Customer Reviews

Elizabeth & Essex: Korngold Film Scores

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This album contains musical suites from seven of Korngold's film scores: Elizabeth & Essex, the Prince & the Pauper, Anthony Adverse, Sea Wolf, Deception, Another Dawn, and Of Human Bondage. All exceptionally performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Charles Gerhardt. While the diehard Korngold fan will definately want to explore the complete scores of these films, this disc along with "The Sea Hawk" provides a good overview of some of the finest music ever written for the screen.

out of the many rca/charles gerhardt recordings of classic film scores, this is probably the shortest. but that does not mean it's weak or lacking in quality.

in fact, it is a much stronger set of kormgold's melodies than 'the sea hawk' because korngold didn't write much for films. when he did, the efforts were towering. sometimes, as in the case of 'another dawn' or 'of human bondage', then overpowered the film altogether.

when you hear the suite for 'bondage', this remark will make perfectly good sense. there is no sense of a film about a young medical student lost in an obsessive love for a tawdry waitress. there is just melodious euro-stuffs, arranged and performed to perfection.

korngold's style suited 'elizabeth and essex' and 'the sea wolf'. for 'elizabeth', the quasi=operatic style is totally appropriate to the romance and intrigue of the court of elizabeth i and for 'wolf', he actually tones it down a bit and creates melancholy, haunting music for the love scenes between the characters played by john garfield and ida lupino.

and best of all, he gives a preview of his gift for composing orchestral pieces with the 'hollenius concerto', a one-movement piece for cello and orchestra that is built partly from a theme from 'elizabeth'. it's beautiful. and it's the on'y recording of the piece so it's a treasure and a weighty addition to your film music collecgtion if you can find it.