Customer Reviews

Spartacus (1960 Film)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Very rarely in life does a work of art effect you profoundly for ever. So has this soundtrack effected me from the first time I heard it in 1960 when I was just 13. To truly appreciate it and be moved by it, you need to see the movie because Alex North's inspiring score was trying to enhance the themes of love and commradery and loyalty and other noble qualities of life. The music stands well on it's own but if one wishes to elevate his emotional responses to the above mentioned concepts, I suggest he see the movie along with listening to the soundtrack. Mr North has truly given us a gift for now and all ages to come. If you have a similar appreciation for this music, I would enjoy hearing from you.

A previous reviewer states that the absence of the complete score on cd is the 'biggest whole in the catalog'. It's worse than that - it's a travesty. We have Cleopatra on two discs, Ben Hur on 2, King of Kings on 2 - the list goes on. Where's Spartacus? The bootlegs have the unpublished cues - in STEREO - so they're out there - waiting. We're waiting . . . . to BUY it.

Alex North's score for this epic film is one of the most beloved of all time, and that's more than obvious with the release of this 2010 box set to commemorate the composer's birth centennial, and coincidentally, the 50th anniversary of the film. The contents include over an hour of stereophonic music from the soundtrack, plus a monophonic record of all the music from the film in sequence (along with alternate takes and outtakes).
There's a very-interesting, double-CD containing various musicians' takes on the film's love theme, which, after you listen to the score, is really it's hook. It's surprisingly effective; listening to the various interpretations, one after the other, doesn't get uninvolving or overbearing, which is saying a lot for North's deceptively simple melody line. It's hard to pick a favorite: I liked Lalo Schifrin's best, because of it's rich arrangement and stirring strings; Nathan Barr and Lisbeth Scott made the least impression, making it sound like the wailing dirges and pastiche scoring methods used for GLADIATOR, TROY or 300. A couple of the contemporary composers put an electronic spin on things and they only made the jazz artists like Bill Evans, Ramsey Lewis and Carlos Santana sound fresher than ever. A couple of the purposeful piano versions were tinny. It's an intriguing extra that proved enjoyable and appreciated, and everyone involved should be congratulated.
There's a dvd with conversational comments by various musicians on North's work, and it makes for a wonderful appreciation piece. It's inclusion is also a great extra.
When all is heard and said, it's hard to imagine a more pleasing gift for fans of this music score (and the film). The set is packaged in a high-gloss, attractive slipcase that takes advantage of the extraordinary Saul Bass visuals associated with the film (as do the CDs). A four-disc, clamshell, jewel case is used for the original score. A standard, double-CD jewel case houses the Love-Theme-and-Variations discs (with it's own set of notes). A single-disc, jewel case contains the DVD interviews (anamorphic widescreen - also with it's own set of notes). There's a glossy, hardcover, cd-sized book included with everything anyone would want to know about the film, the score and the composer. It's loaded with first-rate illustrations.
The most disappointing thing about this fabulous soundtrack package is that the complete original score was not preserved in stereophonic sound, especially given it's importance. SPARTACUS received a full 65mm Super Technirama restoration back in 1991, so it's a glaring shame that the discrete 6-track, magoptical music elements don't exist anymore.
Note: The reference level for the recordings seemed set slightly high, but it in no way affected the quality of the recordings. The CD-mastering is very good. I listened to the recordings in a THX home theater using their music mode and it sounded splendid.

Listening to Alex North's score for Spartacus again after several years of not having a copy is a revelation. I had a copy of the LP version of the score and it is good to see the notes included in the booklet. Mr. North was among the best and most original film composers that Hollywood can claim. Yet, in spite of 15 Oscar nominations he received only an honorary award! His music is perfect for Spartacus evoking not only the passions of the characters but a feeling for the later first century BCE. My only regret is that the overture and exit music is omitted from the recording. It would be a far better disc if some additional tracks were lifted from the soundtrack and included here. As it is, the playing time is 40:32. This is a great CD that could have been better.

Like at least one other reviewer here I first saw the film and heard the soundtrack when I was in my early teens, and it had a profound effect on me. Though Rozsa is undisputed king of the historical epic, North here created something utterly unique, a virtual time machine back into an age of cruelty and decadence, which I feel I understand so much better for North's music (and indeed, Kubrick's film). Those who know the score won't need to be sold on it; for the rest, don't call yourself a soundtrack collector until you have this album in your collection, and don't agitate for the release or re-recording of any score until the whole of Spartacus is available in good sound. This is now the biggest, most shameful hole in the catalogue, that only 40 mins of Spartacus has ever been commercially available. Having heard the whole score through bootlegs, in mostly poor sound, I can't imagine why no company has yet jumped on this particular bandwagon. In an age when one can now buy the music from the most obscure films, even the Carry On films(!), the absence of a complete Spartacus is nothing less than an artistic tragedy. My 4 rather than 5 star rating is for this CD. The complete score should be rated a 10!

With all due respect to Miklos Rosza, "Ben Hur" isn't far from the musical worlds of his "El Cid" or "King of Kings" scores. It's still Miklos. But North's "Spartacus" score has a truly pagan flavor, as does the film itself. Arming his orchestra with a wonderful array of percussion & an early electronic instrument called an ondioline, North captured the decadence, fantastic excesses, & especially the military precision of the Romans. He also composed a love theme of such delicacy that jazz musicians adopted it as a near-standard. Certainly, "Spartacus" is classic movie music, in a class with the best "modernist" scores by Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Toshiro Mayuzumi, Ennio Morricone, & even Prokofiev.

Bob Rixon, WFMU

In my opinion this is a very good CD. Since it comes from an LP Record it is not very long, only 40 minutes. But it contains the highlights of the film. In my personal opinion the stereo sound is quite good. I do not know if these tracks were taken from the original soundtrack or were especially re-recorded by the composer. Probably they were especially prepared for this record.
Notwithstanding, even though the sound quality in my personal opinion is not as good as in the case od this release, the German TSUNAMI label has issued a second CD, lasting 79 minutes, with "more music" from Spartacus, including, as they point out, only music not included in the original Soundtrack. As long as the whole original Sound Track is not available in a single chronological edition, collectors can have in two separate issuances 120 minutes of different music from the film. Look into Amazon.co.uk.
Nevertheless, hopefully a new complete complete restoration of the whole score could be issued soon.

It hardly seems forty years since I saw Spartacus. One of the most "intelligent" historical spectacles ever made, it is a fitting tribute to the late Stanley Kubrick, the film's lengendary director and Alex North, the film's music composer, that this soundtrack still thrives. Alex North uses harsh themes and music for the Romans and uplifting themes that point to hope and freedom for the army of slaves. There is a primitive quality North wanted in this music and when I listen to the CD I feel that he is not only writing about the story but transporting me back in time, back to Rome, and the harsh times for citizens and slaves alike. Anyone interested in owning a good collection of sountracks for spectacles would do well to have Spartacus in their collection. There is a lot of music in the movie that is left out of this CD and hopefully, in the future, North's brilliant score for the entire movie will be released, as seems to be the trend in the CD market. It is so much more powerful to hear all the musical tracks than just selections. Even so, this CD is masterful, moving, and gets the blood moving and I can hear myself saying like the slaves in the army of Spartacus, "I am Spartacus!" Alex North, with his evocation in music of the ancient period must have had a personal connection to the story. Alex North is Spartacus!

Too bad there's no score isolation on the Spartacus DVD because the mastering of the CD sountrack is absolutely terrible. Hiss abounds everywhere, instruments are blurred together--there's absolutely no separation. In a nutshell, this CD hardly sounds better than the LP, which is a shame, since it's one of the greatest scores ever. Fans of the score should know that the Criterion laserdisc of Spartacus featured various tracks which did not make it to the film. They were all absolutely beautiful. So just know that not only does Spartacus receive a painfully bad mastering, but also that there are quite a few unheard tracks rotting away in some studio vault, heard only by a few who bought the brilliant Criterion Collection LD set.

Having listened to this wonderful music by Mr. North, I must concur with some of the previous reviewers - this is great CD that could have been much better with the inclusion of the full soundtrack. One example - the Spartacus Love Theme on the CD is actually the exit music arrangement, though it's not indicated as such. The first exposition of this theme - when Spartacus first meets Varinia, played by an oboe - is unfortunately not included. There are numerous other examples. What is included is marvelous and very moving, but what a shame that this soundtrack was not given the lavish attention of Ben Hur ( rightly so, I might add ). Alas, maybe someday...until then, enjoy.