I make no secret of the fact that a large portion of my music collection consists of music from video games or arrangements thereof. However, I don't keep up with trends or news in that regard, so it was entirely by coincidence that I stumbled upon this CD, and I had to have it.
The track selection was the first major selling point to me. Given how old some of these games are and how enormously popular some other, more recent game series are, I was very pleased to see some classic and gorgeous soundtracks such as Secret of Mana (particularly underrated) and Chrono Trigger on this album. The selection otherwise is delightfully varied both in style and age of game.
As for the performance, I have heard professionally-recorded renditions and even live orchestra performances of some of the tracks on this album, so I am no stranger to the idea of hearing even 25-year-old game music played with depth and clarity only dreamed of in the original compositions. That said, there is a certain quality that a classically-trained musician can bring to this music that really brings the original pieces to life. Had I not read Angele Dubeau's statement that she performed the pieces with no consideration for the original context of the music, I would never have guessed she didn't have some attachment to the scenes when these scores played, because the emotion and power is perfectly true to the source, bringing it to life in ways I have never heard done before. The Secret of Mana arrangement, again, particularly shines here - especially the portion with "Into the Thick of It" - and Angry Birds was an unexpected jewel as well.
This album is wonderful on so many levels - the choice of games included, a performance that really brings the source material to life, and how much of a bridge this album is, both in giving fans of video games an opportunity to appreciate classical music and in giving classical music fans an opportunity to appreciate the dynamic and emotional scores of even 20-30-year-old video games. Overall, this is an amazing album and I am so glad to add these songs to my collection. My sincerest thanks to Angele Dubeau and La Pieta for helping to further legitimize an art form I have loved for many years and to show real appreciation for it.
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