Customer Reviews

Korngold: The Sea Hawk / The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex / Captain Blood / The Prince and the Pauper

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There have been several recordings of the wonderful film scores written by Erich Korngold. None though is quite as exciting and red-blooded as this recording of four suites from films that starred Errol Flynn, conducted by Andre Previn: "The Sea Hawk," "Captain Blood," "The Private Life of Elizabeth and Essex" and my personal favorite, "The Prince and the Pauper" (the theme from which became the finale of Korngold's Violin Concerto.)

You can absolutely hear the fun the London Symphony is having playing this terrific, swaggering music. Most film music sounds flabby without the movies, themselves, but Korngold's scores can obviously stand alone without cinematic help. Here is a classically oriented CD that actually will put a huge smile on your face.

This recording typifies everything that is wrong with the 'classical' market at the moment: Big Name Orchestra (LSO), Big Name Conductor (Previn), Big Name Composer (Korngold), HOT Genre (Classic Film Scores), Premium Price.

What about the performance? You would be excused if you listened to this recording and wondered what all the fuss was about concerning the so-called Golden Age of Film Scores. All the notes are played, all the sections are dutifully laid out and...there is very little in the way of fire, panache, HEART, SPIRIT!!

If you want to see what is missing, find a copy of the recording first released in 1971 as the first in the historic RCA Classic Film Scores Series, 'The Sea Hawk: Classic Film Scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold', performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the late Charles Gerhardt. THIS is swash-buckling, heroic, romantic music that typified screen heroes like Errol Flynn, Bogie, Ronald Colman, and so on. I grew up on these performances and took for granted the vigor, sweep and energy that permeated every moment...over 30 years later as I listened to these limp, curiously uninvolved performances conducted by Andre Previn, I thought how sad it was that this pedestrian kind of performance of truly creative and marvelous music will be considered the 'norm' by some unsuspecting person out there.

There are two recordings of the Gerhardt performances: one has an extended section of 'Sea Hawk' that includes music from a companion LP called 'Captain Blood: Classic Film Scores for Errol Flynn'. Find that one if you can...RCA decided after this initial release of 'Sea Hawk' on CD to do straight transfers of LP contents to CD and so on later issues of this music you lose out on about 15 minutes of absolutely wonderful music for 'Sea Hawk', 'Constant Nymph', and other Korngold classics. Instead of 60+ minutes of great performances, you have to settle for 50...so what? Look for either of these CDs...they are cheaper and they are much, much better than this DGG CD's 'blah' peformances.

Korngold was indubitably one of the greatest film-score composers in the history of cinema if not the singularly greatest one. Both his innovations in the syntactical procedures involved in the production of film music and his highly individual expressiveness have seeped into the work of nearly all the composers in the genre in the generations since. What Korngold did for the art for which he is best remembered may be likened to what Monteverdi did for the opera or what Haydn did for the symphony. It was thus with great enthusiasm that I greeted the release of this album from the preeminent Andre Previn and the equally illustrious LSO.

While it is already granted that what is being played is both brilliantly constructed and enjoyable to listen to, I was disappointed in the playing itself, especially given the reputations of the players. In this recording, the LSO is uncharacteristically lethargic, and their sound is a bit on the bellowing, turgid side, lacking in an articulation adequate enough to highlight the many breathtaking orchestral details which are typical of Korngold's intricate style. I also find it disconcerting that this recording continues the trend of committing to disc only truncated suites of the scores. If we are ever to appreciate these great pieces of music, one must first play them in their entirety. Two-hour tone poems operatic in their scope cannot be done justice when they are turned into fleeting musical interludes.

This is a terrific collection of film music by Eric Wolfgang Korngold. The suites taken from the films - The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, The Prince and the Pauper and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex - are not brief selections (as from an anthology) but consist of music from many different parts of the score. This provides a much a broader idea of Korngold's film scoring abilities.

Andre Previn obviously loves this music and knows how to extract subtle shadings from the London Symphony. The music from the Prince and the Pauper will be familiar to those who know Korngold's Violin Concerto since the third movement theme originates from this score. Korngold felt that music was music, whatever the source, and using ideas from film music was like any other source. Critics did not think lifewise. For me, it is a delight to hear how such lovely music was originally conceived.

Also welcomed is the information in the booklet relating to how Korngold composed his scores. Credit is given to the orchestrators he worked with for the first time. Also, Andre Previn provides some notes on an appreciation of Korngold as a composer. This disc was the record of the month for March 2002 by Gramophone magazine; it is a must for Korngold fans and is highly recommended to those new to his film music.

The Good News (Part I): A new recording of excerpts (or cues)
from Erich Wolfgang Korngold's film symphonies by a major
orchestra and conductor. The Not-So-Good News: there are far
better CD recordings of these cues. The Good News (Part II): many
of the other recordings are still in print (and available off
this Web site). All cues on this CD are of the garden variety
having been recorded many times before. The orchestra sounds (and
is) powerful, but the conducting lacks energy big time. In other
hands, you will get extremely dynamic, dramatic, and exciting
results (which, of course, is what the composer intended). On a
brighter note, Mr. Brendan Carroll (Korngold's definitive
biographer and the one who knows more about the composer than any
living being) has provided a CD booklet that is both educational
and a delightful read (his usual writing style) filled with just
the right level of technical observations as well as little-known
(or not previously known), fascinating information about the
composer. There are also some rare photos. Now to some music
specifics. THE SEA HAWK excerpts comprise a very sleepy rendering
of what is otherwise an extremely dynamic exciting score.
Transitions between clues are sometimes far from seamless and
jarring. It cries out for the addition of a male chorus.
ELIZABETH AND ESSEX cues suffer from monochromatic, passionless,
and somnambulistic presentations with jarring inter-cue
transitions. CAPTAIN BLOOD is poky, dull, and just plain boring
(the initial cue is also mislabeled). THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER
cues include a few that come close to escaping the general
lethargy of this CD (but, alas, they never make it). Recording
engineering is first rate from capturing orchestral components
(via great miking/mixing) to the finished product (with the
exception of some "jump-cuts" between cues). Finally, a note on
cheapness. This CD comes not in jewel box, but "encased" in thin
cardboard. What's next? Saran wrap? PURCHASE-DECISION BOTTOM
LINE: After end-to-end listening to this thing 5-6 times, I
reluctantly recommend you strongly consider passing on it--but if
you feel compelled to do otherwise, buy it with greatly lowered
expectations. A cynic might add that the CD booklet is great, but
a tad expense; however, it does come with a CD as

I am 48 years old and have listened to Korngold film music since I was twenty. I had second thoughts about buying...I just had to listen to Previn`s version to hear for myself.Having listened to the original recordings
and watching the movies, I think this CD is an absolute PASS.
As sedate as Sedares, Previn has done poorly especially on the
brass tracks. The tempo is just not up to the mark. One reviewer
described some tracks as sleepy. I couldn`t agree more.

The vibrant and dynamic Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk are
terrible let-downs...I don`t think anyone has been able to match
his conducting skill except maybe Lionel Newman`s collector`s
item CD The Foremost Composer from Hollywood.

To film music die-hards, I must say: AVOID AT ALL COSTS. If
you listen to the CD for the first time to discover Korngold
then you`ve been shortchanged.

Maybe Mauceri should try to match Korngold. And please, drop
the pedestrian pop tempos.

I have been a fan of Korngolds brilliant movie scores my whole life. I grew up watching the Warner Brothers classic films with his music, and found myself in my 50's wanting CD's of these wonderful scores. I first purchased the Charles Gerhardt/National Philharmonic Orchestra's compilation CDs. These are as good as everyone says they are but, they always left me wanting more of the music from some of my favorite films. Specifically the Sea Hawk, The Adventures of Robin Hood, etc..so when I became aware of this recording despite reading some of the negative reviews, I decided to take a chance anyway and purchase the CD. I am glad I did if for no other reason than having the full score that was recorded to a higher level with todays modern technology. I believe that the Gerhardt recordings are the more spirited, exciting, version of this music, but there again you are just getting samplings from each movie score. I would like to see a full recording of the Adventures of Robin Hood done, as finding an original is not to easy to do. If Previn would want to do that one, I would definately buy it.

From the reviewers here you can see a number have the Gerhardt RCA "Sea Hawk" from the early 1970's icluding myself. Still like to play it, was great having unspecting friends play the overture on their system in vinyl or CD, sound turned up high to see if it destroyed their speakers.

In this 2001 effort Previn with the LSO, minus the double horn sections, Ambrosian Singers & heavy percussion that Gerhardt & the NPO used in an accoustic hall on their ADD recording. Previn uses the Abbey Road studios on this digital outing, the LSO strings sound much sweeter than the NPO did. I will admit I miss the saxaphone solo on Gerhardt's Sea Hawk & the other cuts on that recording not here.

Something to be said for both performances but, IMO I now prefer Previn's version which focuses on Korngolds music without the extra musical layers of Gerhardts

I can't see why so many people diss this performance/recording of Korngold's Flynn/Swashbuckler music. I think it's a great rendering.

I was never too enamored with Andre Previn as a film composer or a conductor. However, I found this recording to be rather exhilarating. Previn gives Charles Gerhardt a run for his money with the performances here of Korngold's music. If you have seen the films the recordings take on a new life. I recently viewed "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" and I enjoy those selections even more.