Collection: Ben-Hur – The Essential Miklós
Rózsa
SILVA SCREEN 2 CDs
FILMXCD 334 [104:52]
Music from: Ben-Hur; Providence; Julius Caesar; El Cid; Sodom
and Gomorrah; Spellbound; The Thief of Baghdad; King of Kings, All the Brothers
Were Valiant; The Golden Voyage of Sinbad; Quo Vadis
With the exception of music from Julius Caesar, this is another re-assembly
of previous Silva Screen releases but this time offered in Surround Sound
and HDCD for extended dynamic range. I will therefore not offer repeated
reviews of these performances except to say that most of them are good, some
very good while others, like The Thief of Baghdad do not impress so
much. (‘The Love of the Princess’ seems interminably slow). Paul
Bateman’s new reading of the imposing Julius Caesar music underlines
Shakespeare’s tragedy in the sombre yet majestic funeral march ‘Caesar
Now Be Still’ heard at the end of the film as Mark Anthony delivers
the final eulogy for not only Brutus but Caesar and Cassius. I must also
add a mention of one score that is little known but does not fail to haunt
the listener – the beautiful Valse Crespesculaire (Twilight Waltz)
for piano and orchestra from Providence.
This double album serves as a valuable introduction to the music of Miklós
Rózsa. I suggest that later, students move on to the series of albums
of Rózsa
film music conducted by the composer himself. I refer to the recordings of
the biblical epics, Ben-Hur and Quo Vadis on Decca and Cloud
Nine (together with El Cid and King of Kings). And more
especially to the series of recordings of his film music that he made for
Polydor (alas only issued on LP and long since deleted although we keep hearing
persistent rumours that they are about to be reissued).
One must not take the appellation "essential" in the title too seriously
for whole genres of Rozsa’s film music are not included in this album.
No film noire scores like Double Indemnity (unless one can
admit Spellbound into this category), and no science fiction scores,
for instance, like The Power (although Silva Screen assure me that
they have the score and fully intend to record this late but superb score
when they can).
Recommended as an introduction to Rózsa
Reviewer
Ian Lace
