Film Music by Jacques Ibert

Jacques Ibert (Composer), Adriano (Conductor), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava
• Conductor: Adriano
• Composer: Jacques Ibert
• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B0008JEKE0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #390,873 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Orson Welles chose Jacques Ibert to write the music for his Shakespearean tragedy in 1948, and what a score Ibert composed! Triumphant marches, eerie piano and harp solos, even a breathing choir (almost inaudible on the historical soundtrack, but present here). This disc also contains music from Ibert's Golgotha (1935) and Don Quichotte (1933).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Some enjoyable stuff, but mostly for the specialist, January 20, 2011

By 

G.D. (Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Film Music by Jacques Ibert (Audio CD)

I am not generally a film music buff and I am going to evaluate these works as self-standing concert works. If nothing else, this recording shows that Ibert was an inventive film music composer who put some genuine effort into his scores - there are some good melodies here, for instance, and sometimes even thematic developments that actually work on their own terms (and not only the terms given by the visuals). In addition many of the orchestral effects are ingenious. Still, to be perfectly honest all the works here are overlong and in between the good stuff there are long stretches of mere note-spinning (which is probably unavoidable when writing film music but still no excuse).

The music for Macbeth (1948) is a colorful affair with its share of traditional horror film elements though some very inventive and impressive uses of timbres and scoring. But 30 minutes of various horror movies effects is taxing, no matter how ingenious it is done, and the suite is woefully short on anything else (maybe apart from a modestly effective march theme). Golgotha stems from 1935 and is overall a stronger work, full of incident although hardly completely satisfying as a work on its own terms either (in the sense that it would probably never have been revived were it not for the fact that the music belongs to a film). Again, there are good ideas, and some of the movements are genuinely colorful (and I have to admit that I love the effect of the ondes martenot here), and the L'agonie movement is pretty powerful. But again there are long stretches of little merit - it could have been a very strong work, I suspect, if pared down from 35 to 12 minutes.

The five chansons that constitute Don Quichotte (1933) is somewhat better known (the fifth was apparently discovered and orchestrated by Adriano); they are variegated and fun and colorful if failing to leave any lasting impression. The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra is pretty convincing throughout and Adriano, as usual, appears to really care for this music. In the end, however, I am not sure how much it helps. Despite some fine things, this disc is mainly for the specialist.