Veröffentlichung LSO Live: The Greatest Film Scores Of Dimitri Tiomkin

[Gast Stefan Jania]

LSO Live bringt Neueinspielungen aus einigen Tiomkin-Scores heraus.

The Greatest Film Scores of Dimitri Tiomkin

1. Cyrano de Bergerac Overture 2. The Alamo Suite 3. The Old Man and the Sea Theme, Cubana and Finale 4. The Four Poster Overture 5. Giant Suite 6. The Fall of the Roman Empire The Fall of Love 7. High Noon Do Not Forsake Me 8. Rawhide Theme 9. The High and the Mighty Suite 10. Hitchcock Suite Dial 'M' for Murder 11. Strangers on a Train 12. Wild is the Wind Theme 13. The Sundowners Theme 14. Circus World The John 'Duke' Wayne March 15. Land of the Pharaohs Theme and Pharaoh's Procession 16. Friendly Persuasion The Fair, Thee I Love

Bei FSM online war schon jemand sehr erfreut über die CD und hat volle fünf Punkte vergeben.

There may not be a more powerful combination for a film music compilation album than the pairing of Richard Kaufman and the London Symphony Orchestra. Both conductor and ensemble have a long and respected history in the studio and in concert with film music. The LSO’s last great film music compilation found John Williams on the podium, conducting a variety of classic tracks. Kaufman also recorded a film music disc, The High and the Mighty, with the orchestra for Varèse Sarabande several years ago. This time, the program focuses entirely on Dimitri Tiomkin. Some of the composer’s most important work is represented here in a recording that encompasses music from 16 scores. The multi-channel recording was done live last October at the Barbican. The arrangements come from Patrick Russ and Christopher Palmer (revisiting several works recorded by Charles Gerhardt for his classic RCA series, and some from Tadlow’s recent Tiomkin compilation with the City of Prague Orchestra). Arrangements of “Thee I Love” by Lee Holdridge and “Wild is the Wind” by Nan Schwartz round off the pops-like program.

One of the more attractive features of this compilation is its mix of familiar works with those that are more peripheral. For film music fans, there is an opportunity to have a new companion to the larger Silva Tiomkin collection, and a fabulous update to the classic Gerhardt recording. This disc will not replace the latter, since there is no music from Lost Horizon here. However, Kaufman’s program is well chosen and sequenced with a mix of overtures, suites, and shorter tracks.

One of the most striking elements in Tiomkin’s writing is the clarity of his textures. The opening “Overture” to Cyrano de Bergerac is a great period selection with a hint of swashbuckling music. It is unlike the other Hollywood music of its time, as Tiomkin’s idea of “lush” was unique. Even in the suite for The Alamo one can hear this openness of sound that creates a sense of the Old West without simply mimicking Coplandesque writing.

Notable in this particular release is the way the LSO performs this music. It’s great to hear some of those romantic string portamentos, often looked down on as sentimental playing, but definitely important here as an instrumental effect. Kaufman’s leadership lets this music sparkle. The recessed entry of the chorus (singing briefly on “The Green Leaves of Summer”) is quite moving in this performance, which alone is worth the cost of the disc.

Having set the stage with an expansive western suite, the album moves into music from The Old Man and the Sea. The “Theme, Cubana and Finale” finds Tiomkin in a more traditional Hollywood mode, but the listener is still struck by the modern harmonic movements in the midst of gorgeous romantic writing. The period style of The Four Poster “Overture” recalls the opening Cyrano music with its Spanish inflections. It precedes another lengthy suite, this time exploring music from the James Dean film Giant.

Music from The High and the Mighty provides a respite from some of the western selections. This version differs from Kaufman’s earlier recording, with choir added to the mix. This is followed by a Hitchcock Suite that allows for a taste of Tiomkin’s film noir-like style in Dial ‘M’ for Murder and Strangers on a Train. Two pops-like selections recall the lighter western style in The Sundowners, and “The John ‘Duke’ Wayne March” from Circus World, which Tiomkin composed to honor one of his frequent collaborators.

There are a couple of historical epic scores represented, the first from The Fall of the Roman Empire (“The Fall of Love”), a piece that is not particularly descriptive of the period. The other comes from Land of the Pharaohs and is a suite consisting of the “Theme and Pharaoh’s Procession.” Whitney Claire Kaufman’s vocal is gorgeous but sounds more like something from The Prince of Egypt than what might’ve appeared in this earlier film music.

In addition to the orchestral selections, this presentation contains several vocal performances of classic Tiomkin songs. For purists, these renditions will likely not match the originals. The soloists do a fine job not trying to be too operatic, which means that the performance might strike some more like classic Broadway singing (but not the sort that we hear these days). Andrew Playfoot provides covers of “Do Not Forsake Me” (High Noon), and the “Theme” from Rawhide (this particular selection is quite good). Whitney Claire Kaufman performs the theme from Wild Is the Wind in a more pops style. This works well amidst the smooth jazzy backdrop of Nan Schwartz’s lush arrangement, and the vocalist’s performance is stunning. The final two tracks are selections from Friendly Persuasion: “The Fair” is a brief upbeat piece, and the song “Thee I Love” feels like an encore, making for a fitting conclusion to the album with one of Tiomkin’s most famous songs.

Reissues of classic scores seem to get less attention than they deserve. At least with this new release, Tiomkin’s music may be introduced to a whole new legion of film music fans. This is most likely one of the best film music re-recordings we will see this year. —Steven A. Kennedy

Bei Amazon.co.uk für aktuell nur knappe 8 Pfund:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008CJ8RU6

[Stempel]

Ein neues Filmmusik-Album des LSO? Mit Klassikern von Tiomkin?

GEKAUFT!

Danke für den Tipp!

[Gast]

Bei Amazon.co.uk auf genau 6 Pfund gefallen. Gerüchteweise soll das sogar eine SACD sein. Darüber ist bei Amazon aber nichts zu finden.

[Al Bundy]

Auf der Seite des LSO ist sie als SACD angekündigt:

http://lso.co.uk/page/3305/All-Products/212

In ein paar Tracks reinhören kann man dort auch.

[Thomas Nofz]

Eine erste Albumkritik verheißt sehr viel Gutes:

LSO: The Greatest Film Scores of Dimitri Tiomkin