Customer Reviews

Steiner: Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (The)

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

 

 

To paraphrase Francis Bacon, "Some film scores are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Among those composers who have turned out digestible scores are Walton, Prokofiev, Korngold, and Max Steiner. Although "Gone With the Wind" is Steiner's most often played score, the one he wrote for <The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" also certainly deserves its own CD. And it is now available on the Marco Polo label (8.225149) with a restored score played by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra under William T. Stromberg.

Very few of my generation have not seen this wonderful film, so suffice it to say here that we have 22 reminders of how beautifully the Steiner music enhanced the story of the three men who risked it all for gold and found only madness and death. The titles listed on the jacket tell it all: Attack on the Train, Windstorm, Texas Memories, Funeral Chant, Madness, and the rest. There are even three "bonus" tracks with music from the "trailer" and alternate versions of the Main Title and Finale music.

As any good movie score should do, this one stands nicely on its own as a series of little tone poems that evoke a mood or tell a little ambiguous story, quite independent of the film itself. Well worth hearing.

Excellent reconstruction of the classic Max Steiner film score! Great sound fidelity, digital recording... makes me wish we could do likewise and re-mix the original sound elements in the restoration of the picture.

Wish you could offer many more of these reconstructions on CD in future!

Scott Keppler

Not a happy listen by most standards. Erratically Spanish- and Mexican-flavored, tuneful, rhythmically masculine, and often foreboding, this would scarcely be a first pick for reconstruction and re-recording, but reconstructed and re-recorded it is. Commendable just the same. Massive (a touch overblown?) in scope, the score contains numerous moments that display the composer's dramatic gift for evocative themes and orchestrations. It is not a classic as defined by other Steiner scores like "Band of Angels", "Gone With the Wind", "Rome Adventure" or "They Died With Their Boots On", but it is in the upper tier. Album production and performances by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra & Chorus are stellar; includes trailer music, and alternate main title and finale cues.

This is a very fine score by Max Steiner. Perhaps not as epic as Gone With The Wind or King Kong, but big and bombastic none-the-less. Though it is filled with many quiet, tender moments as well, such as the Funeral Chant. The orchestration is, as always, spectacular. I'm not quite sure how a Mandolin fits into a Mexican-Neo-Romantic film score, it still manages to work beautifully and offer some delicious timbres that stand out from those of the traditional orchestra. William Stromberg coaxes a terrific performance by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. I have their re-recording of King Kong and they seem to capture Steiner's sound and style very well. The only complaint I have about this cd is that the booklet does contain any liner notes about the music. But, the for the price, it's a darn good buy.

or anyone for that matter!

a great companion to the greatest movie of all time!