Customer Reviews

Warriors of Silver Screen

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Silva Screen Records presents this thirty seven track compilation of the most wonderful symphonic suites and themes ever to grace the "Big Screen", with epic proportions and all the grandeur that Hollywood is noted for. So many talented composers - Waxman "TARAS BULBA" and "PRINCE VALIANT" - Goldsmith "FIRST KNIGHT" - Moross "THE WAR LORD" - Rozsa "EL CID", "THIEF OF BAGDAD" and "BEN HUR" - Doyle "HENRY V" - North "SPARTACUS" - Barry "THE LAST VALLEY" - Horner "BRAVEHEART" - Poledouris "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" - Herrmann "JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS" - Nascimbene "THE VIKINGS" - Scott "ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA" - Burwell "ROB ROY" - Hadjidakis "300 SPARTANS" each an individual, meeting the challenge of writing some of the greatest film music ever to create a mood for the audience.

The City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Paul Bateman once again, have outdone themselves with scores beginning far back as 1940 through and up to 1995. This double CD set has a nice balance with some highlights, "TARA BULBA" (Waxman) dazzling music - "THIEF OF BAGDAD" (Rozsa) stirring themes, which this composer is so famous for.

Marvelous is the entire album, it makes one want to rush out and rent each film just to hear the score again. Superb, simply superb as Silva once again proves they are right up there at the top with film score and soundtracks. A wonderful tribute to the epic films of Hollywood - WARRIORS OF THE SILVER SCREEN!

Total Time: Disc One 63:13 on 16 Tracks/Disc Two 73:58 on 21 Tracks/Silva Screen Records - SSD 1081 (1997)

The majority of this compilation is simply entrancing. The 10 minute segment from "Prince Valiant" & the all too short excerpts from "Spartcus" & "The Warlord" are magnificent. Only recently has the musical world, once again, found such talent as the composers of these scores.

"Warriors of the Silver Screen" is a magnificent two-disc anthology of excerpts from orchestral film scores. The theme uniting all of these scores is the fact that each movie is about a warrior, or similar epic hero. These are not the original recordings, but rather superb new renditions done by the City of Prague Philharmonic, conducted by Paul Bateman, Nic Raine, and Kenneth Alwyn. Many of the tracks also feature the Crouch End Festival Chorus, conducted by David Temple.

I have become quite a fan of film score anthology CDs, and, in my opinion, "Warriors" is among the best of such collections. This is a collection with a truly historic sweep: the composers represented here range from legends of past generations to some of our best contemporary composers. And the films represented include both beloved classics and recent favorites.

These two discs are full of excellent music, performed with passion by a wonderful team of musicians. Disc One gets off to a thrilling start with Franz Waxman's rowdy "Taras Bulba." I also really loved the dramatic use of the chorus on Jerry Goldsmith's composition for "First Knight." But things really heat up on the incredible second disc. The melancholy heroism of James Horner's "Braveheart," the savage beauty of Basil Poledouris' "Conan the Barbarian," the epic majesty of Miklos Rozsa's "Ben-Hur," the stirring adventurousness of Bernard Hermann's "Jason and the Argonauts," the lusty power of Mario Nascimbene's "The Vikings"--this is some of the greatest music ever composed for the cinema. And I haven't even praised it all.

And if all of this glorious music weren't enough, the discs are accompanied by David Wishart's fascinating notes about each film. Warriors and thieves, barbarians and seafarers--the characters celebrated by this music have a universal appeal. So enjoy the music, and feel the warrior spirit stir within your own heart.

I have wanted this music for a long time. The music in the movies stays with me long after the movie is over.

This release from Silva has probably the most of golden age scores combined with a few newer selections, this might not be enjoyable for younger people, I (20 years old) have not seen a good portion of these movies but the music is wonderful. Both discs open with long suites from Frans Waxman (Taras Bulba and Prince Valiant), but you also have music from Miklos Rozsa (The Theif of Baghdad, Ben Hur) and recent selections from Horner (Braveheart), Goldsmith (First Knight) and Poledouris (Conan: The Barbarian). Pick this one up, its a keeper.