Customer Reviews

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Soundtrack Bernard Herrmann

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1. Folks, what we have here is a Bernard Herrmann "sampler" combined with and as a result of a fully-restored, over-the-top classic-film score from master music magicians Messrs. John Morgan and William Stromberg.

2. This MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) re-recording is plain-and-simple overwhelming. Literally spine tingling or body shivering (depending on your constitution) filmatic music--all 61 tracks!

3. You will also find strong inducements for the hairs on the back of your neck to again stand at attention as a result of variations on and recycling of sensational scores (and proto-scores) Mr. Herrmann has woven into the musical fabric of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Easily recognizable are musical back-and-forth threads from his music for JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959), NORTH BY NORTH WEST (1959), JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963), and several others. Like just about all great (and prodigious) film composers from the so-called "Golden Age" of USA film production, Mr. Herrmann had a strong propensity to and talent for creating and recycling thematic variations.

4. This recording is one of the two kick-off releases from a new CD label--Tribute Film Classics (the other release is Mr. Hermann's exceptionally unique score for FAHRENHEIT 451[1966]). This label means business from the get-go. Both its débuts deliver a not-to-be surpassed, definitively restored and conducted classic film-score recording as well as superbly produced, pure listening pleasure to the maximum extent possible with the now nearly 30-year-old CD technical standard. Tribute's star line up is one of a kind: classic-film score Restoration/Arrangement Masters John Morgan and William Stromberg with Maestro Stromberg on the conducting podium for starters.

5. The music dramatically realized on this CD far exceeds and out distances any and all of its predecessors including versions recorded with the composer at the helm. (Film-score composers are not necessarily the best conducting conduits for their art form.) As is the case with all Morgan/Stromberg productions, the film score is definitive. It includes all the music composed by Mr. Herrmann for the film including what was cut from the final version as originally released as well as the correction of mistakes (due to miscopied notes) made in the original sound track plus a bit more.

6. The conductor is at one with his orchestra (his customary style). It sounds unlikely that much, if any, sight reading was involved. But, to the contrary, much rehearsal time seems to have been the norm. Engineering and editing are top of the line. Even thought we are limited to two sound channels, you feel you are in the middle of the orchestra and within elbow reach of individual instrumentalists when it's their turn to move to the forefront. Maestro Stromberg's unique physical arrangement of instruments and clusters of instruments adds much to this starling experience.

7. The CD booklet is extensive. It even lists all the instruments that made up the orchestra. Although a bit overloaded with recollections, it springs to life with John Morgan's "Recording Notes" (Morgan's writings on score restorations are always a treat, but always too short!) and Kevin Scott's outstanding track by track analysis (although we could live with a bit less academic stretching between Herrmann and classic-music composers going back centuries).

8. The closest you will likely get to the composer musically--even if you're a relative!

William F. Flanigan, Jr., Ph.D.

Once again Stromberg and Morgan have created a top notch recording of a classic film score. Mysterious Island has never been available in such a complete form, and this recording, both the recording quality and the performance, is fantastic. Also check out their simultaneous release of Herrmann's "Fahrenheit 451" which also comes with Herrmann's score for the "Walking Distance" episode of The Twilight Zone. Highly recommended.

William Stromberg's full score to Bernard Herrmann's "Mysterious Island" can hold a candle to the composer's shorter yet unforgettable collection, which is still available in its 12-track recording for about $10 new. No one performs Bernard Herrmann's music like the composer but this recording by Stromberg and his Moscow orchestra is marvelously recorded (it will blow the bass in your speakers if you're not careful), is delivered in the spirit of the original music, and contains a remarkable 61 tracks of music including some not heard in the film. The packaging is quite good, also, with notes and lots of art from the movie.

If you've never seen the 1961 film "Mysterious Island" (what planet do you live on, anyway?), it is a science fiction story derived from Jules Verne's short book (48 pages) of the same name. It tells a story of Civil War refugees that escape prison camp and take a balloon flight during a storm and land on the so-called island. There, they battle a giant crab, a giant chicken, giant bees and other critters before finally escaping on Captain Nemo's submarine. It is a remarkable film, surely one of the greatest science fiction films of the postwar 20th century not having to do with robots, space invaders or creatures created by atomic blasts.

This collection of music from the film is the best film score I heard this year, is one of the best CDs, and is the best complete film score I've purchased since I found Rozsa's full score to "The Green Berets" a couple years ago. The only real downside, right now, is that it's only available from one vendor so the $20 price tag, which is a bit stiff in today's marketplace, is going to hang firm until used copies start coming available. Still, if you love film music or are an audiophile, buy this today and enjoy reliving one of sci-fi's very best films any time you want.

"Mysterious Island" est une musique descriptive où l'on reconnait les thèmes chromatiques chers à Bernard HERRMANN.
William STROMBERG est devenu un habitué des compositions de B. HERRMANN. Cet enregistrement est d'une grande qualité sonore... On a l'impression d'avoir le film devant les yeux !... A conseiller aux collectionneurs de la musique de B. HERRMANN.

To borrow liberally from Will Rogers, Bernard Herrmann "never met a NOTE that he didn't like." Herrmann's was a film composer's film composer, being responsible for making EVERY film on which he worked something special.

"Mysterious Island" is the third of four collaborations between Herrmann and special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen, the others being "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad," "The Three Worlds of Gulliver," and "Jason and the Argonauts." The scores to those three films are magnificent in their own right, but "Mysterious Island" is, arguably, the best.

Thrilling and sweeping are best words to describe the composition. Accompanying a storyline about five Civil War escapees and their encounters with fantastic creatures on a deserted Pacific island, Herrmann's music soars.

The effects of Harryhausen when matched with Herrmann's powerful melodies elevate the film to a higher level of film art.

The music, performed by William Stromberg and The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, lovingly recreates the score in its entirety. The accompanying booklet is highly informative and picture filled, covering each of the 62 tracks extensively.

The running time of the disc is 71:27, including a bonus final cut of Herrmann's "Prelude: King of the Khyber Rifles."

I was familiar with the film Mysterious Island from watching it many years ago and it's powerful Bernard Herrman sountrack. What I did not know until recently was that Walt Disney used the title track for his diorama at disneyland. This is the train ride that circles the park with the grand canyon (different music) and the dinosaurs (thats the one). This music sets the action of the film with its visualzation properties so strong that it creates a momentum and sets a pacing for the film. I liken it to Elmer Bersteins Magnificent Seven score that sometimes has a boldness and power that is perfect to sustain the lapses on the screen (if any). This is one of those scores that the "cues" and themes are masterfully created to compliment the film. Sound is great and it is complete according to the info on the CD.

In the last years a lot of Herrmmann's film score are being realease again. Some of them are original On Dangerous Ground, or Vertigo: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1958 Film), this one is a re-recording.

The producers have issued a sound product restoring as far as they could the original score. The CD includes an extensive libretto with a lot of information about the composer, producers etc.

You have also to consider that 'Mysterious Island' is probably one of the most interesting Herrmann's work, played with solvency by the Moscow Symphony.

Worthy and recommended.

I know the film is corny and the characters archtypes, however Herrmann's score is brilliant if not overstated for this Harryhausen spectacular with giant bees, giant chickens, and giant crabs! Perspective is everything. Yes, I saw this film as a child. However, the score with its striking dischords and offset harmonics blares out its warning from the opening credits: "You're in for the ride of your life, kid!" I fell in love with Bernard Herrmann then and mourned his early death as all too tragic only a decade later. This CD shows us why Herrmann had the gift of musical imagination. Possessing and listening to it frequently is highly recommended.

This new recording of Bernard Herrmann's score to Mysterious Island will "knock you out" if you are a fan, as I am, of this great 1960's fantasy film.

This is an outstanding recording. Wow! One of the best of Herrmann's scores ever composed! Sounds terrific!