very well).
I enjoy both, as Mr. Stromberg poses. But since I've owned an original vinyl copy of THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN for over 20 years (I got one in 1990 for $50), this 20th Fox LP is my personal favorite.
To me, the portions near the finale of the film which were written by Alfred Newman don't match up to Malcolm Arnold's original score [Newman gets too sentinmental (for me, anyway) and contrasts with the more modern sensibilities of Malcolm Arnold]. Still, it's much better for an Alfred Newman to place a few USA touch-ups to a recording made in UK than to scrap the original altogether and replace it with a Les Baxter re-score! [think of Roberto Nicolosi's BLACK SUNDAY, or CRY OF THE BANSHEE by Wilfred Josephs]
No offence to Mr. Stromberg, but I also prefer the original LP of DAVID COPPERFIELD too (even though GRT records mis-spelled Sir Malcolm's first name!).
Here's a great scan of the 1958 LP, where THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN can enjoy its full frontal cover without that Marco Polo's pesky DAVID COPPERFIELD getting in the way!
[it's a pity that some folks had to wait for that CD of the cinema of Juliette Greco in order to hear how the original LP sounded]
What's so wrong about enjoying both like I do and Malcolm did?
Since you ask. I have always wondered why you're recording all those scores with a fairly mediocre orchestra. While they have improved over the years, their inadequacies in the brass (wobbly) are obvious in the Korngold albums especially. Is it not possible to strike a deal with a superior orchestra the way Naxos seems to be capable of doing?
The Royal Scottish National e.g. play circles around the Moscow Symphony individually and collectively. If Naxos can afford them, and Varese could, they shouldn't be too expensive.
I have always wondered why you're recording all those scores with a fairly mediocre orchestra. While they have improved over the years, their inadequacies in the brass (wobbly) are obvious in the Korngold albums especially.
I agree a lot of the Marco Polo/Naxos stuff is disappointing (up to around the time of They Died With Their Boots On), but that's not the case with the marvelous Tribute CDs. All are exceptional in every way. Have you heard them?
The Royal Scottish National e.g. play circles around the Moscow Symphony individually and collectively. If Naxos can afford them, and Varese could, they shouldn't be too expensive.
I totally disagree with that, at least from the standpoint of finished product vs. finished product. The RSNO recordings have been disappointments to me one and all, though the fault may lie more in the production and recording characteristics than the skill of the musicians. I love the Marco Polo ROOTS OF HEAVEN but love the original recording more, and was thrilled to see it released legitimately on the Juliette Greco CD. Happy to have them both, and would recommend Varese to keep their (and RSNO's) paws off of this one, which is at last well represented in original and competently re-recorded versions.
The RSNO are in totally different league than the Moscow Symphony (even on the latter's best day). Their playing is so obviously technically superior in every respect. The Herrmann recordings e.g. were superb, especially Vertigo and the Harryhausen scores.
The mid-1990s Marco Polo recordings were lackluster indeed, and they have improved, but not to the extent that an English orchestra (let alone American) wouldn't roundly outclass them in any given repertoire.
The original soundtrack on the "The Cinema Of Juliette Greco" C.D. (includes the original album cover as a bonus)
That's good.
Soundtrack LP covers, especially prior to the 1970s, were frequently sexually suggestive, whether being glamorous upfront images of stars like Sophia Loren or Raquel Welch, or otherwise innocent-seeming.
Consider the charging elephant on display with THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN album: he stops in his tracks when sighting Juliette Greco wearing nothing but a towel, trunk stiffened up at attention, and green with envy that leading men such as Trevor Howard and Errol Flynn are likely to get the girl.
The RSNO are in totally different league than the Moscow Symphony (even on the latter's best day). Their playing is so obviously technically superior in every respect.
Glad you're happy with them. If I hadn't already unloaded all of my RSNO discs, I would gladly have sent them to you as a gift...
Here's a snippet from our new recording of The Adventures of Don Juan(Trailer). Even though this is not the final edit, you will notice that the brass section is fine and they worked their asses off for me the whole time. I'm very pleased with this new recording, especially the brass.
Here's a snippet from our new recording of The Adventures of Don Juan(Trailer). Even though this is not the final edit, you will notice that the brass is fine and they worked their asses off for me the whole time. I'm very pleased with this new recording, especially the brass.
Bill
You have every reason to be proud of this recording. If this sample is any indication, you have somehow managed, while bringing superb orchestral performance and the benefits of modern recording technology, to retain the full dash and splendor of Steiner's original recording. Don't know how you did it, but I'll have to have that one in my collection, no question. Clearly you were "channeling Max" when you recorded this track.
This does sound much better than the Korngold recordings, where the brass were often reticent. I assume that the sound quality in the sample does not fully reflect the finished CD mix.
Still, I would very much like to know why you stick with this ensemble when there are so many other options available (unless of course it's a purely economically motivated selection).
This does sound much better than the Korngold recordings, where the brass were often reticent. I assume that the sound quality in the sample does not fully reflect the finished CD mix.
Still, I would very much like to know why you stick with this ensemble when there are so many other options available (unless of course it's a purely economically motivated selection).
Perhaps your perceptions of the respective qualities of the orchestras is less (how shall we say?) "informed" than those of Messrs. Stromberg and Morgan? Would it be rude to suggest that possibility?
This does sound much better than the Korngold recordings, where the brass were often reticent. I assume that the sound quality in the sample does not fully reflect the finished CD mix.
Still, I would very much like to know why you stick with this ensemble when there are so many other options available (unless of course it's a purely economically motivated selection).
I'm ok with you about some limitations in older Moscow recordings, but...
Life is not just a matter of day by day options, or what is the more economically logical. Perfection needs time. What impress me in the Morgan/Stromberg/Moscow relationship IS firstly the fact that they are working from years to deliver the best of themselves and preserve the art of film music. It's all about collaboration, work, and dedication, not just about supposedly logical costs/results ratio in a day by day basis. All the great orchestras in this world had been fashioned by great conductors years after years, and precisely because they are a team, they must be proud of the results they achieved then and now.
And now is really high, as the "Tribute" CDs reflects.
Here's a snippet from our new recording of The Adventures of Don Juan(Trailer). Even though this is not the final edit, you will notice that the brass section is fine and they worked their asses off for me the whole time. I'm very pleased with this new recording, especially the brass.
Magnificent. (I love the way the love theme gets punctuated by the menacing bit at 1:19. Just wonderful stuff). What's the latest ETA of this masterpiece?
[think of Roberto Nicolosi's BLACK SUNDAY, or CRY OF THE BANSHEE by Wilfred Josephs]
