We have a variety of soundtracks this month to both current films and
classics. Let’s start with the current:
NOWHERE
IN AFRICA - Music by Niki Reiser - Higher Octave/Virgin 72435-83955-2-5V:
The 2003 Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Language Film is simply one
of the best films of the year of any sort, and the soundtrack is at as high
a level of achievement as is everything else about the film. There was no
note booklet with the review disc, and anyway most notes for soundtracks
fail to tell you anything about the music or even the plot of the film, so
Niki Reiser is a cypher to me. I do recall seeing a credit on the screen for
a real symphony orchestra, so the rich symphonic music often heard in this
score is not synthesized. Some of the film’s characters have leitmotifs,
as identified in the titles of the 22 cues on the CD. The main themes are
memorable, and the contrast between the music for the scenes in Germany and
those in Africa are immediately evident. There is native drumming primarily
for scenes such as the festival that the mother and daughter attend, not
just crudely inserted into most of the score because this is an African
movie. This CD provided fascinating listening before I viewed the movie, so
it can be said that as a score it stands alone well. But don’t fail to see
the movie too - it’s truly a winner.
- John Sunier
THE
HOURS - Music by Philip Glass - Michael Riesman, piano/Lyric Quartet; Orch.
conducted by Nick Ingman - Nonesuch 79693-2:
Michael Cunningham, the author of the novel on which the motion picture is
based, states in his essay that he has been listening regularly to Glass
since college and that he found a few other people who like himself adored
it. Also that they tended to be obsession-prone. He says Glass’ music is
to some degree part of everything he has written, so he was pleased when he
learned The Hours would have soundtrack music from Glass. He points out that
both Virginia Woolf (who is central to the story) and Glass are more
interested in that which continues than that which begins, climaxes and
ends. Thus the thoughtfully obsessive repetition of the film’s score
beautifully parallels the story of the three women in different eras and
situations but connected nevertheless in their dealing with life and death.
The general instrumentation is one of a piano concerto with string
orchestra; there are 14 cues. While it would be nice when listening to the
soundtrack to have also seen this magnificent film, the nature of Glass’
music is such that this CD could well appeal to those who never plan to see
the movie. I think even those put off by most of Glass’ minimalism would
find this music compelling and satisfying listening on its own terms.
- John Sunier
ASSASSINATION
TANGO - RCA Victor 9026-64023-2:
Robert Duvall’s film will remind some of the Sally Potter film The Tango
Lesson. The premise of the filmmaker’s fascination with the tango and its
culture, putting himself/herself at the center of the story, and having a
romantic relationship with the tango partner, is part of both stories. The
Duvall effort, which garnered mixed reviews for a lack of focus, adds a
story element involving a New York hit man who is hired to come to Buenos
Aires to bump off a fascist general. Duvall is passionately involved in
tango, as is Potter, and he is quoted as observing “To be a good tango
dancer you should be a thief, a pimp, a bookie, or some kind of criminal,”
so the story line fits the film well.
Fourteen tangos are featured on the soundtrack album; five of them are by
Luis Bacalov, an Argentine native who did scores for Fellini and Wertmuller,
and whose music for Il Postino was a gem. His contributions are somewhat
closer to the New Tango style of Piazzola, while the other tracks are more
of a standard old-fashioned tango genre. Nevertheless this is a very
listenable/danceable collection of tango music for anyone interested in the
form - whether or not you are interested in seeing the film.
- John Sunier
THE
LIFE OF DAVID GALE - Music by Alex and Jake Parker - Decca 44006 67332 5:
Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet starred in this suspense thriller about a
prisoner who may be innocent awaiting his fate on Death Row. The score is
the creation of the two sons of the film’s director Alan Parker, and is
their first. The tension in the film is maintained with a strong rhythmic
drive in the music, but there are also lush melodic sections. 16 cues make
up the soundtrack CD, which will probably appeal most to those who have seen
the film.
- John Sunier
PEOPLE
I KNOW - Original score by Terence Blanchard - Decca 44001 77872 8:
The latest Al Pacino movie has the actor again in the role of someone
who’s seen better times - in this case a New York publicist. Trying to aid
his one remaining important client he becomes involved in confusions mixing
celebrity status and politics. A mix of jazz and blues are served up by
leading jazz composer Blanchard to support the mystery and drama of the
film’s story line. In addition to the lyrical original Blanchard melodies
he has chosen to include two vocal versions of Bye Bye Blackbird as bookends
to the rest of the score - sung by Jon Hendricks and Rickie Lee Jones
respectively, plus Hendrick’s original song Nothing to Me. There are 13
other instrumental cues plus these three vocals.
- John Henry
A pair of on-the-mark soundtrack CDs from the Marco Polo label...
THE
FALL OF BERLIN; SUITE FROM THE UNFORGETTABLE YEAR 1919 - Music of Dmitri
Shostakovich - Moscow Sym. Orch./Moscow Capella & Youth Chorus/Adriano -
Marco Polo 8.223897:
There was a shorter version on a mono LP of the first of these film
scores, in typically-atrocious Soviet sound of the period, but this is the
premiere recording of the complete Shostakovich score. The 1919 film music
is actually a seven-movement suite and here also receives its first complete
recording. Shostakovich wrote 35 film scores, certainly a record for a
well-known classical composer in the 20th century. Other well known Russian
composers worked in the film industry as well and most seemed to have higher
musical standards than the typical Hollywood composer. Shostakovich was
skilled at writing war-inspired symphonic music so his work on this
soundtrack flowed out of that.
The Fall of Berlin was a major production - in two parts, each over
70 minutes length. The first concentrates on a conventional love story and
the second part deals with the battle for Berlin and Hitler’s last days. A
strong heroic theme is introduced early in the score, and there are more
lyrical themes in connection with the hero’s thoughts of his lover. The
short cue accompanying Hitler’s reception could work as well with Charlie
Chaplin’s satirization of the dictator. The final cues of both parts
suffer from typical bombastic Soviet corniness, but we can sympathize with
Shostakovich for the tremendous pressures under which he had to compose
everything - not just film music. It’s enjoyable to hear such skilled
performances of this music, and so well reproduced after the questionable
sonics of most of the Soviet efforts.
BRAM
STOKER’S DRACULA; DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, PEARL IN THE CROWN, THE BEADS OF
ONE ROSARY, THE KING OF THE LAST DAYS - Music by Wojciech Kilar - Cracow
Philharmonic Chorus/Polish National Radio Sym./Antoni Wit - Marco Polo
8.225153:
Kilar provided scores to over one hundred Polish films before he came to
attention in the U.S. with his very effective music for Coppola’s Dracula.
Following that he scored The Ninth Gate and Roman Polanski’s superb
Death and the Maiden. The composer won an ASCAP award for his
evocative and melodic music for the lavish film of the Dracula story.
Khachaturian may come to mind in Kilar’s music for the heroines of the
story, and the concluding movement of the six-movement suite here brings
Bernard Hermann-like writing to the fore in depicting a storm. Biblical
images and religious intrigue are found in The King, which concerns the
leader of the Anabaptists in the 16th century. There are only three cues
from the Polanski film, but they carry strong emotional content in the drama
of three people in extremis in a single claustrophobic set. Another
fascinating Marco Polo film music collection.
- John Sunier
MUSIC
FOR FILMS By Phillip Johnston - GELD; MONEY MAN; UMBRELLAS; MUSIC OF CHANCE
- various ensembles incl. Johnston on soprano sax - Tzadik TZ 7510:
Yes, there is a cover there and the type is almost invisible. 32 cues are
presented, with a rather subtle and hidden guide to which ones are from
which of the four films. All are in a strongly improvisatory and fairly
experimental style and involve a chamber ensemble with such well-known
performers as Dave Douglas on trumpet and Guy Klucevsek on accordion.
Interesting mixtures of string instruments with B3 organ, banjo, dobro, tuba
and electric guitars mark these fresh-sounding filmic accompaniments. I was
reminded of some of the work of Bobby Previte on the same path-breaking
record label. The opening nine tracks are from Music of Chance and feature
the largest ensemble with the greatest variety of sounds. I was wondering
what images were on the screen for some of these selections; they run from
as brief as 25 seconds to several minutes long. Interesting stuff,
regardless.
- John Sunier
Two Broadway classics, one reissued and the other in a brand new
production...
CARMEN
JONES - Original Cast Album - Musical play based on Bizet’s Carmen, with
lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett -
Decca mono 440 066 780-2:
This l944 all-black-cast setting of the Carmen opera was originally released
on both 12 inch and 10 inch 78s, then later on both 45s and LP, and this is
its very first reissue on compact disc. Transferred to a modern American
war-time situation, the story unfolds near a southern town where Carmen
works in parachute factory instead of a cigarette factory, and the former
toreador is now a famous prize fighter, while Don Jose (Joe) is still a
soldier. Hammerstein changed Bizet’s music only in two of the arias in the
complete opera. Most of the performers were unknowns and some had never been
on the professional stage. Muriel Smith, who played Carmen, worked in a
camera shop. The Boston tryouts of the show fell flat, but in New York it
was a big hit, running eventually 502 performances. The recitatives were
eliminated and the actors just spoke to one another, and of course the
lyrics are entirely different. On some the new reality works well, but on
others there’s a bit of a stretch. For example, Micaela’s song Dites-moi
de ma mere becomes You Talk Just Like Ma Maw. There’s also something
not-quite-politically-correct about the black-speak that didn’t seem to
disturb one in Porgy & Bess, for example. The mono sound is quite good,
coming from the original 78 rpm glass masters, and probably run thru a
modicum of digital noise reduction.
MAN OF LA MANCHA - New Broadcast Cast Recording with Brian Stokes
Mitchell, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Ernie Sabella; Written by Dale
Wasserman, Music: Mitch Leigh; Lyrics: Joe Darion - RCA Victor 9026-64007-2:
This recent revival of the mid-sixties musical based on a TV play of the
late fifties again brings to Broadway some great tunes in American musical
theater: The Impossible Dream, Dulcinea, I Really Like Him. Jonathan Kent,
musical director of this new production, observes that with its themes of
purity of heart and the power of imagination to aid us in transcending
difficult situations, Man of La Mancha is not a musical for cynics. The
acting is top-flight and the new arrangements sound fresh without trying to
take the music into rock or pop regions. Mitchell is superb in the role of
the befuddled would-be knight errant. This is a great musical to just listen
to since most of us are quite familiar with the story. However, if you want
to catch every word, there is a complete English libretto printed in the
note booklet - but why or why did they have to print it entirely in CAPS?
- John Sunier
The irrepressible Noel Coward times two in our last show biz
reissues...
NOEL COWARD IN LAS VEGAS - Columbia/DRG 19037 mono:
NOEL COWARD IN NEW YORK - Columbia/DRG 19038 mono:
These were originally a pair of Columbia LPs released in l955 and 1956
respectively. Carlton Hayes and Orchestra backed Coward’s songs in the
first with piano accompaniment and arrangements by Peter Matz. Matz handled
all the music chores in the NYC outing. Coward’s uniquely urbane and fey
British wit knocked ‘em dead in both venues. Plus he had the support of
all the wonderful tunes he had written over the years, including some new
ones he introduced in these two live appearances. Classics such as Someday
I’ll Find You, I Love Were All, The Party’s Over Now, Sail Away.
Then there are his inimitable humorous ditties, delivered with the
panache that only Coward himself could accomplish: Mad Dogs and
Englishmen, I Went to a Marvelous Party, Alice Is At It Again, A Bar on the
Piccola Marina, Why Must the Show Go On, Uncle Harry. Sure, Half-Caste Woman
may not be politically correct today, but it’s still a great song on an
interesting idea - not that different from Ten Cents a Dance. Part of
his great charm seems to have been that mixed in with all the sophisticated,
upper-class, world-weary sentiments was some truly heart-felt sentiment that
grabbed people.
- John Sunier