The Film Music of Jerry Goldmsith
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Orchestra (Conductor): London Symphony Orchestra (Jerry Goldsmith)
Lable (Release Year): Telarc (2001) Availability: **** Rating: ***** |
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Despite being the leading pack of film composers and having composed scores and themes for over 250 films and TV shows, little of his compilation albums can be found in the market. Not to mention one that is conducted by the maestro himself. The only ones come to mind are Frontiers, a compilation of his Sci-fi scores, and the extremely rare Jerry Goldsmith Suites and Themes. Film music and Goldsmith fans are in luck with this 5 star album. In this collection, Goldsmith conducts the world renowned London Symphony Orchestra to perform 17 and 6 movies themes and TV themes respectively. So how do you select merely 20 themes from 250 themes to fit on a 70 minutes album? The answer is rough and I think they have done a great job. The selections spans different genres (Sci-fi (Star Trek), Action (Air Force One), Drama (China Town), Thriller (Boys from Brazil), Romance (Forever Young), Sports (Rudy), War (Patton), etc.) and eras (60s (A Patch Blue), 70s (The Wind and the Lion), 80s (Poltergeist), 90s (Air Force One)), and thus representing his many styles. The best of all, (almost) all of them are classic. Also the soundtracks of some selections are relatively rare. So this album is good for both veterans and beginners. The only selection that I think should be replaced is Sleeping with the Enemy. I don't really see the reason why it is there. Also, you may wonder why his only Oscar winning score Omen is not included. It is understandable since the theme is a chorale piece and doesn't really fit with the rest. Also it is unfortunately the energetic waltz from Rudy, which can be heard in numerous sports programs, did not make it. There is no need for me to review the music here. However, it does seem to me most of the arrangements are quite faithful to the originals. It's up to you to decide if it is a good thing or not. Oh! Did I mention the performance of LSO is awesome once again? In addition, it features superb sound quality just as other Telarc releases (think about the Erich Kunzel and Cincinnati Pops series). This is a compilation that you should not miss and I sincerely recommend it to you. | |
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