July 5, 2007
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General musings
It's the day after the 4th and we are getting ready for a big trip. It means missing opening day for the new Harry Potter film, but I am more interested in the music...lol.
Checked out Brad Bird's new Pixar film, Ratatouille, which is a wonderful piece of film making with a fine score by Giacchino. There is a great scherzo for flute and orchestra in this score that is a remarkable piece of musicmaking and kudos to the soloist. Hopefully I'll get around to picking this CD up soon.
Varese released some new club stuff Monday and 2 discs sold out immediately. I find it hard to believe that 1000 film music fans picked up a fairly obscure, though important, Waxman score. It's more ebay buying. Can it be an investment if noone cares? Goldsmith's music for The Burbs is one of the releases and I look forward to hearing this score when it arrives later in the month. Maybe I just was hungry for even semi-ok film music by great composers lately.
During the Boston Pops broadcast/concert yesterday, Keith Lockhart announced from the stage that there is a new CD just recorded, "A Salute to Oscar and Tony". The music they played was a suite from 42nd Street but we can hope that some of the music from their Korngold/Herrmann/Rosza selections in concerts last June made it to disc. With any luck it will include some lesser recorded works as well. No word on a street date for this yet.
It's Universal monster movie month at our home with some classic monster movies from the sets packaged a few years ago. This week it's the special collection of The Wolfman. So far I've sat through the 1935 film, Werewolf of London. It's a mildly amusing low key drama with some interesting makeup--think Eddy Munster mostly. This werewolf puts his hat on before going out to kill...there are some Jeckyll and Hyde type moments as well. More interesting was a fine score by the obscure Karl Hajos. Another of the Hungarian-born immigrants who ended up providing music used as "stock" for a number of films in the 1930s (he was already in his late 30s when this film came along). He was nominated twice for an Oscar in the mid-40s: for Summer Storm (1944), and The Man Who Walked Alone (1945). Now here's a name to add to the Morgan/Stromberg re-recordings someday!
Anyway, there's some trivia for you. Enjoy!
Comments (2)
Now why does that not surprise me...hehe
I'm one of the film music fans who actually purchased the Waxman and North scores because I wanted to hear them. I also picked up "The Burbs" and the Bernstein scores. Sure, "Burbs" isn't classic Goldsmith, but it's loads of fun, if you enjoy most Dante/Goldsmith efforts.
I can't stop listening to "Ratatouille". It's fabulously fun.
Back at ya later
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