Tristan & Isolde (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [SOUNDTRACK]

Anne Dudley (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 31, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B000E0OF98
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,061 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Set in Ireland in the Dark Ages, after the fall of Rome, this new take is in no danger of replacing Richard Wagner's as the standard version of the tale of infamous thwarted lovers. Anne Dudley--getting further and further away from her cut-up pop roots with Art of Noise in the early 1980s--has composed a subdued score for the occasion. Whether she's incorporating a plaintive piano ("The Queen's Funeral") or coming up with a medieval-flavored jig ("A Different Land"), she shows her usual good flair in tastefully arranged number. This works well on romantic tracks such as "My Face in Thine Eyes" but it can also be too tasteful sometimes--"Ambush in the Forest," for instance, is far from being as pulse-pounding as it should be. This is a somber, elegant score, but also one that doesn't leave much of a lasting impression. Still, it might be better than the movie it accompanies. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anne Dudley's Highly Successful Alternative Score, May 1, 2006

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Most motion picture musical score composers would find the task of writing music for the current TRISTAN & ISOLDE a daunting assignment. Who in their right mind would want to be set up as a comparison to the time-honored, exquisitely beautiful music from Wagner's opera of the same name? Well, Anne Dudley steps fully into the spotlight as a fine composer with this score for an altogether different version of the ancient tale of thwarted lovers. She has no reason to bow her head.

Dudley stirs the background of the scenic settings with subtle music than tastefully blends Celtic instruments and sounds with the regular orchestral instrumentation. She is able to cross back and forth across the water that divides Britain and Ireland, no mean feat but one of paramount importance in underlining the disparity of the two kingdoms that separate the love of Isolde and Tristan. The music is always supportive of the film's mood and storyline (it takes listening to this CD to actually hear some of the very fine episodes that rightly provided matrix to the action without calling attention to the tunes).

For this different version of a multifaceted and varying forms of an old Celtic legend, Dudley has provided music more redolent of the Dark Ages than of the soul-shattering eroticism of Wagner's version of the tale. For this listener her choices are exactly appropriate. Grady Harp, May 06

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUSIC SNOBS, April 28, 2006

By	Colin Grimmett "Dan Brown is a hack" (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once again we have a bunch of music snobs attacking the music from this film not because it is not good but because it doesn't pay homage to Wagner. There are upwards of 100 folk variations of this tale and most of those did not even incorporate a musical score....but we owe Wagner a walk on because of his opera? Please.....

The music in this movie is breathtaking and poignant. It mirrors the tale wonderfully, which if it were Wagner the other music Snobs would be saying "germanic music for a celtic storry???????"

This score is not good to fall asleep by.

The arguments of music snobs will perform that task just fine

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goes beautifully with this heart-wrenching film, March 16, 2006

By	Amalia "Poca Sirena" - See all my reviews

I saw the movie twice and knew right away that I would have to have the soundtrack. I'm glad that I invested the money and bought it! The score is absolutely gorgeous, despite some comparisons to "elevator music" by other reviewers. Don't let the naysayers fool you. "Tristan & Isolde" is fantastic, a great CD to put on while you're having dinner with a sweetheart or just relaxing - it will both calm your jangled nerves after a long day and inspire you. It is very well composed. As to the mutterings that a nod to Wagner should have been included, this is the soundtrack to the movie, not the opera. It does a fine job of standing on its own. Don't miss out on this one!