wimpel69
04-07-2014, 10:05 AM
The sharing period of this album has ended. No more requests, please. Thank you!
The Hungarian composer Mikl�s R�zsa began writing film music at the suggestion of Arthur Honegger
after achieving only moderate success with his early concert music. He went on to score ninety-five films,
including some of the most famous cinematic works of all time. Here Rumon Gamba, a great champion
of film music, conducts the BBC Philharmonic in suites from some of R�zsa’s best-loved film scores.
The scores composed for Alexander Korda’s London Films Company between 1937 and 1942 are imbued
with an amazing freshness and magical melodic expression. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the
colourful scores for The Thief of Bagdad and Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. The suite from the first
encompasses the major events of the plot in its seven movements. That from the second abounds with
leitmotifs, each character having its own theme. R�zsa’s score for the World War II film Sahara is
appropriately hard-hitting and the suite encapsulates all the major themes of the film. The music for
Ben-Hur is regarded by many as the composer’s magnum opus among the film scores, winning
R�zsa an Oscar in 1960. Befitting the epic film production, it features a large orchestra and the suite
comprises six key moments from the film.
Music Composed by
Mikl�s R�zsa
Played by the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by
Rumon Gamba
Tracks:
The Thief of Baghdad
1. Suite: I. Overture: Allegro moderato (02:41)
2. Suite: II. Cortege: Tempo di Marcia (02:44)
3. Suite: III. The Love of the Princess: Andante semplice (04:00)
4. Suite: IV. The Sultan's Toys: Andante - Moderato (01:55)
5. Suite: V. The Flying Horse Gallop: Molto moderato - Allegretto scherzando (01:43)
6. Suite: VI. The Silvermaid's Dance: Moderato - piu animato - Tempo I - Tranquillo (03:53)
7. Suite: VII. The Market at Basra: Vivo (02:43)
The Jungle Book
8. Suite: I. Beginning: Largamente (05:29)
9. Suite: II. Shere Khan: Molto moderato - Andantino - Grazioso - Lento (03:42)
10. Suite: III. Mowgli Wanders: Andante - Allegretto scherzando - Molto moderato - Allegro molto agitato (02:15)
11. Suite: IV. Lullaby: Largamente - Lento (03:27)
12. Suite: V. The Ways of Man: Allegretto giocoso - Con moto - Tranquillo (04:28)
13. Suite: VI. Cries of the Animals: Non troppo allegro - Allegro agitato - Piu mosso (01:53)
14. Suite: VII. Mowgli Seeks Shere Khan: Moderato (03:55)
15. Suite: VIII. The Chase: Allegro Agitato - Largamente (01:02)
16. Suite: IX. Victory: Allegro giocoso - Largamente e pesante - Moderato - Moderato e commodo - Allegretto (02:28)
17. Suite: X. Bagheera's Contentment: Molto moderato (02:30)
18. Sahara (arr. C. Palmer for orchestra) (07:47)
Ben-Hur
19. Suite: I. Prelude: Maestoso - Allegro - Poco animato - Piu lento - Piu mosso (03:44)
20. Suite: II. Love Theme: Lento - Poco piu largamente - Tranquillo (03:11)
21. Suite: III. The Burning Desert: Pesante - Largamente - Adagio solemne - Animato (05:16)
22. Suite: IV. The Rowing of the Galley Slaves: Molto moderato - Poco animato - Piu allegro - Molto allegro (02:36)
23. Suite: V. The Mother's Love: Lento (03:05)
24. Suite: VI. Parade of the Charioteers: Alla marcia (03:23)
Total Time: 80'05
"The story of how Mikl�s R�zsa left his native Hungary and brought his talents as a
composer of film music to the West is well known. He went first to London and then to
California, when the outbreak of war necessitated moving Jungle Book lock, stock and
barrel to Hollywood. Though there have been some fine recordings of his more ‘serious’
music - Chandos themselves have made three of them (see below) - it’s for his film
music that he will be most remembered.
The BBC Philharmonic and Rumon Gamba were the performers on those three earlier
Chandos recordings. This orchestra and conductor also has a long-established history
of fine recordings of film music for the label, so it’s only fitting that they should be
chosen for this new project.
For all that I enjoyed the earlier albums, I shall be very surprised if this recording of the
film music doesn’t outsell all three of them put together. It certainly deserves to be very
successful. At least two of the films are all-time classics and I greatly enjoyed this evocation
of The Thief of Baghdad and Ben-Hur. In case the music doesn’t quite do the trick for you,
there are still photos in the booklet. I don’t think I ever saw Sahara and I’d forgotten Hugh
Griffith’s part in Ben-Hur until I saw the photo, though I certainly remember his hell-raising
Falstaff on, and reputedly off stage, at Stratford in the early 1960s.
It may seem odd to spend more time on the booklet than the performances but I found the
notes most enlightening while I can be short and sweet concerning the performances and
say that, short of someone brushing up the original film scores in modern digital sound, they
are unlikely ever to be bettered. Rumon Gamba and his team capture the tender aspects of
the music just as well as its more dramatic moments.
The recording, to which I listened in CD-quality 16-bit sound, is very good indeed. It captures
the colourful nature of the music without ever being over the top or as brightly lit as the
composer’s own Phase 4 recordings (see below). Movements such as the Parade of the
Chariots, however, which concludes the album on track 24, are suitably Technicolor, though
you may well find that you need to turn up the volume to hear the recording at its best.
Try some of Gamba’s other film music recordings for Chandos, too. The original music for
Scott of the Antarctic is one of my favourites - it makes a fascinating comparison with the
Sinfonia Antartica into which Vaughan Williams later shaped most of the material.
(CHAN10007: A Recording of the Month - review - review - November 2011/2 DL Roundup
- or 3-CD set CHAN10529)."
Musicweb
Source: Chandos Records CD (my rip!)
Format: FLAC(RAR), DDD Stereo, Level: -5
File Size: 371 MB
The sharing period of this album has ended. No more requests, please. Thank you!
The Hungarian composer Mikl�s R�zsa began writing film music at the suggestion of Arthur Honegger
after achieving only moderate success with his early concert music. He went on to score ninety-five films,
including some of the most famous cinematic works of all time. Here Rumon Gamba, a great champion
of film music, conducts the BBC Philharmonic in suites from some of R�zsa’s best-loved film scores.
The scores composed for Alexander Korda’s London Films Company between 1937 and 1942 are imbued
with an amazing freshness and magical melodic expression. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the
colourful scores for The Thief of Bagdad and Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. The suite from the first
encompasses the major events of the plot in its seven movements. That from the second abounds with
leitmotifs, each character having its own theme. R�zsa’s score for the World War II film Sahara is
appropriately hard-hitting and the suite encapsulates all the major themes of the film. The music for
Ben-Hur is regarded by many as the composer’s magnum opus among the film scores, winning
R�zsa an Oscar in 1960. Befitting the epic film production, it features a large orchestra and the suite
comprises six key moments from the film.
Music Composed by
Mikl�s R�zsa
Played by the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by
Rumon Gamba
Tracks:
The Thief of Baghdad
1. Suite: I. Overture: Allegro moderato (02:41)
2. Suite: II. Cortege: Tempo di Marcia (02:44)
3. Suite: III. The Love of the Princess: Andante semplice (04:00)
4. Suite: IV. The Sultan's Toys: Andante - Moderato (01:55)
5. Suite: V. The Flying Horse Gallop: Molto moderato - Allegretto scherzando (01:43)
6. Suite: VI. The Silvermaid's Dance: Moderato - piu animato - Tempo I - Tranquillo (03:53)
7. Suite: VII. The Market at Basra: Vivo (02:43)
The Jungle Book
8. Suite: I. Beginning: Largamente (05:29)
9. Suite: II. Shere Khan: Molto moderato - Andantino - Grazioso - Lento (03:42)
10. Suite: III. Mowgli Wanders: Andante - Allegretto scherzando - Molto moderato - Allegro molto agitato (02:15)
11. Suite: IV. Lullaby: Largamente - Lento (03:27)
12. Suite: V. The Ways of Man: Allegretto giocoso - Con moto - Tranquillo (04:28)
13. Suite: VI. Cries of the Animals: Non troppo allegro - Allegro agitato - Piu mosso (01:53)
14. Suite: VII. Mowgli Seeks Shere Khan: Moderato (03:55)
15. Suite: VIII. The Chase: Allegro Agitato - Largamente (01:02)
16. Suite: IX. Victory: Allegro giocoso - Largamente e pesante - Moderato - Moderato e commodo - Allegretto (02:28)
17. Suite: X. Bagheera's Contentment: Molto moderato (02:30)
18. Sahara (arr. C. Palmer for orchestra) (07:47)
Ben-Hur
19. Suite: I. Prelude: Maestoso - Allegro - Poco animato - Piu lento - Piu mosso (03:44)
20. Suite: II. Love Theme: Lento - Poco piu largamente - Tranquillo (03:11)
21. Suite: III. The Burning Desert: Pesante - Largamente - Adagio solemne - Animato (05:16)
22. Suite: IV. The Rowing of the Galley Slaves: Molto moderato - Poco animato - Piu allegro - Molto allegro (02:36)
23. Suite: V. The Mother's Love: Lento (03:05)
24. Suite: VI. Parade of the Charioteers: Alla marcia (03:23)
Total Time: 80'05
"The story of how Mikl�s R�zsa left his native Hungary and brought his talents as a
composer of film music to the West is well known. He went first to London and then to
California, when the outbreak of war necessitated moving Jungle Book lock, stock and
barrel to Hollywood. Though there have been some fine recordings of his more ‘serious’
music - Chandos themselves have made three of them (see below) - it’s for his film
music that he will be most remembered.
The BBC Philharmonic and Rumon Gamba were the performers on those three earlier
Chandos recordings. This orchestra and conductor also has a long-established history
of fine recordings of film music for the label, so it’s only fitting that they should be
chosen for this new project.
For all that I enjoyed the earlier albums, I shall be very surprised if this recording of the
film music doesn’t outsell all three of them put together. It certainly deserves to be very
successful. At least two of the films are all-time classics and I greatly enjoyed this evocation
of The Thief of Baghdad and Ben-Hur. In case the music doesn’t quite do the trick for you,
there are still photos in the booklet. I don’t think I ever saw Sahara and I’d forgotten Hugh
Griffith’s part in Ben-Hur until I saw the photo, though I certainly remember his hell-raising
Falstaff on, and reputedly off stage, at Stratford in the early 1960s.
It may seem odd to spend more time on the booklet than the performances but I found the
notes most enlightening while I can be short and sweet concerning the performances and
say that, short of someone brushing up the original film scores in modern digital sound, they
are unlikely ever to be bettered. Rumon Gamba and his team capture the tender aspects of
the music just as well as its more dramatic moments.
The recording, to which I listened in CD-quality 16-bit sound, is very good indeed. It captures
the colourful nature of the music without ever being over the top or as brightly lit as the
composer’s own Phase 4 recordings (see below). Movements such as the Parade of the
Chariots, however, which concludes the album on track 24, are suitably Technicolor, though
you may well find that you need to turn up the volume to hear the recording at its best.
Try some of Gamba’s other film music recordings for Chandos, too. The original music for
Scott of the Antarctic is one of my favourites - it makes a fascinating comparison with the
Sinfonia Antartica into which Vaughan Williams later shaped most of the material.
(CHAN10007: A Recording of the Month - review - review - November 2011/2 DL Roundup
- or 3-CD set CHAN10529)."
Musicweb
Source: Chandos Records CD (my rip!)
Format: FLAC(RAR), DDD Stereo, Level: -5
File Size: 371 MB
The sharing period of this album has ended. No more requests, please. Thank you!
