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the 55 day version is unfortunately very bad, the main problem is the tempi, all of tiomkins genius get lost in this interpretation, perhaps we get some day a new version as good as "navarone" or a rerelease of the old cd, which i missed 
If it's the tempi only, that's not a problem for me. As I'm not looking for 1:1 reanimation of the original recording. Then, you could consider Herrmann's own of PSYCHO as a missed interpretation too. I still think the overture of Cyrano being well hit, as I'm listening to it now.
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Now I'm running this thread almost alone.
Paul Hindemith's In Sturm und Eis (In Storm and Ice, directed by Arnold Franck [important collaborator/director of young Leni Riefenstahl]), conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, has arrived this morning. Hindemith composed this music for this silent movie. According to the liner notes (Englisch/German/French) - they are not as extensive as usual here (24 pages booklet) - the complete original version of this mountain climber movie (locations in Zermatt, Switzerland) is lost, a shorter copy was found in Moskow.
The music? - Beautiful! Track #4 Act I is my favorite so far - piano and solo flute, then larger orchestral colors follow. Hindemith conceived his score symphonic like, structuring it act by act (ie. there are six movements).
Dennis Russell Davies: "This music is tremendously dramatic, emotional and evocative. It uses many different styles, some reminicent of Puccini, some of Brahms [...]; it's a terrific piece for a modest-size orchestra with some of the most original and interesting music of the period." (p. 3)
...the listening continues.
Grab it, I say.
Track #6 Act III, extremely evocative music, that's 15 minutes of pure bliss!
The complete disc runs about 77 min. (not 67 as indicated on the back cover).
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I've received Ivan The Terrible today.
Well, I knew right before the purchase I wouldn't jump to the ceiling because of this CD. Everybody knows there is a far better recording around, with the actual score on two discs.
The BMG/RCA release is merely a curiosity today. It's an oratorio assembled after the composer's death by the conductor of the original recording sessions of Ivan The Terrible. Therefore it’s not at all authorized by Prokofiev. There's lots of choral music and narration in this work (all in Russian, of course). If you don't like narration you'll have a hard time with this CD. The great orchestral music is buried a bit, has little chance to shine through.
The compilator took music from both parts of Ivan, put them in an order for the best possible musical effects (at least to his ears). This means that the tracks are not in the chronological order as they would be heard in the films. - Just that you know it.
The booklet (English, German, French) is great, containing the libretto as well.
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I finally managed to get hold on Hans Erdmann's NOSFERATU. As always the background informations in the booklet are very helpful. However, I was not impressed by the music, I found it often very boring. The actual score has been lost a long time ago. Gillian B. Anderson did the reconstruction of the score based on three sources:
1) Erdmann's suite where he adapted parts of the actual score ("Fantastisch-Romantische Suite").
2) The handbook by Hans Erdmann and Guiseppe Becce (Allgemeines Handbuch der Filmmusik). - BTW, it would be interesting to have some rerecordings of Becce's film music.
3) Reivews of the 1922 premiere in the German press.
So, I got the feeling, Anderson's job was really very difficult. It's my least favorite edition of the series so far, not knowing yet the Waxman, Chaplin, Koechlin and Dessau albums.
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I was fortunate enough to find THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN/THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER used in a local record store for $5.99 about 10-12 years ago (it's the disc in that series I wanted most).
I also tried to talk John Morgan and Bill Stromberg into revisiting PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, re-recording the complete score to fill in the second disc of their forthcoming SEA HAWK, but they opted to do DECEPTION instead.
Still, if there's perhaps enough hue and cry over doing it complete, perhaps they'll get around to it the same way they re-did MARK TWAIN.
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...to the top again!
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"How many people know Paul Dessau or Sasse?"
Anybody out there have the Dessau release, and what's it like? I'm only familiar with his work from his contributions to the Universal horror films of the '40s.
I only bring this up to illustrate a point.....
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In 2003 or so, Previn conducted a bunch of Korngold music. It's on the Duetche Grammaphone label -- in fact it was quite a big deal back then, in both film music and classical circles (my local classical station plays from it all the time).
It's not all that good though. The Gerhardt recordings are all much better.
The Previn recording in simply atrocious. Unlistenable.
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Some of these titles I haven't even seen, especially the German ones. Great idea for a series.
The 'Korngold/Steiner' although a Morgan/Stromberg release has an AWFUL LOT of reverb. I don't mind reverb at all in reasonable doses, but this has such a sheen ... it's wrapped in clingfilm! Very rich sound though, if that's your thing. The Films noirs album is well executed.
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As I think I wrote above, I tried to persuade John Morgan and Bill Stromberg to fill out the second disc in their upcoming SEA HAWK recording with THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, but they went for DECEPTION, instead.
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"How many people know Paul Dessau or Sasse?"
Anybody out there have the Dessau release, and what's it like? I'm only familiar with his work from his contributions to the Universal horror films of the '40s.
It took me some time to find the Dessau-CD at very good price. - Or, you can order it here for more: http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000024RFU/qid%3D1141244193/302-9426888-5793606
Now, to answer my own question and MMM's:
I don't like that particular release very much. The music is, from a historic point of view, an interesting piece of work. The music has little appeal for me, it's very mickey mousing, and, I think, the performance by Hans-E. Zimmer [sic!] with the RIAS Sinfonietta could not be called as something like definitive.
Dessau wrote the four Alice pieces in 1928/29 in Germany. Each score is quite short (ca. 7 minutes). He usually composed each score on one evening, after having watched the short animated movie on the afternoon (taking notes, stopping time etc.). The copyist orchestrated what Dessau had written. Rehearsals followed on the next morning, and, the first live performance in theaters was on the afternoon. Dessau used traditional tunes ("Dixie" for example), played with the melodies, and he thought, perhaps, that he wrote funny music.
The RCA CD also contains a longer suite of Dessau's score from THE MAGIC CLOCK (ca. 28 minutes). Obviously, he had more time to do the music. It's more complex. However, I didn't find it very appealing.
The liner notes are not very good compared to others from that RCA series.
In short, the CD fills a mostly unknown gap in the early history of film music. But it is not something you might listen to on a daily basis.
I've also received the Koechlin CD with THE FIVE STAR'S SYMPHONY. More about that release later...
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