Customer Reviews

KORNGOLD: Devotion

5 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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Folks, it rarely gets better than this for audio CDs (eat your heart out, MP3!): five stars (out of five) for orchestral arrangement and performance; five for music excerpt/cue selection and proper sequencing; five for sound quality; and five for the documentation in the CD booklet (back to this in a moment). "Korngold: Devotion" is the latest in a series of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (EWK) film symphonies recorded by Mr. Stromberg. It is by far Mr. Stromberg's best to date (and they've all been pretty outstanding). The booklet that comes with this CD is huge (it can barely fit into the CD case!), and is mostly provided courtesy of Mr. Brendan Carroll. Mr. Carroll is, of course, the author of the recent, definitive biography of EWK. He is not just an authority on the composer; he flat out knows more about the man than any life form in the Galaxy. To say the booklet is crammed with meticulous and delicious facts about EWK, his score, and the film (much of which is not widely known or newly revealed here) is a bit of an understatement. A closing note of caution. Prior recordings of EWK film symphonies by Mr. Stromberg have gone out of print in near Internet speed (which I've learned the hard way). If you're thinking about buying this CD, I sure wouldn't dally!

I haven't taken this gorgeous CD off my player since I bought it. This is the most lush recording of Korngold's work I've ever heard, bringing back memories of the underrated film which was a romanticized biography of the Bronte sisters and featured excellent performances by Olivia de Havilland, Paul Henried, Ida Lupino and Sydney Greenstreet. The music is so evocative of the Yorkshire moors and the brooding atmosphere of the Bronte story that it gave much needed added dimension to the film, especially in the highly dramatic moments. The orchestrations are superbly rendered by the musicians under William Stromberg's masterful direction and all in all the Moscow Symphony Orchestra does an impeccable job. I've waited over the decades for this score to be available and my wait was well worthwhile! If you admire Erich Wolfgang Korngold, this soaring musical score deserves to be at the top of your list of must buys. It comes with an interesting and informative booklet including notes on the making of the film as well as commentary on the music itself. Any discussion of Korngold's film music is incomplete without reference to this beautiful score. The stirring and richly dramatic main theme is alone well worth the price of admission!

If you want Captain Blood or Robin Hood, give it a miss. If you want incredibly lovely Korngold music that will stay in your player for days, go for it. I don't understand it, but this is music that you can chew on in spite of it's "medium" intensity throughout. I love it. I've bought two copies, the second after the first developed issues from a scratch. Korngold will fool you with his simple romantic nature that suddendly yields sophistication beyond all expectations.

This CD simply puts me to sleep. 70 minutes of film music that jumps in between dialogue about the Bronte's. If this is your cup of tea, then I will say that it is recorded well. But oh for some modern day producer who understood how to make movie soundtracks. Most of the composers are dead, and even many of their heirs. Erich Korngold would never have produced his music this way. Nowadays, nobody knows, so they just release as much of it as they can. But it's not like an opera or ballet score where every cue has a thematic connection or a musical purpose. A lot of this is just 'filler'. Of course it's Korngold filler, so some may be interested. But, well, we knew he could orchestrate didn't we?

This might have made an great 20 or 30 minute suite. Musically speaking, it's just kind of boring as it stands now.