Franz Waxman: A Centenary Celebration [Box Set] [Box set, Soundtrack]

Franz Waxman (Composer), Frédéric Talgorn (Conductor), Joel McNeely (Conductor), Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra
• Conductor: Frédéric Talgorn, Joel McNeely
• Composer: Franz Waxman
• Audio CD (December 5, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set, Soundtrack
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B000K7UH0G
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,921 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Main Title / Foreword / Opening Scene (4:41)

2. Hotel Lobby (2:36)

3. Terrace Scene (2:45)

4. Tennis Montage I (1:29)

5. Tennis Montage II (4:13)

6. Proposal Scene (2:21)

7. Marriage (1:38)

8. Arrival At Manderley (1:48)

9. Mrs. Danvers (original version) (3:12)

10. Walk to the Beach (2:00)

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Main Title (3:53)

2. Entering Peyton Place (1:37)

3. Going To School (1:22)

4. After School (3:36)

5. Hilltop Scene (6:45)

6. Rossi's Visit (2:59)

7. After The Dance (2:29)

8. The Rape (2:07)

9. Summer Montage (1:19)

10. Chase In The Woods (2:29)

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When I got this box set in my mailbox today, July 9, 2011

By 

Lou B. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Franz Waxman: A Centenary Celebration [Box Set] (Audio CD)

I couldn't wait to get it open and play it and when I did I realized that these have to be among some of the greatest recordings of classic film music and all the work of one man: Franz Waxman. I know that these three albums were all released separately and are repackaged here as a celebration of the centennial of Waxman's birth. I knew of his reputation as a legendary composer in many books and interviews on the subject of film music and I only owned, until now, just one score of his ("The Bride of Frankenstein"). And after hearing more of his music on Youtube it only whetted my appetite for more so I then ordered this set and I couldn't be happier.

Waxman was an extraordinarily gifted composer who ever worked in film. He was not a songwriter but he sure could have been as it seems throughout these three scores that melodies seemed to just pour out of him. He was also a superb dramatist which is a crucial factor to be a truly effective composer of dramatic music. He died at the still relatively young age of sixty and he was at his creative height which makes his passing more tragic. For the longest time I thought only Miklos Rozsa was the best composer from Hollywood's Golden Age and now I must say that

Waxman goes right alongside him in my view now.

As for the albums I'm sure they have all been reviewed separately but I want to say that besides the music there were other factors that makes this set so exceptional. The exceptional talents of conductors Joel McNeely and Frederic Talgorn is definitely a factor, another is the superfluous performances of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra who never sounded better, and the recording engineers who mixed these recordings. The music on all three gives one the impression of being at the concert hall because that's how good it sounds.

The scores are packed chronologically by order of the composer's career: "Rebecca" from 1940, "Sunset Boulevard"

from a decade later and "Peyton Place" from 1957. The first score is from the Hitchcock classic and is one of the few Hitchcock scores I have that wasn't scored by Bernard Herrmann (the other I have is Rozsa's "Spellbound") and for my money its just as artistic as anything Herrmann wrote for him. One thing this set certainly did is whet my appetite for more Waxman. There is a transparency and timeless beauty to much of the music here in the first and third scores in this set and I listened to those first.

"Sunset Boulevard" may very well be Waxman's masterpiece as its the most varied score here. He sets many moods and though I have never seen the film---nor the other two---I know enough about the story to follow by the track titles.

It won him his first of two Oscars and I love the starkness and the eerie qualities of this music. But that is not to say that I like the other two any less. This is all pure music and unashamedly emotional which is a quality lacking in today's films and their scores. Composers like Waxman and my other favorites are now gone and we should look back and reassess these musical masterworks from Hollywood in its prime. They set the standard and the new composers could learn a great deal from them and that goes for today's filmmakers, too.

I can't recommend this set enough and I give it the highest rating and am grateful for the sellers at amazon.com to make this set available at such an affordable price. Anyone who appreciates great music owe it to themselves to get this set.

Now I'll have to wait for Tadlow's new and complete recording of Waxman's TARAS BULBA later this month. Can't wait!