Customer Reviews

North: Cleopatra

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It would be impossible, not to mention unfair, to state with any degree of persuasion that this movie score or that movie score is the greatest ever written. There have been far too many great composers in film history, each of whom has written truly great scores.

In 1950, an innovator named Alex North came to Hollywood to score "A Streetcar Named Desire" -- a combination of jazz and symphonic music that changed the nature of film music composition. (One of today's most gifted move music maestros, Jerry Goldsmith, decided to become a film composer after seeing "Viva Zapata" in 1952 because of the score written by Alex North).

North's masterpieces are considered, arguably, to be "Spartacus" and "Cleopatra" -- the latter is seen as having evolved from the former. Whereas "Spartacus" (the complete true soundtrack of which may never be forthcoming, sad to say) is raw, dissonant savagery commingled with some of the purest of melodies, "Cleopatra" is nearly pure intellect, with hints of savagery at the fringes -- any time, in fact, the might of the Roman Empire interferes with Cleopatra's grand designs. "Spartacus" is drums and horns screeching and wailing (and in amazing rhythms and tempos...enough to bring human blood to a fighting boil), "Cleopatra" is exotic chimes and percussive effects, along with gentle strings weaving warm, sinuous lines of music underneath dialogue and around grand palace sets. Then, too, it is a rawly sexual, sensual procession into Rome, as well as tender, heartbreaking farewells.

Varese Sarabande, executive producers Nick Redman and Robert Townson and restoration producer Lukas Kendall have all worked a miracle with their efforts on this score. Running at a combined time of just over 150 minutes, this score presentation sounds like it was recorded yesteday, rather than 39 years ago. The liner notes offer tantalizing glimpses into the gigantic puzzle everyone involved faced when working with the recording masters. They had to piece this score together in much the same way Alex North had to do it back in 1963, although digital technology, I have been assured, makes it more financially viable than would be possible without it.

I am always amazed every time a great film score -- from any age -- gets this kind of loving attention. So many people invest their time and money into saving a film score from total oblivion for the sheer love of doing it. This is never a lucrative enterprise. Film scores don't make "profits" in the conventional sense of the word. There are the rare ones that do, but something such as "Cleopatra" won't be among them (although the original soundtrack did sell quite well back in 1963). And it's a tragedy, really, because this music makes the film much more than it actually is...more exquisite, more human, more watchable.

There are two main themes -- "Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Antony and Cleopatra" that run throughout North's score like golden threads in a Flemish tapestry. In the cue "Coronation," you hear the "Caesar and Cleopatra" theme played out on tinkling chimes. This is not Top 100 fodder. It's not likely to please anyone but those who love movies and movie music. Then, too, it might please a few classical music listeners, too, especially those who like new experiences, for that is what this score is...for young and old...a strikingly original, complex composition of the modern school that was constructed to evoke an ancient time.

Alex North's "Cleopatra" withstood 39 years of virtual anonymity, kept alive by the memories and passions of a few hundred film music fans. Today, a handful of those fans are to be praised for restoring it for present and future generations. Alex North may not have been the greatest film composer to come out of Hollywood, but he is one of the greatest. As for his score for "Cleopatra," it's one of Hollywood's true masterpieces.

If I could possibly recommend it more highly, I would.

This release sets a standard of excellence which future reissues of classic soundtrack albums should be judged. Using as many as nine separate tracks on some of the cue fragments, producers Nick Redman and Robert Townson have assembled the best representation of Alex North's monumental score ever made available to the music-buying public. To say that this 2 CD set is a vast improvement over the original LP release is an understatement that can only be fully appreciated by buying and listening to this wonderful album. In fact the sound quality is so good that you will find it impossible to believe that the source for this reissue is almost forty years old.

Every note of this splendid CD is derived from the original multi-track "music only" magnetic masters of the motion picture, which means that, unlike the recently mutilated Rodgers and Hammerstein soundtrack reissues on EMI-Angel, there are no Foley effects, dialogue or other intrusions to mar your enjoyment of this great score. The music comes first in this presentation so even if you rightfully think of North's CLEOPATRA as one of the great theatrical symphonic works of the 2oth. Century instead of just a musical souvenir of a movie, you will not be disappointed.

The 20th. Century Fox Orchestra plays magnificently, as always, on this recording and these CD's contain practically every note Alex North wrote for CLEOPATRA and for once the inclusion of all this music instead of a traditional suite of themes is not only appropriate but essential.

Alex North's musical style can be appreciated by a wide spectrum of listeners. Whether your tastes lie rooted in classical, jazz, new age or other genres this lyric, beautifully orchestrated music is accessible to all. That this CD release was a labor of love for all the parties involved in its inception is clear in listening to it. Alex North's score for CLEOPATRA is a musical masterpiece that has been given its due magnificently in this expanded reissue.

Alex North and his music occupy a rarified postion among the pantheon of men most widely considered to be the masters of film music - his peak is compositional intellect while exploring the deepest troves of musical emotion found anywhere in film composition. For "Cleopatra", a film that can be referred to without the slightest reservation as one of the most enormous productions ever to emerge from Hollywood - is being re-released on DVD (3-DVD-Set) on 4/03/2001 running time of 248 minutes - completely restored.

North composed one of the masterpieces of the art form - at long last to be presented as it should have been here, is cause for great celebration. The score manages to display both a convincing authenticity of the period - and North's distinctive gift for explosive, striking modernism - touching on the transition of Rome from Republic to empire.

Our composer with his passion and skill for exploring human emotions, coupled with a unique gift for striking and exotic orchestral colors, that made his epic scores so distinctive and unforgettable. North's spectacular works of large-scale modernism in this film works of dazzling darkness and light, of explosive power and dizzying beauty.

We are grateful to - Nick Redman (producer), Robert Townson (executive producer/CD booklet design/outstanding liner-notes), Lukas Kendall (restoration producer), Dan Hersch (digital editing/mastering), Jeff Bond (score liner-notes) and Varese Sarabande - the resurrection of Cleopatra and ALEX NORTH!

Total Time: Disc One 76:12 on 29 Tracks & Disc Two 74:49 on 24 Tracks...Varese Sarabande 302 066 224 2...(2001)

"CLEOPATRA is perhapes the most glorious amalgam of the brain, the brawn and the heart of Alex North" so says the executive producer of this CD, Robert Townson. I was just eleven years old when they began to film Cleopatra in London...and it caught may imagination for two years, through it's troubles, starts and stops and final storm of news that flooded the world from Rome in the summer of 1962. I was captivated before even seeing the film or hearing a note of Mr. North's ceriberal score. I remember buying the orginal soundtrack (a mere 14 cuts) in June of 1963 and rushing home to listen. At first I was shocked. It was not like any "Egyptian" movie music I had ever heard. Not unitl I saw the film in the fall of 1964 when it finaly went into wide release (those were the days of Movie Roadshows, tickets in advance, and glossy programs for a dollar!) did the music touch me. I have been a fan of Mr. North's ever since. And this is, I feel, his most underated and briliant work. I am so glad to see thanks to the monumental work of Robert Townson, Kevin Burns, Tom Mankiewicz and so many other's involved that Cleopatra's musical heart is at last restored completly and so beautifuly. One last thought. I still vividly recall standing infront of the Pantages Theater one warm summer night in 1963. Looking up at the huge painting of Elizabeth Taylor watching regaly over the hubub of Hollywood Boulevard I wondered what wonders waited beyond the doors of the lobby. But alas I was only 13 and my parents thought I was too young for such an adult film...so off they draged me ...down the street to see How The West Was Won. This CD brought that back to me...for the first time in years. What Hollywood used to be so long ago.

I have waited nearly 20 years since compact discs were invented for the soundtrack of "Cleopatra" to be released. I had owned the record albumn soundtrack for years and it was stunning for its day. That is why I couldn't believe they had not put it out on CD. Finally, thanks to loving care from the mankeiwicz brothers, Mr. Townsen, Varese Saraband Records and others, it is a reality. Arguably the best of Alex North's scores (considering "Spartacus" and "The Misfits")Cleopatra's hauntingly elegant and beautiful music can now be heard at its best. The love theme is one that stays in your mind long after the albumn has ended. The chimes, drums, romantic violins still conjur up exotic beautiful visuals of one of the most stunningly photographed movies ever made. There will never be made again this film in any sense of majesty, grandeur, money, power,glamour, and history that this version had. Truly, a once-in-a-liftime experience. It is almost sad when looking back to old Hollywood road show engagements now and knowing that one can't go to the movies that way anymore. Three cheers to Hollywood, "Cleopatra" and the amazing aura that it captivated the world with in 1963. It ended up being after all a truly outstanding piece of work worth every penny ever spent and now every penny spent to bring its luster restored to us again. Thank you for one of the most beautiful movies ever filmed and for one of the greatest scores ever recorded.

Varese-Sarabande has graciously corrected an injustice by offering the public a marvelous release of Alex North's wondrous score of 1963's "Cleopatra." Like the film, the music is opulent, soaring, dynamic, and runs forever like the majestic Nile. With the recent remasteries of scores from "Vertigo," "Psycho," "Total Recall," and other classic films of the past, the addition of North's great work can only be heralded as a significant accomplishment. I cannot improve on the reviews of others except to say that I am appreciative of Varese-Sarabande and Amazon for making my filmscore collection a little more complete.

Cleopatra, Alex North monumental film score, is nothing short of stupendous, music that more than matches the story it portrays. Alex North did the great Spartacus score, which I think is his best, but Cleopatra is a very close second. With this two CD collection we finally can hear the entire score and it resounds with blazing Roman fanfares, and a mysterious, sensual quality to the Egyptian sights and sounds. I had this score on LP but knew that the entire score was great. I finally bought the two CD set and what a amazing piece of film composing. Alex North has outdone himself and we can really appreciate what an excellent composer of epics he was, in the tradition of Miklos Rozsa and Bernard Herrmann. There is a savage beauty to this score that you don't hear in too many modern scores. It stands by itself as a massive symphony to the ancient, pagan world. Listening to Cleopatra brings back vivid images of a great queen riding the golden barge to meet Marc Antony and the amazing parade into Rome to meet Ceasar on an enormous float. The love themes are also beautiful and memorable. The battle themes evoke chaos, great violence, sadness and passion. Alex North really wrote passionate music, with Cleopatra near the top of the list of the greatest film scores ever written. Highly recommended. Also get Spartacus, Agony and Ecstasy, and Drangonslayer as Alex North's better epic film scores, a real modern master of cinematic film music.

When I first heard that after so many years that an official CD of Alex North's superb score to 1963's Cleopatra was been released I was absolutely thrilled and even more so in its full version.
Along with North's previous magnificant work on 1961's Spartacus, Cleopatra is one of the most enduring and moving scores in epic film history.
The sound quality on these 2 CD's is staggering. A truely brilliant job has been done here in bringing this classic score to the final and complete treatment it deserves, which is long overdue.
A winner and a must for all lovers of fine film music!!!!
I just hope they release a complete version of North's Spartacus!!

I too was 13 in 1963, and I too rushed to buy the album immediately after my grandmother took me to see the movie at the Rivoli Theater in NYC. This score by Alex North is a masterpiece. I find the music lush, poignant, powerful, and haunting; for some reason, it has served as a soundtrack to my life. After I wore out my first copy of the album, I managed to track down a second. When I moved to Paris for four years I left my albums in storage. After two years, I asked my sister to dig the album out of storage in the US, tape it, and send me the tape. I couldn't go on any longer missing this music!

I'm thrilled that this has finally been released on CD, and can't wait to hear the newly-included music.

I also highly recommend the new DVD release of the film. I love this movie. There is a wealth of additional material on the DVD, including two documentaries about the film, one from the 60's and one filmed last year. My dream is they will find the missing footage and release a cut of the film as the director originally wished-- a three-hour Caesar segment, plus a three hour Marc Antony segment. Maybe someday...

What a brave thing to do, to release the complete soundtrack of a 40 year old movie, written by a composer not universally known. Full marks to the brave genius who thought of doing it. And a huge thank you from all movie music fans around the world. Please release more like this.

This music is far better than most scores composed today. It is full of glorious sounds and textures, and the overture and main titles are enough to buy it. The general atmosphere evoked by this music alternates between mysterious, exotic, romantic, dramatic and heroic.

A truly great score, written by a master who never really became as well-known as he should have.

By the way ... please release Alex North's score of 'Agony and the Ecstasy' in full as well. I'm on my knees begging you.