Customer Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Dream

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This is the first high fidelity-stereo recording of the musical score of Max Reinhardt's classic 1935 film version of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The 1935 version,while less than perfectly acted,nevertheless was beautifully photographed and had a haunting,storybook-like atmosphere (in the forest scenes) largely--and perhaps deliberately--missing from most other film versions (the recent Kevin Kline-Michelle Pfieffer Technicolor version is the only one which even comes close to duplicating the forest scenes of the '35 version). The 1935 film is also the only one (apart from the ballet versions) that makes extensive use of Mendelssohn's music. The great Erich Wolfgang Korngold,composer for most of the famous Errol Flynn swashbucklers of the '30's and 40's,not only used much of Felix Mendelssohn's unforgettable 1843 stage music for Shakespeare's play,but filled it out with gorgeously adapted versions of other Mendelssohn music. Much of the film score (a whole hour's worth---the huge score for the 132 minute film runs plays nearly two hours,according to the booklet notes---is beautifully performed here-with the possible exception of Oberon's lines.Rather than getting an actor to do them,the producers of this album got bass-baritone Michael Burt to both sing and,unfortunately,act them. Perhaps this was Korngold's original intention,but in the film,Victor Jory,who couldn't sing,played Oberon and merely spoke the lines to musical accompaniment. Burt is just fine while singing,but the moment he starts to recite that glorious Shakespearean poetry,he sounds as untalented as any opera singer who has never had to deal seriously with spoken dialogue. Brendan Carroll,who wrote the booklet notes, may be an authority on Korngold,but he obviously hasn't seen this film in quite a while,for he makes two glaring errors when he states that the track "Hermia und Lysander" was cut from the film (it was cut from the 118-minute general release version,but not from the original 132-minute roadshow version,which has been restored and made available on video),as well as the "Intermezzo",which appears in the scene in which Hermai,Helena,Lysander,and Demetrius chase each other in a circle,while Puck watches,mocking and laughing gleefully. Don't miss this version----it's far different from the standard recorded versions of Mendelssohn's great music for Shakespeare's play.

Going straight away to the numbers: four (out of five stars) for vocal and orchestral performances; four for sound quality; and five for the CD booklet "liner notes"--more on this later. For film-score enthusiasts--and, especially, for Erich Wolfgang Korngold (EWK) fans--this long- anticipated CD (it was recorded two years ago!) is more of a historical curiosity (it was EWK's first professional encounter with films) than an example of EWK as master film composer. But for those who enjoy Mendelssohn, it might be a particularly provocative treat: a brilliant presentation and seamless blending of much of his music (it goes way beyond Mendelssohn's composition of the same name) by EWK as master orchestral arranger. I could never watch the entire film--it's just too silly--and the music on the sound track suffers greatly from primitive recording/mixing technologies that were then state of the art. Even if you can't stomach the film, this CD stands mightily on its own considerable merits. You should definitely take it for a test spin. The CD booklet notes are the most extensive, detailed, and fascinating I have ever encountered for a non-operatic recording. Mr. Brendan G. Carroll (the author of the "definitive" biography on EWK) is the source of this information. He clearly knows more about EWK than anyone on the planet! His background and analysis of each sliver of music is deliciously overwhelming. Sort of makes me wonder if the booklet is a bonus that comes with the CD or vice versa!