1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Excellent, December 26, 2008
This review is from: Music From Great Shakespeare Films (Audio CD)
On many occasions I have acquired CDs serendipitously or as part of a purchase of equipment, such as a DVD player, or as a gift. I have quite a sizeable number of CDs and have no idea how I acquired them. Some came because I failed to meet the deadline of a music club's current offerings letting it know that I did not want it. Most often when I receive such an album, I find it much better than I thought. This album is just such a case. The high quality of the music and the lush orchestral sound surprised me. This is music from films made in the 1940s when soundtracks were not such a big vogue and the music of most films was very brief with the same theme repeating over and over again (There were two famous exceptions: "King Kong" and "Gone with the Wind." Such soundtracks are difficult to find and usually exist in collections such as this. I had an idea that the sound would be mono, as it was in the 1940s. But this music was performed and recorded in 1974, recreated from the original notations of the composers. So it is a pleasure listening to this music. The composers are among the most accomplished in Dmitri Shostakovish, William Walton, and Miklos Rozsa. Of course we know Miklos Rozsa from his lavish score for "Ben Hur." Dmitri Shostakovish is an acquired taste -- But just try out his 15 fantastic symphonies. His music can be very melodious as is heard in "The Gadfly," used as background for the highly acclaimed TV series "Reilly: Ace of Spies." Like so much classical music, this is much better than you think.
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