Waxman: Joshua

Rodney Gilfry (Performer), Franz Waxman (Composer), James Sedares (Conductor), Ann Hallenberg (Performer), Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Patrick Poole (Performer), Peter Buchi (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Rodney Gilfry, Ann Hallenberg, Patrick Poole, Peter Buchi
• Orchestra: Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: James Sedares
• Composer: Franz Waxman
• Audio CD (September 12, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000FVRAAW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #313,113 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Joshua is the world-premiere recording of a dramatic oratorio based on the biblical figure by Academy Award® winning Franz Waxman. Waxman belongs to a group of Jewish composers who immigrated to the US before WWII. Working in Hollywood, he wrote soundtracks for Liliom, Sunset Boulevard, Rebecca, and A Place in the Sun, among others. Waxman would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Conductor James Sedares leads the Prague Philharmonia and Prague Philharmonic Chorus, along with vocalists Rodney Gilfry (baritone), Peter Buchi (tenor), and Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano). Acclaimed German actor Maximilian Schell joins the cast as the narrator. In celebration of the 100th year of Franz Waxman’s birth, several projects are underway: Turner Classics Movies will run a tribute in December and The Museum of Modern Art will host a 23-picture retrospective and round table in December and January (this will be the first time a composer is honored by the Film Study Center).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Black Forest Ham, July 20, 2008

By	J. Shaver (Hot Springs, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this because I like Waxman's film music and because it featured Rodney Gilfry. There are some nice choruses and singing from the soloists. Also there are moments (to be expected) of Waxman's film scores. But the work is totally sabotaged by the narrator, Maximillian Schell. His reading is excrutiatingly bad! It is horribly overdone and makes one's stomach churn. I have never heard anyone ham so much--not even Barrymore when he was drunk as a skunk. Schell's delivery is even too awful to be a parody. And to think that this man won an Academy Award. They should make him give it back.