Citizen Kane: The Classic Film Scores of Bernard Herrmann

Bernard Herrmann (Composer), Charles Gerhardt (Conductor), National Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Joaquín Achúcarro (Performer), Kiri Te Kanawa (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Joaquín Achúcarro, Kiri Te Kanawa
• Orchestra: National Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Charles Gerhardt
• Composer: Bernard Herrmann
• Audio CD (March 8, 1991)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003EM9
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #80,158 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential recording, October 10, 2000

By	steve (DeKalb, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This CD is an essential addition to any film score collection. It's the best recording in the RCA "Classic Film Scores" series conducted by the late Charles Gerhardt; unlike many of the other entries in the series, this disc favors substantial, extended suites over brief snippets. Bernard Herrmann personally selected the works to be included; he was also present (and played a significant role) at the recording sessions.

Gerhardt's readings of excerpts from "Citizen Kane" are flawless and have never been surpassed; the performance of the "Salammbo" aria (by then-little-known soprano Kiri Te Kanawa) is dazzling. "Beneath the Twelve-Mile Reef" and "White Witch Doctor," two forgotten Fox films from 1953, are represented by suites replete with brilliant coloristic effects, including the bizarre and disturbing sounds of the serpent in "White Witch Doctor," and the bold and evocative use of nine (!) harps to illustrate underwater scenes in "Beneath the Twelve-Mile Reef." Pianist Joaquin Achucarro's performance of the intense "Concerto Macabre" from "Hangover Square" (1945) makes a convincing case for this work as an independent piece of concert music, and the brief but ferocious "Death Hunt" from the 1951 film noir "On Dangerous Ground" is a perfect curtain-raiser.

Herrmann is mainly known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, but if you only know his scores for "Hitch," you're missing an entirely different side to Herrmann. This disc provides an ideal cross-section of his wildly creative approach to more traditional Hollywood films; it's also one of the best film music anthologies ever recorded. Buy this; you won't be disappointed.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great music, superb recording, and a couple of added treats, June 11, 2005

By	David B. Spalding (ChromeJob.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I treasured several of these Gerhardt/NPO film score releases on cassette as a film-fan teen, and this CD is no different. Gerhardt's interpretations of these selections (with Herrmann present at the sessions) are stunning, true to the original compositions, with all the passion and grandeur that they deserve without having to conform to a) screen timing, and b) the limitations of monaural optical film soundtrack methods of the time. As another reviewer pointed out, Herrmann is known for his great Hitchcock film scores, but his other work was no less marvelous. (Typical example, his score for THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, making exceptional use of piano, deep bass brass and the unusual but appropriate Theremin.)

An intriguing footnote.... For CITIZEN KANE's portrayal of Susan Alexander's disastrous opera debut, Herrmann needed a grand opera excerpt that could convey the pandemonium, confusion, and Wagnerian excess of an opera, and showcase the soprano as having a legitimate voice, but one incapable of matching a smothering orchestra arrangement. No such selection from grand opera sufficed, so Herrmann composed his own. His fictitious SALAMMBO recitative and aria astutely illustrate in abstract, subtextual musical syntax the anguish that Alexander felt participating in Kane's delusion that she would be a great opera star. In fact, the libretto is derived from Racine's "Phedre," in which the heroine begs her lover to kill her and release her from shame. For the film, the light lyric soprano Herrmann used was appropriately overwhelmed by the thunderous arrangement. For this June, 1974, recording, a truly capable, genuine opera star (a then up-and-coming pro named Kiri Te Kanawa ... yes you read that correctly, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa) was recruited. She matches the orchestra, and you can hear SALAMMBO as it was written by Herrman. It's the jewel of this recording.

Finally, that these Gerhardt/NPO recordings are available on CD with Dolby Surround encoding is NO gimmick. (This info is missing from the Product Details, but the large cover image indicates the encoding.) These analog recordings sound FABULOUS with a receiver in Dolby Surround, Pro Logic, or Pro Logic II Music decoding. (I don't recommend you use "movie" settings, as the music isn't really meant to be channeled to Left, Right, and Center.) In straight stereo, or Surround, you can hear Herrman's music as clear as if you were in the concert hall. This CD is a must-have for Herrmann fans, and home theatre aficionados.