Danny Elfman: Serenada Schizophrana [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Danny Elfman (Artist), Bruce Morgenthaler (Artist), Christian Kollgaard (Artist), Connie Deeter (Artist), Drew Dembowski (Artist), Edward Meares (Artist), Frances Liu Wu (Artist), Oscar Hidalgo (Artist), Richard Feves (Artist), Susan Ranney (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Sony Classics
• ASIN: B000HEZF7C
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,221 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I. Pianos

2. II. Blue Strings

3. III. A Brass Thing

4. IV. The Quadruped Patrol

5. V. 'I Forget'

6. VI. Bells And Whistles

7. End Tag

8. Improv For Alto Sax

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As the New York Times put it when Danny Elfman’s Serenada Schizophrana was performed live at Carnegie Hall in February 2005: "Better good Hollywood music than second-rate Brahms." Elfman, better known for his soundtracks to Tim Burton movies, had been commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra to write a concert work, and the Serenada Schizophrana in six movements was the result. It appears here under the baton of John Mauceri, known for his crossover work with Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Fans of Elfman’s soundtracks won’t be disappointed—or even very much surprised—by this venture into the concert hall. The composer’s style remains very much the same, probably because his habitual orchestrator, Steve Bartek (whose contribution is crucial to Elfman’s sound), worked on four movements, with Edgardo Simone handling the remaining two. Blending Bernard Herrmann, Duke Ellington, Max Steiner, and especially JG Thirlwell (a.k.a. big-band industrialist Foetus), Elfman has come up with an audience-friendly piece that actually sounds more convincing than similarly high-reaching works by Paul McCartney or Elvis Costello.--Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nourishment for your Imagination, October 18, 2006

By 

J. C. Roberts "The Mysterious Irresponsible Man" (Higashi-Hemi-Cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Honshu, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Danny Elfman: Serenada Schizophrana [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

When I mention my appreciation of Danny Elfman's work to other people, a question I often get is "What kind of music does he do?"

To date, the best answer I've been able to come up with is, "Imagine a truly great jazz impressario given an entire symphony orchestra to play with." He does movie soundtracks, of course, which I absolutely love, but to say that he is a soundtrack artist is not giving him the credit he deserves.

This album is marvelous. Every time I listen to Danny's music, it not only fires my imagination, it kicks it into high gear. In that respect, I would call this album truly inspiring. It is by turns ethereal, imposing, surreal, ambient, overwhelming, disturbing, and just plain fun!

If you love good music, if you love to have your imagination captivated and set free on a whole new plane of existence, then you owe it to yourself to give this album a listen.

Your imagination will thank you for it.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Danny Elfman's masterpiece..., February 13, 2007

By 

Alan Draven "Dark Fiction Author" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Danny Elfman: Serenada Schizophrana [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Danny Elfman has long been a favorite of mine, going all the way back to his days with Oingo Boingo. I've been following his career closely since I heard his Beetlejuice score in 1988. He followed it with the classic Batman score in 1989. He made wonderful music throughout the nineties, often accompanying Tim Burton's films (he scored all of them save for Ed Wood). In my opinion, it took until 1999 to surpass his work on Batman, with the release of the Sleepy Hollow soundtrack. And now, with the release of Serenada Schizophrana, Sleepy Hollow has been dethroned. It'll take an impressive score to take this last composition's place.

This orchestral suite showcases Elfman's versatile influences and he sounds better than ever. Sometimes dark, other times playful with more quiet and subtle parts, this was a completely different project than his usual film scores. He had a lot of freedom for this symphony and it shows. Serenada is divided in 7 movements and contains a bonus track.

If some of the cuts sound familiar, it's because it was heavily featured in last year's Imax film Deep Sea 3D, narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. It fit perfectly well with the mysterious underwater world unfolding in 3D on the oversized screen.

If you're a fan of Elfman's, you'll love Serenada. If you love movie scores, chances are you'll enjoy it too. The only downside with this CD has nothing to do with its content, but rather with its encoding. This is a SACD (Super Audio CD) and therefore will not be playable on your computer. It is designed for super audio players so you might want to check if your CD player can play it. It plays fine on mine and on my DVD player. The sound quality is much clearer than your average CD, but I find it disappointing that I'm not able to listen to this great suite on my IPod. Still, it's well worth it for the opening track alone!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master piece, October 7, 2006

By 

Mecheri Damien - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Danny Elfman: Serenada Schizophrana [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Serenada Schizophrana is probably the best work Elfman ever made. It is mature, virtuoso, deep and powerful. All his usuals styles are transcends, and the six mouvements are rich in shades and tones. The mouvements are all interesting in their own musical way, and invit us to a long travel inside the genius and strange brain of Danny Elfman. The fifth, "I Forget", which is probably his most wonderful piece, looks like a tragic fantasy opera with beautiful females choirs. Serenada Schizophrana is a truly amazing orchestral piece, but not easily accessible. Patience and lot of listening are recommanded in order to understand the richness of this work of art.