Customer Reviews

Waxman: Objective, Burma!

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

 

 

Militaristic and seemingly weightless, current sensibilities would probably place this more in line with a Saturday afternoon serial soundtrack to which it is every measure as earnest. The pattern of suspense, release, suspense, release, etc., is nail biting, and pleasure comes from hearing so-called Orientalism without the usual compositional stereotypes. It is taut and exciting; sharp-eared aficionados might notice a few precursors to "Star Wars", too, particularly in the action cues. The instrumentation is solid, the main theme is a stately march in the intrepid design, and the sound envelops and enraptures! Bernard Herrmann once cited this score as an example of great filmusic. It is.

I've listened it over and over again. It's a stunningly well done soundtrack and the Moscow orchestra gets close to the Hollywood sound.

This team goes from strenght to strenght and it's to be hoped that they make a dream come tru by recording more of this vintage Waxman period (as they say in the booklet).

Let's hope they eventually will do some Rózsa, because that's what I've missed so far.

By this, you'll like it.

Franz Waxman. I have to say that this new performance of Waxman's music is a prime example as to how film music can stand on its own as a legitimate musical
work and also that we could use many more new recordings of complete representaions of Franz Waxman's work for movies. As I own only six (including this one) Waxman scores they all are superlative reproductions and we could use
many more like "The Nun's Story," "The Spirit of St. Louis," "Sayonara," "Task Force," and most definitely a premiere recording of his second Oscar-winning score for "A Place in the Sun."
With "Objective Burma!" now in my collection I must say that it shows just how
much more versatile Waxman was as a composer from his other European contempora-
ries like Steiner, Korngold and Rozsa. His score here is rugged, rough and serious and he shows his great flair for orchestral color. The playing of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra under the assured baton of William Stromberg is pretty
much flawless as is the sound quality of this recording.
I can only hope that with their new Tribute Film Classics label that both Stromberg and John Morgan will undertake more recordings of more Waxman scores as I think he is still a very under-recorded composer compared to the lavish attention that composers like Rozsa and Herrmann had received. Waxman was definitely a giant in the industry as well as being an exceedingly gifted composer.
"Objective, Burma!" is definitely worth having and I give it the highest rating I can give it. Five stars all the way!!

Another fine restored film score from William T. Stromberg and Marco Polo. Franz Waxman's classic, Oscar nominated score for the 1945 "Objective Burma" comes through with all the excitement of the movie for which it was written. The 30 page booklet with the CD is one of the added perks of all Marco Polo restorations. It tells about the making of the film, the writing of the score by Waxman, and how the score was restored. If you are a soundtrack collector, this one belongs in your collection.