Customer Reviews

Spellbound: Classic Film Scores of Miklos Rozsa

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

 

 

Back in 1959 I was in ninth grade. Saw the film "Ben Hur." Fell in love with the musical score. Bought the MGM soundtrack. Composed by Miklos Rozsa, about whom I knew nothing. Wore out the records over the next eight years or so. Although I have never been able to afford (or even find offered) a CD version of that original LP (wasn't it a double set?) I have never forgotten the enjoyment it brought. The CD under review here was a recent gift and features Rozsa's scoring excerpts from many classic films before he got the "Ben Hur" assignment. There are lovely themes here, and a few suspense-filled ones. My long experience with film soundtracks, however, is that they are much more enjoyable if you saw and loved the movie. Most of these films I have seen at least once over the decades, all on TV, but I can't say I recall much about their plots. If you like Rozsa's other work, you will like this one. If you love one particular movie listed here, you'll get some of its major moments, but not all. I'm glad I have this. It is good driving music, not distracting, not boring.

If you are a lover of minimalist or modernist music, don't buy this. If you are a lover of lush classic films with lush, classic musical scores, this is for you.Rozsa knew how to evoke the exotic. His orchestrations are rich as a raja's treasure and the music is by turns romantic, exciting, and evocative.

Miklos Rozsa's film scores include some of the best around. This CD provides a sampling of his scores. Here, we have music from such works as "The Red House," "The Thief of Bagdad," "The Lost Weekend," "The Four Feathers," "Double Indemnity," "Knights of the Roundtable," "The Jungle Book," "Spellbound," and "Ivanhoe."

Rozsa created lots of mood with his music, and he gave elegance as well. This does provide a nice sampling of his work. However, one might well ask the question: What about "Ben-Hur"? And still other of his excellent works?

Despite that, this is an interesting and useful compilation of his works.

This is NOT the soundtrack to the movie Spellbound. It is an assortment of Miklos Rozsa scores from several films. What I was wanting was the love theme from the movie Spellbound and it is not on this CD. If you already know this, you'll be happy with it.