Philip on Film [BOX SET]

Georges Auric (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Georges Auric
• Audio CD (October 2, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00005O1EU
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,593 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The best-known soundtracks of composer Philip Glass have stood the test of time extremely well. Today, we associate Koyaanisqatsi as much with Glass's vast soundscape as we do with director Godfrey Reggio's haunting images. Philip on Film gathers three complete Glass scores--Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Dracula, along with selections from La Belle et la Bête, Anima Mundi, Kundun, Mishima, The Secret Agent, The Thin Blue Line, and a handful of short films.

The Glass trademarks--those machinelike arpeggios; that familiar, if odd, electronic keyboard sound; the influence of non-Western vocal techniques--are all here. Glass has forged his own unmistakable style of epic-sounding minimalism, but it never gets stale. A few unreleased tracks on Philip on Film will serve hardcore Glass fans (who probably already own most of these works), including "Facades" from Godfrey Reggio's Evidence and a track each from Atom Egoyan's Diaspora and Peter Greenaway's The Man in the Bath. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you don't already own all this stuff..., October 3, 2001

By	svf - See all my reviews

...it is worth considering this "limited edition (?)" box set, consisting of 99.5% previously released (and seperately available) material. Here you will find:

Disc 1: Koyaanisqatsi (complete 1998 recording)
Disc 2: Powaqqatsi (complete)
Disc 3: Dracula (complete)
Disc 4: La Belle et La Bete (about an hour of it)
Disc 5: Various excerpts from: Anima Mundi, Kundun, The Secret Agent, Mishima (3 tracks each), the Thin Blue Line (1 track), and 3 "previously unreleased" soundtrack selections.

The "unreleased" stuff consists of: a 5 minute "re-recording" of Facades with synthesizers instead of real strings and fewer repeats, and two 7 minute trifles also for lots of synthesizers which were apparently soundtracks to recent short films.

The rest of it runs the gamut from the best of Phil (Koyaanisqatsi, Dracula, Mishima, Secret Agent) to the worst of Phil (Powaqqatsi, Anima Mundi) and just wishy-washy Phil (Kundun, La Belle et La Bete).

The packaging is remarkably cheap and flimsy: a very thin cardboard "box" housing five mostly black glossy cardboard sleeves with tiny reproductions of the original cover art on them. The booklet is short and not very informative, either.

This may be the right thing for you if: you want a good overview of Phil's soundtrack works for a relatively low price per disc, you don't already have most of these individual CDs, and you don't really care about having the complete versions of Belle et Bete and the other excerpted soundtracks (this was me.)

Overall, however, a surprisingly unsubstantial and unnecessary collection.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A re-approach, December 9, 2001

By	Brett Stewart "Catison" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everyone who thinks of this as purely a repackaged box set doesn't fully understand the nature of this set. In the introduction, Philip Glass mentions that most of the works represented is from a series of concerts where the music is interpreted live while the movie is presented on a screen behind the performers. I personally attented these performances in Austin, TX and was very pleased with the results. The first night consisted of the Shorts, or the 5th disc of this set. The Man in the Bath, Passages, Evidence (Facades with synth), Diaspora, and Anima Mundi where all performed live by The Philip Glass ensemble with the movie itself in the background. The following 4 performances where of Powaqqasti, Le Belle et La Bete, Dracula, and Koyaanisqatsi. Seeing these films with the music has shed a new light on these scores for me, because I had previously heard almost all of them, but to the recording at hand.
This set of discs is something you might pick up at a live concert of your favorite local band, representing what they played that night in studio recording. This set of discs was released to accompany Philip's current world tour of Philip On Film. Although almost all of it has been released previously, this isn't just a way to make a "quick buck". This is a great way to get most of the music played at these performances and, most of all, is a bargin way to get a lot of his best music to date. I also don't personally agree with the "highlights" idea with Belle and Mundi, but to a person wanting post-Einstein Glass, this is a good way to start. Also, I would think that anyone who believes that Glass has written the same music since Einstein needs to listen more and generalize less because there is a wealth of music out there that you may not realize exists.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars SEVERELY ALTERED "Belle et la Bete", December 22, 2005

By	Thor Maillet (Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...which is uncalled for. IT IS SPED UP from its original recording, making some of the high notes hit by the female singers truly chipmunk-like. I can't believe they would release this...let's speed it up to fit it on ONE disk! What a GOOD idea. No. Not a good idea.