Customer Reviews

Goldsmith Conducts Goldsmith

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According to legend, Jerry Goldsmith conducted his film music in a concert at the Barbican Centre, London (March 10th, 1987) with the famed Philharmonia Orchestra. This concert was the first time he had actually performed for the public! The concert was such a raving success that Goldsmith returned the next day at Walthamstow Assembly Hall with recording engineer Mike Ross-Trevor and proceeded to record a whole album presentation of the concert program. The concert was the brain child of longtime film music enthusiast Paul Talkington who talked Goldsmith into this concert program - one which would herald Goldsmith's earlier television and classic film scores from his past and present career. Fans who have frequented Goldsmith concert programs recently will find this CD familiar in content. But nevertheless, a fantastic summary of Goldsmith's vastly developing and expanding career.

The program starts with the triumphant 17 minute THE BLUE MAX suite from the WWI film starring George Peppard and Ursula Andress. This is easily the highlight of the album and is thrillingly performed with great power and gusto. The brass section dominates the cues especially in "The Bridge", where Goldsmith unleashes a furious barrage of agitated triplet figures building up to ferocious climax. Strings, snares, brass and even wind machine support the orchestra. The highlight is of course" The Attack" cue, which is one of the most significant pieces from this film score. This march like piece incorporates the aerial heroic theme and juggles the strings and brass in an antiphony-like progression each struggling to dominate the musical narrative.

The "Television Themes - Medley", is one of the most brightest bouncy music from Goldsmith early salad days. From the highly charged "Man from U.N.C.L.E." theme to the melodious interlude of "Doctor Kildare", to the marimba and shaker tinged theme for "Room 222" and the cozy americana trumpet theme for "The Waltons". Though, it is the superb rhythmic almost western-like "Barnaby Jones" which ends with a spectacular coda reprise from the opening piece. The "Masada" overture which Goldsmith initially scribed for John Williams for the Boston Pops concerts in 1981 marks Goldsmith return to television in the mid-eighties when he scored this six hour epic mini-series about the mass genocide of jews at the fortress of Masada. The theme is a blend of eastern melody and triumphant marches full of grandeur and surreal beauty, and it's fresh and beautifully orchestrated. A big highlight! The "Gremlins" suite is another terrific ride into the bombastic and darker side of Goldsmith. Full of wild and whacky scherzos to an obnoxiously loud rag piece for the Gremlins in the end. The orchestration is different and more acoustic than its original counterpart, but, Goldsmith succeeds in giving it a more large and ambient sound. Interestingly, the suite was adapted by conductor Stanley Black, as revealed in the liner notes.

The "Motion Picture Themes - Medley" starts with the romantic main title from "The Sand Pebbles", a nostalgic blues-esque excerpt from "Chinatown", to the innocent theme from "A Patch of Blue". Also refreshing, is the Carol Anne's Theme from" Poltergeist". There's a terrific reading of the waltz from "Papillon" and the thrilling main title from "The Wind and the Lion" wraps the medley. The biggest highlight is the "General Suite", incorporating marches from Macarthur which is this superb metallic charged military march full of bristling brass and rhythmic snares, and is enough to wake up the sleeping lethargic listener. Perfectly blending into the track is the march from, Patton. "Robert's Theme" from "Lionheart" is basically another march for the medieval tale set during the Crusades. It's another stunning piece full of nobility and strength, here beautifully embodied and crafted by Goldsmith. The motif is mono thematic but Goldsmith fleshes out the orchestration in such a manner that it goes almost un-noticed. Closing the CD is a bonus suite from Goldsmith OST recording of "Legend". The section conducted by Goldsmith with The National Philharmonic Orchestra is from the upcoming re-issue from Silva Screen records, which like this album, will be a HDCD Dolby Surround remastering.

On the whole, the album is superbly recorded by Mike Ross-Trevor, while the recording is concert oriented it is the best concert sounding album I've ever heard - full of dynamic punch and digital clarity. Interestingly, when the album was first released in 1989, it was pressed by the 'Master Film Music' label and entitled, "Jerry Goldsmith: Suites & Themes". Then, later it was re-released by the 'Deram' label as "The Soundtracks of Jerry Goldsmith". In any case, the album was an instant sellout and became a rarity unto itself. So, special kudos to Silva screen for re-surrecting this terrific recording which for me, is a dream come true. The CD is well packaged by Silva and features informative liner notes on the concert program and color pictures.

Only just recently, we have seen a similar issue of a Goldsmith concert program which is a more updated version featuring newer films like Sleeping with the Enemy, Rudy, Russia House, Air Force One and even the march from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. That recording is also sprightly performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and led by Goldsmith himself on the CD entitled, "The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith" - available on the 'Telarc' label in both normal and SACD formats. While, it is equally good, this is the better choice for acquisition!

Overall, this CD features a superbly charged performance making it an indispensable collector's item to both Goldsmith and film music fans alike. A must have!

If composer Jerry Goldsmith wanted to, he could fill a concert hall with scores beginning with
Black Patch (1957) with additional well received scores along the way ~ "Lonely Are The
Brave" (1962), "Lilies Of The Field" (1963), "In Harm's Way" (1964), "The Agony And The
Ecstacy" (1965), "Our Man Flint" (1966), "In Like Flint" (1967), "Planet Of The Apes"
(1968), "100 Rifles" (1969), "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970), "The Mephisto Waltz" (1971),
"The Culpepper Cattle Co." (1972), "One Little Indian" (1973), "QB VII" (1974), "Babe"
(1975), "The Omen" (1976), "The Cassandra Crossing" (1977), "Capricorn One" (1978),
"Star Trek:The Motion Picture: (1979), "The Final Conflict" (1981), "First Blood" (1982),
"Twilight Zone:The Movie" (1983), "Supergirl" (1984), "Explorers" (1985), "Hoosiers"
(1986), "Innerspace" (1987), "Star Trek V:The Final Frontier" (1989), "The Russia House"
(1990), "Sleeping With The Enemy" (1991), "Medicine Man" (1992), "Rudy" (1993), "The
River Wild" (1994), "First Knight" (1995), "Star Trek:First Contact" (1996), "Air Force One"
(1997), "Mulan" (1998), "The Mummy" (1999), "Hollow Man" (2000), "Along Came A
Spider" (2001)...now that's just the tip of the iceberg, Goldsmith has composed and recorded
nearly three times that amount.

Silva Screen has released a collection that will set you on your ear...opening with "BLUE
MAX" (1966), based on a novel by Jack D. Hunter, starring George Peppard, James Mason
and Ursula Andress, during World War I fresh out of aviation training school, a young
German sets his sights for the "Blue Max" flying award, along with other pilots of more
experience and from wealthy aristocratic families, Goldsmith's score sets the tone and mood
for "The Bridge", sitting behind the controls you experience a sense of power and freedom,
listen as brass and percussion with duo harmonies build to a climax, so exhilarating, "The
Attack" has strings breaking through with brass resounding in dark-clusters...this my stand out
pick shows Goldsmith's genius in composition and orchestration, puts the listener smack dab
in the middle of the story, would love to see this again on the Big Screen with a THX sound
system...speaking of a spectacular sound, listen to the "Dolby Surround" and "HDCD" digital
re-mastering, as it serves up a generous helping of heaven for all "film-score-buff" collectors!

In my estimation, there are two highlights ~ "THE WIND AND THE LION" (1975), a
favorite among Goldsmith fans, written and directed by John Milius an old fashion
swords-in-the-desert saga, featured Sean Connery (the desert-sheik), Candice Bergen (feisty
American) and Brian Keith (President Teddy Roosevelt) based loosely on a historical event,
during the turn of the century in Morocco, a sheik kidnaps an American woman and her
children, holds them for political ransom, forcing President Roosevelt to send our marines to
free the captives, but it is Goldsmith's brilliant and breathtaking score that captivates and
makes this story work, always doing his research for authenticity, Goldsmith's percussion
along with resounding brass tells the tale with all the glory he can muster..."LEGEND" (1986),
is my second highlight pick, script by William Hjortsberg and director Ridley Scott at the
helm, with cast members Tom Cruise (our hero Jack), Mia Sara (Lili) and Tim Curry (Lord of
Darkness), a faerie-tale of good versus evil (conflict between darkness & light) is the theme
and Goldsmith delivers a dark atmospheric, sensuality toned and bewitching mood for each
character through his music, creating a mysterious uncertain realm that gives The National
Philharmonic Orchestra a sparkling air of impressionsim, while blending swirling counterpoints
leaving full enchantment here and there...in a world full of magic, wonder and desire!

Special thanks to Mike Ross-Trevor (re-mixing/recording engineer), Reynold da Silva
(executive producer), David Stoner (release co-ordinator), The Philharmonia Orchestra, The
National Philharmonic Orchestra (bonus track-Legend), John Bettis (lyrics-Legend) and hats
off to the all-knowing watchful eyes of James Fitzpatrick (producer)...you might try another
Jerry Goldsmith and James Fitzpatrick release ~ "The Omen:The Essential Jerry Goldsmith
Film Music Collection" (SSD-1091/2CD Set), worthy of movie music lovers and
connoisseurs of soundtracks, but best known as the ~ "film-score-buff" collector!

Total Time: 71:06 on 12 Tracks ~ Silva Screen Records LTD SSD-1135 ~ (2002)

This is a reissue of a 1987 CD remastered, and in Dolby surround. When I bought it I thought it was familiar, but wondered why it wasn't in my collection. Within a few minutes of starting it, I remembered why. I had the original CD but got rid of it.

The problem is not with compositions themselves, which are superb, but rather with the presentation and arrangements. Simply put, it seems like the arrangements weren't really thought out with the music in mind, and the motto was, "when in doubt, hit 'em with bombast".

Take for example, the "Television Themes" medley. "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." is actually a complete song, yet here only a snatch is heard, with the melody mostly drowned out by blasting horns (which would seem hard to do since "U.N.C.L.E" was written for horns, but they do it here). "Barnaby Jones", on the other hand, originally consisted of just a basic entertaining yet quick theme for the show. Yet here, it is stretched out seemingly forever consisting mainly of nothing more than repeating that short passage over and over again. Of course, there are lots of horns. The most telling one, though, is the theme from Room 222. This was a charming gentle work, in keeping with the show itself. As performed here, though, you'd think Conan the Barbarian was about to burst in and start hacking Thulsa Doom in the classroom. The arrangements of other selections aren't really "true" to the compositions either.

Although some of the presentation is quite lovely, "Legend", for example, all in all this is a weak, misguided effort. There are lots better examples of Mr. Goldsmith's great music, including many done by Jerry himself. Save your money and get one of those.

This recording was actually made immediately after the concert, but the vibrancy and excitement of Mr Goldsmith's first concert night come through on this disc. The highlight of the night was the stunning rendition of The Blue Max and the recording is similarly special.
The price of this disc is justified by The Blue Max Suite alone. Anyone bemoaning the brittle sound of the original soundtrack is in for a serious treat here, as a very generous suite does the score proud.
The rest is a bonus as I see it, with shorter excerpts and medleys from several more cinema and TV scores. Apart from Blue Max, the rest are very much "concert" arrangements and it would be a mistake to judge them side-by-side with the soundtrack equivalents. But again, The Blue Max Suite (at around 16 minutes) is a standout in every respect and an essential recording.

Il s'agit d'ici d'une excellente compilation pour s'initier à jerry Goldsmith, compositeur que je trouvais sans grand intérêt avant d'entendre ce disque! Premièrement, le choix des pièces! Chaque pièce représente le meilleur de Goldsmith. L'interprétation est magistrale et sans faute. La sonorité est incroyable et celui-ci a un rendu live, ce qui ajoute au côté grandiose de l'album. Silva Screen a su ici donner une sonorité incroyable au disque (Remasterisé en Dolby Surround!). Un bon système de son devrait suffire pour vous procurer une sensation intense! De plus, que rajouter que de plus que toute la musique est digirée par Goldsmith lui même, ce qui rajoute une touche encore plus véridique à la qualité de l'enregistrement présenté ici. Une compilation que tout fan de musique de film se doit de posséder!